Labor Day Weekend 2011

Our Labor Day weekend was a fun, relaxed one this year.  We still had unpacking and sorting to do, but really wanted to get out of the house to enjoy the sunshine.  I had heard about an air show at the nearby Naval Air Station, and thought it might be just the ticket.

We headed down to NAS Patuxent River to visit the Air Expo, "Celebrating 100 Years of Naval Aviation".  It was a lot of fun, though waiting in line for an hour to get in left a little to be desired...

Fortunately, they had some fun entertainment for us while we waited.  In the sun.  For an hour.

Once we got through the security checkpoint, we had to decide what to do first.  Dallin was the smart one and made a beeline for the shade of a big airplane, where he promptly made a friend.

We looked at some of the displays as we wandered, but there was no getting past the huge bouncy airplanes, etc, that were there for the younger crowd.  For a fee, of course.  Quickly realizing that we had little cash on us, Dad went to the ATM (ouch!) and got tickets for the littler guys. I took older kids and wandered around the static displays, many of them showcasing older aircraft.

Then it was time for the main attraction: The Blue Angels.

The older kids and I worked our way toward the fence, and actually had a pretty good view.  It was tough to take pictures with my limited photography skillz, but I did my best.  We were amazed at the stunts, tricks, and acrobatics, as well as the incredible talent and teamwork of the pilots.  At one point they were flying at 350-400 mph with only 18 inches between one plane's wing and another's cockpit canopy.  Yikes!

It was a great show, even if it was a bit on the loud side.  I thought this baby behind us was just darling, and I hope her folks don't mind that I snapped a photo of her.  Smart parents!!

After the Blue Angels exhibition, we reunited with the rest of the fam, and went to visit more displays.  My kids had their eyes on some planes and helicopters they could actually walk through.  It's always more fun when you can sit in the pilot's seat and touch stuff!

Everyone was pretty hungry by then, so Dad wrangled up some hot dogs!

Here young Dallin will demonstrate how to eat a hot dog in 10 seconds....

...minus the bun, of course.

It was a fun day, and we even managed to get out of the parking lot easily.  Whew!

But the weekend's not over yet.

On Monday our church congregation had a picnic at a local park, with volleyball, food and a big playground for the younger set.  As we got there the clouds were looking a bit dark, but we found the group and sent littler ones off to play at the playground.  No sooner had they run over than it started to rain.  Hard.

Undaunted, Dallin continued scaling the rock wall and then finally ran back to the pavilion where the rest of us had taken shelter.  The kids were all soaked, but I wrapped them up in a quilt and they were good.  We fed everyone some lunch, crowded under the shelter, and then the rain stopped and they were off again.

That is some seriously rain-plastered hair!

Abby had fun hanging with her homegirls, walking around, chatting, finding frogs, etc.

Dad and I played a lame game of Frisbee with the older boys (apparently I stink at Frisbee!) and then pulled out our bocce set.  It was hard playing on rough, soaking wet terrain, but we had fun watching the balls splash when they hit the grass.  Good thing we don't play for points!

By then we older ones were a bit done with the excessive humidity and were ready to go.

It was harder to convince the younger ones, who were still soaked and loving life on the playground, but age finally won.  We dragged everyone home, took off our wet socks and shoes, and enjoyed the air conditioning for a while.

Sound like a great weekend to me!