Airplanes and Such

Somehow, the air show that feels like it's been on our calendar for months and months was this past weekend and I cannot even believe the weekend has come and gone so quickly! Truly; I think we have had the Joint Base Andrews Air Show 2025 on the schedule since sometime in January or February, and so on Friday after work - it was off to Maryland for the evening, so we could be in place bright and early for all the airplanes and such. 

My Dad was lucky enough to get lodging on the AFB, which is such a deal - staying on base means no parking and waiting on the chartered buses; or in this case, school buses, to take you from the parking lots outside the base and to the flight line. We were able to park right across the street from the flight line, walk across and find our spots for the day - it was incredible. And when it was time to go, it was really incredible because we didn't have to wait to get a ride on those buses back to our car!

If I had to guess how many air shows I've been to in my life, I'd not even begin to give a number. I've been going since before I was verbal; long before it was cool to take your baby with a big ol set of headphones on their teeny little head. However - this was Ryan's third air show - and I think he has enjoyed every single one he's been to more than the last one, ha-ha! He has definitely chosen his favorite planes and loves wandering all over, taking everything in. And I'm happy to hold his hand and follow him around, watching him take it all in.

I must have put sunscreen on about five times and thankfully I didn't get burned, but Ryan has an excellent red neck, since his sunscreen application didn't quite outlast the bright sunshine in the near cloudless blue sky. It was a great air show, the Thunderbirds were the best part - naturally - and it was really nice to not have too much hassle getting back to the car and home when it was all said and done. It did leave me wondering where the weekend had gone so quickly when we pulled up at home around 7 on Saturday night, ha-ha! 

The cats were thrilled to see us on Saturday night - happily meowing to us about how much they missed us (at least that's what I tell myself) and wondering where we'd been. We ended up eating leftovers and chilling with some animal shows on Saturday night and it was honestly just nice to be at home, not be sweaty and hot, and get to relax! It was also hilarious to watch Spook and Maverick become completely enchanted in the show, since it was showcasing Pallas cats, leopards and lions - and they were fascinated! I guess it's like seeing their bigger cousins on the television?

Sunday was a really chill day - and man, we needed that! We went to second service, which was excellent and I truly appreciated and needed the words our pastor spoke in light of the recent rampant evil that seems to be unfolding in our world. After some quick errands, we headed home and essentially did whatever we wanted all afternoon - Ryan watched NFL games and made a Lowe's run, I did some laundry and read an entire book, the cats investigated the Autumn decor, did some yoga (oh Spook) and took naps. It was great - and made greater when I attempted a Lapp family recipe for the first time and pretty much got it perfectly, with only a tweak or two needed next time. 

I leave you with a photo from Monday - my Dad has been working to restore this caboose in the town I work in; it's actually only a block from my office, so on Monday, I walked down to say hi to him. Tuesday is already winding to a close, and we have a Watson family vacation coming up next week that Ryan and I are so looking forward to, followed by a weekend in DC and then a Sunday with our Smucker family in Somerset! September is going to end on a full note and I can't believe it's going so fast - but isn't that life?