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| All these photos are by my sister, Rachel Wolf |
Today we had a little surprise birthday outing for my birthday boys.
I had been planning this for over a month. Since they are really into planes right now, I thought it would be cool if I could get us a tour at one of the places at the airport. I didn't call the airport itself, but I called a jet fueling and maintenance business that is right on the airstrip. They were more than happy to let us come check out some planes, and so we marched ourselves down there at 9:30 this morning.
Now, I wanted this to be a surprise, but it was so hard to keep it secret when they kept asking "Can we go to the airport?" I kept having to tell them "oh, I don't know if we'll go this week. We'll have to see."
So today, when cousins showed up at our house and I told them to get in the car they kept asking "Where are we going? Where are we going?" I repeatedly told them, "Don't worry about it!" And they came up with all kinds of guesses like seeing pirates, or astronauts.
By the time we pulled onto the road to the airport, of course they could figure it out, but today was way cooler than any other day we've tried to see planes from behind a chain link fence.
As we walk around the side of the building to the entrance, one of the men was pulling out a private jet and wheeling it around for refueling. They all had to stop and watch and thought that was really cool. While they were doing that I went inside to let them know we were there. Now, as this was going on after I came back outside to wait for our tour guide, I noticed a few "Army Mans {and woman}" (that's what the boys call them) walking around but didn't think much of it.
Our very nice tour guide Ken, came out, said something to the man fueling the jet, and then turned around and said that if we wanted to see, there was a Black Hawk about to take off.
Umm. Yes! Talk about really cool timing for us. And that's when I noticed, as we walked through the lobby to see around the jet, the Black Hawk helicopter that was sitting at the end of the pad right near the airstrip. That explained the Army men and woman. I thought that was cool just by itself.
Well they were very nice and said we could go out onto the sidewalk to watch it take off. So we walked outside and watched the soldiers do some pre-flight check stuff. That's when Ken and the very nice lady who's name I did not catch came over with a golf cart and asked who the birthday boy was. I pointed out Jack and Ty and she said that if we hurried out there we might be able to ask them for some pictures. Sweet!
So my sister, who mans the camera, the boys, and I hopped on the cart and sped our way out there. She asked the soldiers if the boys could have some pictures before they took off, because it was their birthday, and bless our soldiers they were more than happy to let the boys climb on board.
They got out, hoisted the boys up and let them climb in, giving high fives to the soldier who was still in the back of the chopper.
Now here I have to take a little break and just pour out my heart of thanks for these men and women who serve our country. They sacrifice so much for us, and they have such wonderful hearts and it was just such a big deal to my boys (and me) to be able to do that. I don't know if they'll ever see this, but if you're out there and you do: THANK YOU! For what you do, and for making my boys' day. You are all amazing people.
As we were going out there Ken was getting a second go cart for the cousins and Brett, so everyone was able to climb in and check it out and get their picture in the Black Hawk. I think that, right there, was it for me. That made my day so much, and I was so excited about it. (Can't you tell by my rambling on and on already?)
After that we came back to a safe distance were able to watch them go through the rest of their flight checks, and then finally take off. It was SO COOL.
Once the Black Hawk was gone, Ken showed the kids to the jet that had been sitting there and the kids got to climb in and have a look around.
That was a pretty spiffy jet! When we were all done Ken walked us back inside and handed out some little squishy airplanes to all the kids.
It was a wonderful experience, and the people there were so nice and sweet to let us do that. It made me want to work there, or come back and visit all the time, they were so sweet.
After all that we went the local town history museum to play at a children's center they have there. It's a place I used to go when I was younger (which kinda trips me out bringing my own kids to it). They have a learning room with things like maps and mirrors and light boxes, and they have what they call "Kid City" which is a room with a bunch of little booths that are the different buildings in the "city". They have a restaurant, a police station, a hospital, a theater, a news station, a bank, etc.
They all ran around and had lots of fun for awhile, and then, since our admission paid for both the kid's center and the rest of the museum we decided to go walk the grounds.
This museum is a collection of houses and buildings that are part of our county's history and have been moved to this location and preserved. It's always been one of my favorite places in town, because I love seeing the old buildings and they way people used to live.
The kids... Well they were moderately amused, but you know how kids are. They would look, go "hey cool!" and then run to the next one. :)
They did stop for awhile when Brett found the locomotive engine, which just made his day.
After we toured the whole place we found a spot to sit down and have brownies and do birthday presents.
It was such a nice day and the excitement of it has been pumping through me all day.
As my sister and I were walking out of the jet center she said "I miss field trips!"
I agree.
We need to do this more often!
Happy Weekend,
Meg
