Another Airplane Anniversary

As of the end of May, Aaron has been flying for 2 years. He got his first plane beginning of June 2 years ago. We took pictures then, we took pictures last year, and we took pictures again recently with the plane and Zeke. This year they've both changed.

The NexStar has gained a new fuselage (wings are the same) and a new power system (electric instead of gas).

Zeke last year was just barely walking. This year he ran over to the plane (once we finally convinced him to come) and talked about the plane. He pointed out and named the star in the NexStar logo and tried to identify the letters too.

Father's Day Planes

We have developed a pattern of giving Aaron airplanes for Father's Day. Usually as early Father's Day gifts to be used for spring flying. Last year he got his Zero.

And this year he got a Slow Stick. We got one because his club scheduled a combat with slow flyers at the annual electric plane event. However, Aaron enjoys his so much there was no way he was going to put it in combat danger!

Summer Is Here

Picnic in the Rain

Last week the rain poured all day on our flying day. We decided to go to the modelport anyway just to see what was going on. We didn't expect to be able to fly, but we packed the planes and our picnic dinner and headed out like normal. When we got there, the covered airport was flooded and not surprisingly we had the place to ourselves. Zeke was so excited about splashing in the puddles like a little duck.

We walked around in the rain for a while and got pretty much soaked. Zeke was soaked from the top down because of the rain and the bottom up because of his spashing.

Then it was back to the car to dry out and have dinner before going to run a bunch of errands and do some shopping.

Now if only we had remembered a change of pants, socks, and shoes for Zeke.....

The Color of Iris

My flower photography fixation has continued with the many color variations of one of our favorite flowers.

And of course our cute kid.

Memorial Day of Fun

Our original Memorial Day plan was to go to an extended family lunch-reunion and spend the rest of the day relaxing. But somehow, in the days leading up to the holiday and spontaneously during the day itself, we kept adding fun things to do. Just how many things can you pack into one holiday?

We started the day launching rockets with Aaron's family.

Aaron also flew his airplane while we were there, and Zeke played on the playground.

We stopped by to say hi to Thomas and the rest of the trainyard,

and went home by way of the airport to look at the jets, planes, and gliders. Zeke fell asleep after the airport, starting what amounted to about 30 minutes total of nap for the day. As soon as we were home, I frosted our cake and we went to the potluck family lunch for food, visiting, and pictures.

After lunch we played on the playground some more and Aaron flew his plane again before we went to a barbeque with my family.

That's a lot of memories to make in just one day!

Going the Full 5k

I have to admit that I was and still am a bit skeptical of the idea of paying $25 each for the experience of getting up early, driving for an hour, and going for a walk in the park with hundreds of other people. But Dynna does a 5k every May for brain injury awareness and fundraising with her work, and we finally came with her this year after being invited last year and the year before and having conflicts both times. We're used to going on walks of about 4k, so we did 'train' a little bit by making sure we went on longer walks in the weeks before the event.

Here we are, ready to go before 8am. (We're on Team Red with the rest of the fam and Dynna's coworkers.)

We started a couple of minutes after all the runners, near the back of the walking crowd. We spent maybe the first k passing people and trying to find an open space to walk in so we didn't feel so crowded. We totally lost my family in this process; guess they just weren't ready for the sudden bursts of speed. After a while Carrie sprinted up to us and walked with us the rest of the way. We were really excited for the company (she probably was too, as Draper was walking with Dad) and had a great time chatting with her. We came in at about 52 minutes, which made us very happy because our goal was to walk 5k in under an hour.

After everyone crossed the finish line, we got snacks and water and found a picnic table near a pond. Zeke and Carrie and Draper watched the the ducks and fish.

And then Dynna and Brooke taught Zeke a new game.

It was fun and we would do it again with Dynna. But I think for the most part we'll just stick with our evening walks near home where there isn't an entry fee and there is a lot less competition for the sidewalk.

Farm Visit

One of Zeke's story hour activities took us to a mini farm put on by the high school. We saw sheep and cows and horses and llamas.

But what was really exciting for Zeke? Tractors and trucks and trailers and buses. Most of the time he didn't even notice the animals because he was looking at the vehicles!

May Camping

When I was telling Zeke about camping, I figured it would be right up his alley - it's all about outside. You eat outside, sleep outside, sit outside... It didn't quite work out exactly like that.

We were on a bluff overlooking the lake. Beautiful and amazing views, but pretty windy as well.

We set up our campsite with two tents, so Zeke could have his own room.

After dinner, we sat by the fire, roasted marshmallows, and watched the moon rise over the lake.

Zeke went to bed in his own tent really well, and I had hope that the dual tent arrangement would work out like I planned. About 3am Zeke woke up freezing because he kicked off his blanket. Aaron was already up with heartburn from too many late night treats and I was too cold to sleep, so we all moved into the car. As soon as the campground gates opened at 6am, we headed home to thaw in hot showers before coming back for breakfast.

The next night we just went home where we knew we'd sleep comfortable.

The days were fun, filled with hanging around the campsite chatting and playing games, fixing and driving Aaron's RC car, and going down by the water's edge on the rocky beach to watch the lake and throw rocks in the water. I am proud to report that I learned how to skip rocks on the water, and my sore arm proved that my rock-skipping muscles have not yet been developed.

Maybe by next year we'll be ready to insulate our bed better and try this sleeping outdoors thing again!