Brunch and Airplanes for Memorial Day 2011

Do not attempt to adjust your computer monitor (unless it really needs adjusting); the picture you see below is real: our unidirectional van went on a major outing!

This Memorial Day weekend we got to have Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Mike come visit. Our first big activity on Memorial Day was the annual brunch (formerly breakfast) with our church congregation. It was at the same Metro Park as always, but in a different area. So, when we got to our assigned area, this is what we saw:

However, after a short stroll to the end of the parking line, we found the entry into the official recreation area, where food, friends, and fun awaited. Jared especially liked this find, a worm:

Curtis found a BIG ball to play with:

Amanda found some nice big swings to fly high on:

And Lydia found a Grandma to hold her:

After the brunch, we set out on our REALLY big adventure. Here we have the boys in the very back seat:

And the girls in the middle seat:

On our way to our destination, we found a rainbow, right in our van:

And here it is, the Air Force Museum in Dayton! Three big hangers full of planes, plus a few more outside!

The planes are grouped by era, and it wasn't long after the Wright Brother's original model that Curtis figured out what we were seeing and started yelling "Plane! Plane!" (okay, it was more like "Pay!") every time we found another one. Jared was excited (and a bit alarmed) about this one, which he called a "shark plane":

Here we have Grandpa with Jared and Curtis as they play with a helicopter flying exhibit. Dad and Amanda ended up taking their own tour, since we lost them somewhere around WWI and didn't find them again until the Cold War planes. While they spent time studying flight in detail, we moved ahead to more modern planes and got to have Grandpa point out two or three plane models that he actually flew during his time in the Air Force, such as the C124 and others that Mom can't remember the names of right now.

Eventually it was time to go home again. This last photo represents the essence of the scenery we saw on our drive.

Grandma and Grandpa treated us to Chinese food after we got home, and later we got to have a Family Home Evening lesson by Amanda. Definitely a Memorial Day well spent.