A very cool afternoon for Noah

a few months ago we had fueling jet, along with 4 smaller jets, fly right above our neighborhood. when i say right above, i literally mean right above. on one of their last circles they flew down the length of our street. it was amazing.

We called my brother Robert, who is a Master Sergeant at the base, and told him about the planes flying around our area. He made a few calls and worked it out so that Noah could come and take a tour of the base and check out the big refueling jet up close. What Noah didn't know, was that Robert had worked it out so that we could actually go on the jet and really check it out. For years he was a boom operator (the guy who would refuel jets while in the air) so it was really cool seeing up close what his job was like.



First we do a quick tour inside the base and see where Robert works. there are no pictures in there because camera's weren't allowed in that room. One of the rooms we could take pictures in was their big briefing room where Noah promptly ran up to the podium to brief us all. it's amazing how much this kid takes after his father. (well, not with his singing abilities - that's all me.)

This is Noah riding in the shuttle that takes the pilots to the planes. It's hard to capture on film just how excited he was. It was impossible not to just sit there and smile as you watched him soak it all in.

Finally, we're on the plane and Noah runs straight to the pilots seat. Here he is pretending to take off...

Here he is pretending the plane is going down in flames...

my two favorite 'pilots' in the entire world...

Aaron, thrilled beyond belief to be strapped in and ready for take-off. seriously, this boy knows how to get into character.

Noah is taking a picture of me after he's just told me the plane is going down and there's no chance of survival...

This is the "chair" that Robert lays on when refueling jets. There's about a 2 inch glass there in front of him that "protects" him when the boom is actually lowered. If they were really refueling right now, the two-paned windows you see (with the green metal around them) would be gone and all you'd see was the plane you're refueling and the ground 35,000 feet below you. crazy.

Watching Noah on that plane was one of the most fun things I've done all summer. For two hours straight he was all smiles and laughter. Not one whine or exasperated look and he didn't even ask me to buy him anything. it was heaven.

At the end of our day, Robert surprised Noah with an autographed picture of the plane we saw flying over our neighborhood. one of the signatures was from the pilot on that plane. It was very cool.

Thanks Uncle Robert!!!!!!