I got curious and googled - there are a couple of articles:
http://www.whotv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4138928&nav=2HAB
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051113/NEWS08/511130308/1001/archive
McCaughey septuplets: The 7 to turn 8
The McCaughey septuplets remain close while slowly becoming individuals
By ERIN CRAWFORD
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
November 13, 2005
It's mid-morning at the Blank Park Zoo caiman exhibit, and the reptile is standing stone still.
One by one, the McCaughey septuplets and their older sister, Mikayla, approach the glass and ask, "Is it real?"
Among the challenges of parenting eight kids is that they never seem to arrive in the same place at the same time. So, the question gets asked again and again as the kids give the mini-gator dubious looks.
When Nathan McCaughey gets to the exhibit in his walker, most of the septuplets have moved on. A zookeeper stops to answer his question, then offers to feed the caiman so Nathan can see the animal in action.
By the time the zookeeper gets a container of dead, skinned mice and steps into the small exhibit, painted to look like the sandy edge of a lake, all of the septuplets, Mikayla, and parents Bobbi, 37, and Kenny, 35, who live in Carlisle, are there.
The kids stand pressed against the glass, watching the caiman sit at the bottom of the pool as the zookeeper splashes a mouse on the water, unable to attract the disinterested reptile.
"He says, 'I want Cookie's BBQ sauce,' " Kenny Sr. jokes.
This is one of the few moments at the zoo when all seven of the septuplets, who will turn 8 on Nov. 19, are together, paying attention to the same thing.
It is a rare sight. The McCaugheys don't often go on outings with the entire 10-member family. This event is made all the more odd by the Japanese TV crew standing to the side, the crew that is spending five days with the family.
None of it seems to bother the kids, who bound through the zoo, calling to one another about each new discovery.
"Kangaroos!"
"Kangaroos where?"
"I just saw kangaroos!"
Aside from the occasional media interest, a lot has changed since the septuplets first captured the world's attention in 1997.
They're old enough to wander off a bit without anyone getting worried, though a few kids are hollered at during the course of the zoo trip when they get too far ahead of the group.
They have chores and, if they're completed, they are rewarded with an allowance $1 a week.
Bobbi has returned to work part time at the same powder-coating company in Des Moines that employs Kenny.
In second grade at Carlisle Elementary School, all seven are in separate classrooms. Bobbi had initially planned to home-school them, as she does with Mikayla, who is nearly 10 years old and in fifth grade, but they soon noticed how different the kids were when they're not all together. That, combined with Nathan and Alexis' physical challenges, changed their minds.
"When they're all in the same place, it's kind of like the group mentality kicks in," she said. "They're conniving together and get into more mischief. If it's just one, they're the best-behaved kids on the planet.
"The kids enjoy being with each other, but they're not so tied up with each other that they can't make other friends as well."
Seating is no longer assigned in the family's large white van. For a while, competition for the window seats and those closest to the front was so vehement the parents had the kids on rotating seat assignments.
The appetites keep getting bigger, but Bobbi would rather cook for 10 people than two. And none of her kids is a picky eater.
"I grew up with six kids, so I'm used to making big pots of stuff," Bobbi said.
The kids were taking violin lessons until their teacher moved last year.
Nathan has expressed an interest in drums, though that will have to wait until he's old enough for band.
A few of the septuplets are reading chapter books. Natalie likes "Black Beauty," and Kelsey has discovered "The Secret Garden."
The parents are reconsidering their stance on sports. They've long worried that enrolling the kids on a team would end up running their lives, chauffeuring the children from place to place. But they're reconsidering that stance for Brandon and Kenny and Mikayla, all of whom enjoy sports.
And the kids have begun to give back to the community that pitched in at their birth.
It was Mikayla's idea to start raking leaves for an elderly neighbor and helping around the house, but big sis soon inspired the younger siblings to action.
"They've always been good with each other," Bobbi said. "They're learning to help others."
It's now easier to go places than when the kids were little, but the family rarely attempts group shopping. And, yes, when they've made rare trips to the store with all the kids, they're recognized as the septuplets.
Bobbi and Kenny don't just want their kids to be the McCaughey septuplets. The boys may look like variations of one another, and the girls certainly look like sisters, but each one of the seven is definitely an individual.
Often running ahead with the boys is tomboy Kelsey, whose long brown hair is fastened into a ponytail. At the zoo, she was the most likely to be leaning precariously against a sign over one of the animal exhibits.
She also was given an apple by one of the film crew members and spent a great deal of the trip showing it off to her envious brothers.
Alexis, whom the family calls "Lexi," has shorter brown hair and uses a walker because of a condition related to cerebral palsy called hypotonic quadriplegia. She stays a bit behind the group, inquiring about the safety of getting close to a snake exhibit or monkey cage. Her favorite shows are Rachel Ray-hosted Food Network shows "30 Minute Meals" and "$40 a Day."
Natalie and Alexis don't say they're best friends, according to Bobbi, but Natalie watches out for Alexis. She helps her get dressed in the morning. At the zoo, Natalie gives her sister's walker a few running pushes.
Natalie, who has long, pale blonde hair, is the academic one. She brings along a small pastel pad to the zoo.
"I'm writing the animals I see," she said, stopping to note the flamingos.
By contrast, Kenny Jr. carries around a yellow tractor toy at the zoo. "I brought it because I thought it was going to be boring."
He always seems to be a half-block ahead of everyone else and running. He's the first one out of the van, in a dead sprint that breaks only to give a big hug to the Japanese crew. Nathan and Kenny Jr. are best friends.
Brandon is the most athletically gifted of the group, according to his mom. Joel is the group's "TV nut," Bobbi said. "He would watch TV 24-7," she said.
Starting last November, Nathan, who has spastic diplegia, a form of cerebral palsy, weathered six weeks of surgery and physical therapy rarely complaining, according to his mother and his ability to walk has improved significantly. But he and Alexis are both likely to have more surgery ahead.
When the group gets to a rope footbridge, Nathan asks his mom to take his walker to the other side so he can walk over. He's able to get around at school without it most of the time, Bobbi says. Alexis sees her brother crossing the bridge and decides to follow him.
Her eyes get wide when the bridge starts to swing, as some of the other siblings double back and join their brother and sister on the bridge, but she waits them out and makes it across.
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I thought it was interesting that they are in 7 separate classrooms. I mean, I think that's a good idea, but wow - that must be a huge elementary school to have 7 second grade classrooms!
Laurie
Our school has 600 and that's bad enough!
