Play-offs & Airplanes

Our friends James and Kara invited us to come to their place to watch the play-off games on Saturday night. Since they live about a two hour drive away we also took them up on the offer to spend the night. We had a really great visit. We got to see other friends, John & Kelley & their daughter Addie, Malynn and Jack loved playing with James & Kara's girls, Bella & Annie, we watched football, ate wings, got the kids to bed, had more wings, and got some adult conversation as the football became uninteresting. Jack & Malynn have always had a tough time falling asleep, just the first time, in a new place. However, other than a little uncertainty by Malynn (a.k.a., crying when we left the room that only lasted about 2.5 minutes), they went down easy and slept through the night! The next morning brought lots of fun in the playroom, a super yummy eggs & bacon breakfast, and a trip to the Dulles Air & Space Museum!

(I forgot my camera. So I'm sad that I don't have pictures of our visit at James & Kara's place. Thankfully Grand, Ottar, & Janelle arranged to meet us at the museum and Janelle got a few good pictures of our time there together. I also scavenged a couple from Kara. Thanks for sharing!)

We got there 15 minutes before the museum opened. Thankfully they let us and all the other early birds (almost entirely other parents with young children) wait just inside since it was bitterly cold and super windy! So the entry way was full of little ones toddling around, parents doing the patented quick step walk to keep up with the ones who were headed off in undesirable directions, and a general air of anticipation as the children could see just enough to know there were LOTS of curious planes just down the hall.

First, we headed up to the top of the observation tower and got to hear the air traffic controllers talking to the planes that were coming and going. It was a great view, but the planes were pretty far away, so the cars pulling into the parking lot might have been the main attraction. Then, we went down the big ramp to see some planes! We even made it back to the space shuttle section before taking a break for lunch. Over and over Malynn and Jack would just point up and talk about what they saw or just say, "woah!"

They were eager to walk around but still really great about sticking close to the adults they knew, as evidenced by this picture. Jack was ready to head to the next section, and when he reached up for the nearest one of his adults, he found Ottar, who was just as eager to head out and see as much as possible!

Lunch was when we saw the best airplane action!

We sat by the windows where the planes that were landing flew right by! All the kids were mesmerized!

I think Jack and Malynn saw every single plane that went by.

Jack was "on duty" alerting us when a plane was coming, and Malynn was happiest watching the show with Daddy.

Jack might have missed a couple planes once the fries showed up. That kid LOVES fries!

Malynn started doing her super adorable hand turned up, head slightly tilted look as the planes would disappear from sight, seemingly asking, "Where did it go?" Here Daddy was joining in on the inquiry.

After lunch we all headed out to the planes again. I wasn't sure how long Malynn and Jack would last because they had skipped their morning nap. Other than wanting to be carried a little more (thank goodness we had so many able bodied adults with us) they held up remarkable well. We've had a special interest in helicopters, so I was really glad when we made it to a big section of all helicopters.



That was about when this picture of Bella and Malynn was taken. Malynn is looking pretty "cooked" here because she was so tired. Bella's look is exemplifying exactly what we saw from her all weekend: a super sweet little lady, who was loving and understanding with Malynn and Jack the whole time. She really was meant to be a big sister! Thanks Bella!

On our way out both kids demonstrated just how tired they were. Malynn got a spurt of hyper energy and pointed out every single spotlight as we walked by the final planes. Whereas, Jack fell asleep in Ottar & Grand's arms as they shared "carry Jack out" duty.

It was a great trip, especially because of the great company!