B-25 Mitchell Bomber

We truly loved the couple of hours we spent visiting the B-25 bomber that came to Heber in June. It was a beautiful plane. It is based in Arizona but tours the country, so it is very well kept and totally functional. 

Big wheels (taller than Nora!)

Huge propellers (x2)

Zeke next to the bomb, which has been repurposed as a monetary donation collection device. 

For a $10 donation we got to tour the plane. We went looked over the seats into the cockpit, then went into the back. 

We walked around a couple of other planes that were sitting nearby. Zeke took a picture of the under-wing on all of them. 

About the time we got done seeing the additional planes, they asked everyone to move off to the side so the bomber could fly. We sat to watch it start up, then moved over towards the runway to watch it take off. 

  

The take off was phenomenal! The video is good, but in person it was just thrilling. Much more exciting than I expected!

Nora was really bummed that we couldn't go up for a flight in the bomber. It was cute. And somewhat overdramatic.  

Our Summer Staycation

We planned a staycation this year to save some money, and to do some of those things around home that we say we want to do but never actually do. We had expected it to be several single days scattered throughout the summer, but it turned out that we were able to take a whole consecutive week!

Very conveniently, a B-25 bomber was visiting the week we were staycationing. We spent a very enjoyable morning at the airport with this beauty. 

Nora has never been on Trax before (it's hard to believe it's been 4 years since we last rode the train!). She absolutely loved it. On the trip back, we were in the first car, and Zeke spent the whole trip looking through the window to the cab so he could watch out the windshield like the driver.

They were checking tickets at one of the stops, and the kids got police badge stickers. They are showing them off in most of the pictures we have from our train ride. 

We spent another day at the Hill Air Force Base museum. This is another place that we love but haven't visited since Nora was a baby. 

We fit in lots of playground time too.

We tried to go flying on Flag Day, but it was super windy and cold. The only thing we flew was the flag! Still fun though.

It was so great to just be together for a whole week with a lot of free time to do what we wanted instead of our normal daily routine of trying to fit everything in. I took a whole bunch of pictures and we did a lot of playing. It was wonderful. 

Timpanogos Cave

On the Fourth of July we hiked a mountain! Aaron's brother Tyler wanted to go to Timpanogos Cave and invited a whole bunch of us --- we had 16 people so we were a whole tour. Thank goodness it was often shady, because it was hot. 

Zeke and Nora loved the rock tunnels. 

The views were beautiful. There were times we could see the highway from high up and we enjoyed looking down at the tiny cars on the road below. 

Zeke wanted to be the first one up the mountain so he kept us moving. Nora wanted rest/snack breaks often, so we stopped at most of the benches to recharge. Zeke was up and insisting we continue on long before the rest of us were ready.

Inside the cave was beautiful. It's been a long time since I've been there, and I had forgotten how extensive the caves are. 

The kids loved that they got to use flashlights in the dark cave.

The way down went quickly  --- thank goodness because Nora was tired and whiny for most of it. Aaron carried her for a bit, but probably not more than 1/4 mile. She did almost the whole hike on her own two cute little feet. 

Not surprisingly, we were all sore the next day. The kids kind of staggered out of bed (after sleeping very well that night) were a little confused why their muscles didn't feel quite right. They recovered much quickly than the adults did. But we tried not to complain too much, because we had so much fun. 

Foot Pictures

For some reason my kids are obsessed with taking pictures of their feet. I guess that means you get to see all of Nora's cute shoes! (and some Zeke feet too)