I’ll admit, I was nervous. Who wouldn’t be, with the thought of taking three kids – one of whom is deep in the throes of her “terrible threes” – to sit and watch the air show? Would my kids even be interested in it? Would they enjoy it? Would they behave themselves long enough for me to enjoy myself? Would I even be able to hear the sounds of the jets over their yelling?
If yesterday afternoon is any indication, they are going to LOVE the Dayton Air Show. I knew that the Blue Angels were going to be practicing at 3:00 pm on Friday. I couldn’t go back to the media area, because I had all of my children (plus a few extra), but I entertained the thought of parking in the media parking lot and watching from there. I knew that the parking lot was just outside of where the Blue Angels would be practicing, so there would be a great chance to see them pretty closely. I decided it was at least worth the try, because this was the Blue Angels; I have loved them since I was seven years old and really wanted to see them fly up close.
We pulled into the parking lot and I immediately went to talk to an air show staff person. I asked her if we would be able to watch the demonstration from that parking lot, and she grinned and answered, “Oh yes. Just keep your eyes fixed in that direction (pointing) and you’ll see them.”
That sounded promising. The kids and I kicked back, and kept our eyes focused. A few minutes later we heard the roar of a plane. A very large roar. From a very large plane. Just over the trees we saw the Fat Albert (support plane for the Blue Angels) take off. My heart started pounding as I realized two things: 1) This plane was taking off nearly “straight up.” and 2) I was going to be riding on that very plane in two days. Yikes! My oldest son, Deuce, immediately said, “Wow! That’s awesome! Mommy, it’s going to be like being on a roller coaster when you go on that!”
Yeah, ummmmm, thanks for pointing that out, kid . . . like I wasn’t nervous enough.
Pushing those thoughts aside, we watched and waited for the Blue Angels to appear. They didn’t disappoint; just a short time later we saw four jets appear in the air, almost directly over our heads. My three year old, Abriella, yelled out, “Look mama! They made a diamond!” She was hooked from that moment on.
For forty-five minutes we watched as they flew this way and that, upside-down and right-side up, doing flips and passing each other inches apart high in the air. Each maneuver was better than the last, and the kids enjoyed every minute of it. They did yell (several times), but it was only from excitement as the F/A-18 Hornets flew DIRECTLY over our heads – and they weren’t terribly high up, either!
Watching the Blue Angels (that close, especially) was incredible, but it wasn’t the best part of the day at all. The best part was seeing the joy on the faces of Deuce, Cody, and Abriella as they fell in love with the flying act that I had fallen in love with when I was a child.
If you want to experience this same feeling with your own children, head out to the Dayton Air Show this weekend. The gates open at 9:00 am each day, and tickets can be bought at a discount if you purchase them at area Kroger stores.
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