The best pilots ever

Our kids are experienced fliers. They have the process down and can almost perfectly recite the safety instructions. Yet the flights to St. Thomas stand out in more than one way.

As we were boarding the plane from DFW to Miami, we are walking down the jet bridge and Sweet Son is asking if he will get to see the co-pilot. He dreams of being a co-pilot when he grows up. He's always excited to see the pilots and get a glimpse into the cockpit. The pilot overheard this and invited both kids into the cockpit. This is the first and only time this has happened to us. The kids were enthralled. We also learned these would be our pilots from Miami to St. Thomas as well.

The flight from DFW to MIA was easy. On the way out the pilots remember our kids' names and said they would see us on the next one. Seriously, I didn't think the pilots could impress us any more. The flight from MIA to St. Thomas started fine, but there was bad weather in St. Thomas that made it more interesting. We started to land and at the last moment, the nose pulled up and we continued flying. The pilots assured us they had plenty of gas and we would fly around and try to wait out the weather. It's not like St. Thomas has more than one airport. Every time we would fly into the storm the plane would have dips and twists at unexpected times. Many people on the flight were scared and/or sick. Our kids were saying things like "Weeee!" and "Do it again!"  Every time we flew out of the storm our kids were disappointed. I was thrilled they weren't sick as I tried ignoring my motion sickness. After about an hour, we were told that we were cleared for landing. The plane landed safely and everyone cheered.

The plane landing safely would normally be the end of the story. However if you remember from yesterday's post, the St. Thomas airport doesn't have jet bridges. We had been in the air for a lot longer than expected and for the last hour and a half the seat belt sign had been on. Everyone wanted off the plane quickly, so we let most people exit before we even tried. It was still raining hard outside and we are trying to figure out how to get the kids with their backpacks and the adults each carrying a suitcase with a car seat strapped to it down the wet metal stairs. As we got to the front of the plane, I'm telling the kids to hold onto the rail and walk slowly and carefully down the stairs. The wonderful pilot pictured in the first photo, asks Sweet Daughter if she would like to hold his hand. She immediately agrees. After a few steps on the stairs, the wind gusts and she starts to slip. He picks her up and carries her down the rest of the way. At the bottom he waits with her until Wonderful Husband gets down. Then the pilot comes back and helps carry my bag/car seat down the rest of the way. How amazing is that? We wrote a letter to the airline about our experience. I hope he got a bonus or a big raise!

The flights back were rather boring, thank goodness. The kids were disappointed that we had different pilots. The kids spent the flight doing their favorite things - listening to music and drawing. I love that our kids are such great travelers. Then I remember how they are on car trips. I love that our kids are great at traveling on planes at least!