Weekend at the air show
The kids and I spent the weekend at the Cape Cod Air Show. It's the first time they've had the air show at Otis Air National Guard Base since James was in diapers, so we were thrilled with the chance to go. With the 102nd Fighter Wing moving off Cape, this may very well be the last time we get to see the show here as well -- a sad prospect.
Bonnie skipped it -- we were short on earplugs, and she decided she'd rather spend the day catching up on work. It was just as well -- it was so hot and humid that Emme and Robert could only last about half the day on Saturday, so we left early -- we were home by 2:30 or so. As it turns out, we were smart to leave early, as the Thunderbirds had to scrub their flight due to low visibility.
James and I returned on Sunday and spent basically the whole afternoon at the air show. The highlight of our day was getting to watch the Thunderbirds perform. It was an absolute thrill -- they're amazing pilots. I told Emmeline when we got home that two of them are women, too, which seemed to please her.
It was a thrill -- we got to see jets and prop planes perform some crazy stunts, got to take looks inside some massive aircraft like a C-5 Galaxy, and James even got to sit in the pilot's seat of a Marine helicopter.
We ran into two problems -- one was with the van, the other was with our luggage. I brought my backpack with me, partly to hold my camera gear, and partly to hold sandwiches, snacks and beverages.
The van began steaming as we got to the area where we needed to park. I don't know what happened exactly -- I pulled over and checked it out, and there's plenty of coolant and oil. But I turned off the AC to be safe, noticed the "Check Engine" light is back on, and limped to the parking area without further incident. I'll call the Kia dealer tomorrow to bring it in.
When we got to the entrance gate, we discovered they were checking all backpacks. Fortunately I'd thought ahead and brought a Stop & Shop grocery bag, so I shoved all of our food and drinks in that, checked the bag (so no wide-angle shots today, as I left the wide-angle lens in the bag), and didn't get it back until we left.
Regardless of the blips, James and I had a great time, and it was really nice to have some one-on-one time with him, which I know he appreciated. With all of his brother and sister's issues, James gets short shrift sometimes, and I think he really appreciated the unadulterated attention.
I'll post more photos when I have a chance to edit them a bit -- between yesterday and today I shot over 1500 pics, and all day yesterday I had crap on the camera's sensor. But I posted a few from Saturday as a .Mac Web Gallery.