I suppose it's one of the idiosyncrasies of my personality that I am absolutely terrified of flying but completely fascinated by things that fly.  I suppose even weirder is the fact that while I would sooner go through an emergency c-section than fly across the country, I have a secret desire to learn to fly an ultra light plane - I think that scenario probably has a lot to do with me being in control - in a commercial plane, I have to trust whoever they put in the cockpit - I know nothing about him or her: nothing, absolutely nothing.  I mean, I wouldn't let my kids ride in a car with someone I didn't know at the wheel, no matter how safe the car is, so why would I put them in a plane with a stranger, regardless of how safe the "friendly" skies are.  Okay, I digress.....This post has nothing to do with my phobias - well, I guess now it does, but it wasn't supposed to.... Here's what the post is really about.

I took the girls to watch the Blue Angels practice this morning.  Honestly, Gracie was initially a bit disappointed - I think she imagined the that Blue Angels were, in fact, literally blue angels, the kind with wings and halos that could fly around without planes, and more importantly, talk.  She must have asked me fifteen times - "So, can these Blue Angels talk?"  Because I forgot, as I often do, how completely literal Gracie is,  I told her, "Yes, they can talk and we'll be able to talk to them after they finish practice."  I was talking, of course, about the Blue Angel PILOTS, who very graciously agree to meet with their doting public once a week to dole out autographs and pose for pictures.  Telling her this only reinforced her opinion that we were going to see flying angels of the celestial variety and that once they finished flying around in the sky, they'd float down and talk to her.  After we walked out on the tarmac and she discovered that the Blue Angels are actually planes, she looked a little confused.  But, she seemed to enjoy the maneuvers and guessing which direction they'd come from next.   That is, until one of the planes flew a bit to close for her comfort and that was it.  She announced, "I don't like these Blue Angel things.  They are way too LOUD", covered her ears, and demanded that we go inside to the museum.  Abigail, my little adventurous spirit, enjoyed the whole thing, repeatedly signing more plane more plane more plane whenever more than a moment passed without the six planes flying near us.   When the practice finished, we took a quick stroll through the museum, but Gracie wasn't interested in standing in line to talk to the pilots - now, I'm sure if they'd have been actual ANGELS, we'd have waited as long as it took.  They both seemed really fascinated by all the displays and I reminded myself once again that I need to make more of an effort to take them to places like this!  As we were leaving, I asked Gracie if she had fun.  "Yes, it was very cool!  But, they were too LOUD so I will never ever go see the Blue Angels again."  My girl can certainly hold a grudge....

And, here are the pictures (You knew they were coming didn't you?)











I'm sure this is just an optical illusion, but these planes look incredibly close to me!


Flying the plane in the kids' area at the museum


Gracie in the cockpit of a Coast Guard helicopter