Head in the Clouds

I love to fly. Robert hates to fly. Some of you may remember I mentioned this almost two years ago (gasp! yes, its been almost two years since she came home!) as we were preparing to travel to Ukraine for Kristina's adoption. Robert was invited to speak on orphan ministry at a church in Louisiana several weeks back. I was jealous as I booked his flight online and brooded over the fact that I would have to remain grounded while he got to jet off into the wide blue sky and speak to a congregation on my favorite subject.

As much as I love to travel by plane, I don't do it nearly as often as I like. In fact, Kristina is the only one with real flight experience. Robert and I flew to Los Angeles with the twins when they weren't even 6 months old to look at a seminary on the West coast. But other than that, none of our kids have experienced the thrill of flight. That is, until yesterday.

On Sunday I read the paper. Its the only time I sit down and give the news much attention throughout the week. Technically, I buy it for the coupons, but I still manage to flip through all the pages. Last weekend I noticed a small blurb about "kids fly free". I paused to read about an aviation program offered at one of our local airports. Bright and early yesterday morning, I stood in a hanger decorated with WWII pin up girls and old propellers hanging from the walls. One by one, Sam, Nathanael, Hannah, Kristina, and Josh all got the opportunity to take a flight with a pilot who walked each of them through the preflight checklist and offered an overview of the dials and gauges that starred back at them from the cockpit. Josh was the only one who was a little nervous. One by one, they donned headsets, climbed into their planes and taxied out onto the runway. Sam and Nathanael actually were allowed to take the controls at one point and experience how the plane responds. Each of them touched back down with huge smiles and infectious enthusiasm about their experience. Its not exactly like the big commercial flights each of them will likely take one day, but I think each of them shares their mother's love for flight now!