DaVinci's Machines in Motion at the Aerospace Museum

If you're thinking, "Haven't you guys been to the Aerospace Museum before?" you're right.  Almost a year ago, actually.  We went on a field trip there right before Josiah left for boot camp last September.  You can read about that here.  But the DaVinci Machines in Motion exhibit is there for another week or two, and I wanted the kids to see it.  My older kids vaguely remember it from the last time it was there, several years ago.

I think Hannah should have been on a step stool for this picture.

We decided to go outside and look at the airplanes first, before it got too warm.  This is a retired Blue Angel.

Some of the planes were open for people to go inside, which the kids really enjoy.

There's a lot of buttons and gauges in the cockpits!  Makes me appreciate the skill needed to be a pilot.

Jack has decided he wants to be in the Coast Guard someday, so I figured I'd take a couple pictures of him with one of the Coast Guard planes, on the off chance I can use them to embarrass him a little later in life.  Because that's how we roll.

The next 5 years are going to fly by, and he'll grow up and pick a direction, whether that's USCG or not.  This coming year will be full of change for him, and I'm looking forward to seeing where he's at a year from now, but I'm a little nervous about the growing pains between now and then.

But enough of my maternal ramblings, back to airplanes.

Inside one of the Coast Guard planes.  Yes that's Boy and Brianna in the back row.

Hey, look!  I was there, too!  After leaving the Walk For Love and realizing there wasn't a single picture from that event with me in it, I'm trying to be more intentional about getting in some of the photos, instead of always being behind the camera.

I'm sure there's some fascinating scientific explanation for all the long noses on the jets, but I don't know what it is; I just wanted to touch it.

Brianna touched everything.  Wings, propellers, noses.  It's okay, we used hand sanitizer before snack time.

One of the D Day planes with invasion stripes.

It was like touching a piece of history.

Although this is an air museum, there are a couple vehicles, too.  Jeeps, a fire engine, an army ambulance.

This little guy is new, and we were told that it's the only one that was made.  It belonged to the Air Force, and is a turboprop.

This was actually the first picture that I took when we arrived, before the high school kids dispersed (I can't say "teens" any more now that Jack is 13!)  On the left is Eli, his friend A, and Katie.  On the right we have Boy, Brianna, Jack, and Hannah.

This was Leonardo's precursor to the modern day tank--which would not be a reality for another 400 years.

He was obsessed with coming up with a way for man to fly, and several of his inventions deal with flight.

While the leather swimming mitt (perhaps inspired by webbed duck feet) never took off, the life preserver is still in use today.

The show DaVinci's Demons (affiliate link) is not at all to be taken as historically accurate, but there were a few points from his known life that showed up among the wildly imaginative story line.  

A display dedicated to the Tuskegee Airmen, the squadron of black pilots, navigators, bombardiers, etc. of WW2.

Soon, we'd played with many of the hands on exhibits and seen most of what there was to see, and it was time to make a quick pass through the gift shop and head out.

There's a great space themed park next door, so we all had a snack and then the kids played for a while before having to get back in the van again.

Boy bought a little airplane model glider thingie and assembled it while we munched.

The many ways up and down make this the perfect park for chasing games.

I love that these two humor me when I ask to take their picture.

Not all of the youth are as agreeable about photos.

Eli's been in a no pictures phase for a while, but this was too cute not to share.

They're adorable together.

I'm excited for Katie to have PE at school this year, so she can start learning playground games and sports.  She's more physically active than Hannah is, and may be more interested in doing a team sport later on.  And I think it's awesome that she can climb a rock wall in a dress.

After playing for a while, we left so Brianna and Boy would have time to go get haircuts.  A good time was had by all, and it was nice to have a sort of "final field trip" before the high schoolers head off to school on Monday.


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