Air Show!

Confession time: We have lived here for just over eight years, and we have never been to the Miramar Air Show. It's shameful, really, considering how we live so close to the base. And one long section of the property even extends out near our neighborhood, which means that some of the big planes turn around out here. So, sure, we've seen pieces of the show... but we've never actually made the trip onto the base itself to see it up close.

However... seeing as this year might very likely be our last opportunity to see it (and the Miramar show is known as one of the best around), we loaded up the car after lunch and headed for MCAS Miramar. And... I am so glad we did! Ok, so it was a long walk from the parking area to the tarmac (well over a mile each way), and it was pretty hot, but it was still totally worth it. With small kids, we weren't planning on being there for too long. We timed our trip so that we'd be there in time to see the Blue Angels. While we waited, we took turns bringing the kids inside the various old planes sitting around for the public to explore. That was pretty cool! I would tell you the names of the planes we went in, but I don't know them, haha! One of them was the kind with the huge ramp at the back, either for quickly unloading a bunch of people, or for carrying some sort of huge cargo. That one was awesome! Then the kids got to sit in the cockpit of a much smaller, yellow plane. Again, I have no idea what they were called, except that they were really cool. Planes are clearly not within my realm of knowledge. But you can see the wing of the yellow plane in this picture, along with some airmen who had really excellent seats for the show. :)

After that, they played on our blanket for a bit, happy as can be... until Nikos noticed a little boy with an inflatable airplane. And he wanted one SO badly! He was polite about it, too, and Gus couldn't resist... So he took both kids, and got one for each of them. If you ask them what their favorite part of the day was, it was getting the airplane. They are so darn cute!

If you ask ME what my favorite part was, it was seeing the Blue Angels! They are so awesome! It's been a long time since I've seen them up close, and it was pretty amazing. I will never understand how they can fly so closely together without crashing. It literally took my breath away (wait... wait... Top Gun moment... okay, done) to watch them. I kept thinking they were going to have a horrible, fiery collision. And yes, it's happened before... SCARY!

At any rate, check them out. It was totally worth the trip to the base today!


YEAH!!