Nope, it's not ecologically "sensitive", green in even the tiniest way, "sustainable", or a celebration of any type of homegrown goodness, but it is our livelihood... the military aircraft! This weekend was the annual air show here at the base, and we go every year, rain or shine. This year it rained the whole time, and although we were a bit wet it was still fun. For one day we enjoy eardrum splitting noise, sonic booms, flames, the smell of jet fuel and hydraulic fluid, and fuel consumption numbers that would make you cringe - that's our life and we're sticking to it, for another 8 years, anyway!
Finn taking a break from the rain...
How often does a kid get to stand here?
Finn loves helos, much to hubby's dismay :)
Finnegan again...
In the evening the kids hooked up with their friends easily, since most of the crowd willing to attend in the rain involved the Navy families. They are enjoying the fireworks...
After the air show out on the tarmac, we were treated to our own private one courtesy of hubby. We walked down to his hangar where incidentally he had to actually work on real squadron stuff all weekend, and he was able to give the grand tour to my parents. My brother flies C-130's so being in a hangar isn't new to them, but F/A-18 SuperHornets are. It was nice to be out of the rain, although hubby is currently working on a few jets in there and the lovely chemical/fuel/hydraulic scent in there was a bit overpowering with the hangar doors closed.
The "non-air show" real deal - hubby's hangar! -
He got to work in here all by himself all weekend, instead of being out in the rain with us!
Kids love bombs. You know it, even kids who say they don't like bombs, love bombs :)
You mean you don't let your kids play with bombs? Hubby never gets the memo on these things.
Finn making his fist of fury... not sure if it was hydraulic fluid, jet fuel or testosterone I was smelling in there!
All right, I won't subject you to any more of this, I'll return to my normally scheduled posts on the finer points of homesteading and family managing next time, I promise. But if you are ever out our way and want to admit that you want to touch a bomb, I'm your girl and we'll hook you up! :)
Boys + bombs! What a combination. That fist of fury really had me going...hehehe. I never even thought about the possibility of touching a bomb! Would I dare to touch a bomb? Probably. I think the fuel fumes would get to me first, though. Looks like the boys had a blast (pardon the pun).
ReplyDeleteVery cool!
ReplyDeleteLOL! I'll pass on touching a bomb but I love to see jets fly. Looks like a fun event.
ReplyDelete:) Fun to see this side of your lives, and those are the biggest smiles I've ever seen on the boys. Jets are cool, no matter what anyone tries to say. My dad was in the Air Force, and he loves air shows. He's also a great photographer. Here's a link to a couple of his photos of jets at the air show in Duluth a couple of years ago.
ReplyDeletehttp://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aWgyHmM7l3c/TPBU7BY4D7I/AAAAAAAAADA/ooKzSjrEfd/s160/T%2527Birds%2B06091_edited-1.jpg
I always wanted to get some of them made into posters for my son's room. This link looks suspicious, so I'll have to see if it actually works. I'm glad you're having so much fun with your family. :)
And I was right. The link didn't work. I'm trying that again. http://photosbyken.blogspot.com/2010/11/here-are-some-birds-of-different.html
ReplyDeleteNo apologies necessary! You give us a peak into stuff most of us never get the chance to see. Plus it's always nice to be able to visualize the place where your hubby pedals off to every work day!
ReplyDeleteYou have more people in your family in the air force? What branch of the service were you in? Since I'm sort of new here or is that a silly question and why to hubby's dismay, would he not be happy if your son joined in say 10-15 years or so?
ReplyDeleteVery kewl pics...my Brother inlaw is an F16 pilot and my boys have gotten to seen many neat things up close and personal thanks to him.
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing your photos.
Tina
Susan, you'd laugh if you saw some of the things that get painted on those bombs before they are "delivered"!
ReplyDelete***
Dani, the boys sure think daddy has a cool factor!
***
Sparkless, it's pretty fun, I actually just like walking around and seeing people I haven't seen in awhile LOL
***
Patty, posters would be a great idea!
***
Mama Pea, isn't that funny how he actually rides a bike when you think about it? LOL, you'd think he'd be on some fast motorcycle or some other ridiculous mode of transportation - ridiculous since it's only about a mile and a half!
ReplyDelete***
Judy, I was in the Navy, I detected/classified & tracked foreign submarines, my dad was on subs in the Navy, and my brother was in the Navy for several years and then migrated over to the "Chair Force" where he is now (we have to tease him about that) and he flies cargo planes, the kind that drop Seal Teams and other miscellaneous cool stuff out the back LOL. I only said "to hubby's dismay" because Finn likes helos - as in helicopters, and daddy is in jets - the two communities don't play well together (haha)
***
Tina, isn't that neat when you have a family that can take you behind the scenes? Tell your BIL thanks for serving! (even if it's the Chair Force) - just kidding, more Navy vs. Air Force jabs :)
Love the fist of fury!
ReplyDeleteThese kids are getting some NEAT memories. I love the expressions on their faces. What good friends they have!
ReplyDeleteRibbit, he's that kind of kid LOL
ReplyDelete***
Sue, those friends have been together since birth! My BFF and I refer to our kids as cousins, which is great when both our families live so far away from the rest of our families!
My kids love 'family days,' too. They are super jealous, too, because pre-kids I attended one where we got to ride in the helicopters and they haven't gotten to! Nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah!!!
ReplyDeleteTina, ha! Hopefully one day they will be able to :) My kids saw a photo of me up in one of those tiny glass front helos down in Key West and were like "hey, how 'come we didn't get to go"? I said probably because it was 10 years before I even thought of having kids LOL
ReplyDeleteOh pick me! I would totally touch a bomb! Can we write notes on them!?
ReplyDeleteThis is a treat if you ask me! To get a birds eye view into something like this?! Cool!
Hey, I know, we could load your peppers into one and then it would be a good form of gas...and sustainable! hehehee