Happily Ever After...: The 2012 Air Show

Thursday, May 31, 2012

The 2012 Air Show

Saturday was our big Air Show Day!

We did get invited to Simon's birthday lunch at Chuck-A-Rama too, so we went there and celebrated with everyone with some yummy over mixed slushies and lots of scones and rice krispie treats. I had a lot of fun talking with Nancy and Forrest most of the time. I love Nancy. She's such a fun person. Simon seemed really happy to have so much support. That was fun.

After that we hurried home to get our warmer clothes on. While we had been sitting there eating lunch, we watched the gray clouds roll in and it definitely started to pour. We weren't sure they would still do the air show, but we were hopeful, so we continued to get ready for it. Heidi and John were at our house when we got here and entertained us while we gathered our jackets and hats.

It was such a relief when we saw that the rain was clearing up as we got closer to the base, and even more when we heard and then saw the F-16s flying overhead as we made our way through the traffic at the gate.

We all got really excited :).

Our parking spot was about a mile and a half away from the tarmac, so it was a long walk (for me at least), to the show, but WELL worth it!

We managed to see the Red Bull Stunt plane.... that's always a fun one.

The F-16

Here's the "Heritage Flight"

The Red Eagles

There was a lot of waiting time before the Thunderbirds, which happen to be some of our family favorites. But the kids seemed okay with the wait.

We were right next to the speakers, so we were battling that noise the whole time, which was fun, but also tiring for our ears :). Charity was stressing the whole time and had about 3 or 4 layers of whatever to cover her ears.

Kelly had a lot of fun playing with Aunt Heidi and John. She didn't seem too phased by the noise, but covered her ears a little as well.

Bradley pretended to be tough and was fine with the noise. He seemed so into the shows, it was great to watch him get excited about it all. I remember as a kid, just being so amazed and loving the sounds, the sights, and all the excitement. He seemed to really get into it.

Luke was mildly impressed. Didn't love the noise and was only really attentive for the first few shows. He watched, and was impressed, but found it hard to find entertainment in it all, I believe. It lost his attention. I loved his face when he was into it though.

Noah was completely UNimpressed by the whole thing. He sat in the stroller and complained about the noise, then complained about how long it was taking, just patting his nose with his ee-oh, and then eventually turning around completely in the stroller so that he was no longer even facing the show. Not sure what that was all about. Maybe next year he'll find it more impressive. It will always surprise me how differently my children react to different forms of entertainment. Everyone is so different.

Erika really loved the shows! At one point while she was on my shoulders, we saw a really cool something and I said, "Whoa that was cool!" when it got quiet, and cute little Erika leaned down to my ear and almost in a whisper said, "YEAH!" Made me laugh :). She did however get tired though, and actually fell asleep at the end. I laid her on top of the stroller visor and she was content to just lay there for the last half of the Thunderbirds. Kinda funny.

Nate and I took turns with the camera and grinning :). It's really a fun thing for us. I'm glad we both enjoy it so much and it's something we get to do every time they have one. It's a fun little bonding thing. Fun tradition.

I only wish they'd had the B2 and that we'd seen the Blue Angels. But ya can't have everything right :) Better luck next year!

The Thunderbirds!

I gave Bradley the camera as we were leaving, so he got some fun pictures at a Bradley angle :). He was very excited about his pictures of these missiles.