Last week I got to treat my little guys to lots of fun boy-stuff, thanks to the generosity of some friends. I thought I’d share a few highlights:
We got to see the Thunderbirds perform at Airventure 2014, in Oshkosh. Once those F-16s rolled on the throttle at the beginning of the runway, it was like slowly pushing the Smile Lever on those little faces!
As if that wasn’t enough, there were also simulated bomb runs and dogfights, along with the notorious and aptly named Wall of Fire. My youngest boy’s favorite, naturally.
I got a really cheap deal on renting a nice telephoto lens from borrowlenses.com, and it performed admirably. I have so many cool shots like the one above that I’ve hardly had time to sort through them all. To top it all off, later in the week we went to see Planes: Fire & Rescue at the Grand Theater back here in good ol’ Bismarck. It’s still the nicest movie theater I’ve ever seen, and I appreciate the effort they put into providing a good experience.
Next, we attended National Night Out on August 5th. This is where various agencies like Police, Fire, Sheriff, State Patrol, Red Cross, et al put on displays for the kids (and parents) to showcase how they protect and serve our community.
Kids love trucks as much as firefighters do, and they got to sit in this one until it was called away. There was also a hose set up and the wooden “fire house” where kids could grab the hose and knock down the ‘fire” in the windows. Always a big hit.
Robots are a staple in the life of any kid these days, and Bismarck PD’s got one. Target was kind enough to not only host the event, but provide free hot dogs, hamburgers, pop, and chips too!
The finale for the weekend, bookending a long stretch of fun times, was the Medora Musical last night. I hadn’t attended since my friend and show host “Gentleman Wade” Westin passed away. They did a nice tribute to past hosts of the show this year, as it’s an anniversary for the Musical, and that was nice to see.
The kids got to take the stage for the singing of the national anthem, and each got a little flag to bring home with them. Something I didn’t get a shot of was the colors of Old Glory splashed on the wall of the hill behind the stage at the end of the show.
A tribute to the hosts of the Musical. My boys had never seen this show before, and they really liked it. Especially the acrobats who performed during intermission and the battle scene reenactment from the Spanish American War.
As you can see, we’ve been a little busy lately. That’s a nice break from the things we’ve been dealt over the last year and through which we are still struggling. If I can provide my little guys with some joy and excitement along the way, then I feel like I’m at least doing my job as Daddy. This past week was full of little victories in that regard.