TWB Ep8 – Airventure

I didn’t manage to keep up this week, so I’m doing my best on Thursday to fill in the gaps.

Monday was another T-ball day. We pushed the kids to get out fast enough to play before the game, but that didn’t work so well. They got 5 minutes. When they got home I think Gideon picked Sheriff Callie.
The kids continued their story sharing pattern with short stories from the Richard Scarry book.

Tuesday. Here it is, Friday night. I think Cecilia picked Sheriff Callie, but that might just be because they’ve watched it so much lately. Reading? I know we had stories, but don’t know what they were. At least one wasn’t the Richard Scarry book though.

Wednesday I’m not really sure what happened. I went to get the pop-up we rented as soon as we got back from T-ball. All three other people were asleep when I got back after a stop at the store for last-minute supplies. I do believe they were watching Sheriff Callie as I left.

Thursday was a driving day. On the drive (5 hours) Gideon picked Robots and Cecilia picked Rio. Gideon fell asleep for an hour or so after we picked up dinner. Due to leaving time and stops families with preschoolers must make (and gas guzzlers, towing really kills the mileage) we got to the campground around 9. The kids were happy to “help” get the camper set up. Around 10 we were trying to get them to calm down and sleep. Around 11:15 or so I went to make sure I had the wi-fi password and the kids were still fighting to be awake. When I got back they were out. No stories. I tried at one point to just tell one to Cecilia, but she got mad and said I needed one with pages and that it was too dark.

Friday we met up with Heathers cousin at Airventure. This was not planned. In fact the accidental hookup was about 30 seconds from not happening at all. It was great to hang out with him and hear about what he’s been up to the last few years. Gideon loved hearing all about the different airplanes from him. (He’s an actual aircraft mechanic and knows much more about them than I do.) I think Cecilia did too, but then she decided to spend most of the morning in lines. Seriously. This almost four year old spent over an hour in a line to see a C-17 flight deck. Poor Heather didn’t get to see much outside of that line in the morning. In any event, we returned to the campsite around the time the Thuderbirds started their practice. After a wonderful spaghetti dinner we watched Epic as a family, Heathers choice. No stories – but they did go through their books while dinner was being prepped. (And a small rain shower passed through.) To avoid the mess of the previous night as soon as they were both in a bed spot and relatively quiet I went for a short walk. Everyone was asleep by the time I got back. (All 3.)

Saturday was the big day. I made the executive decision to pony up the cost of the EAA Aviators Club for the day back during initial planning. Sitting here Sunday night I can safely say that it is essentially buying a first class lounge pass for the day and ended up being worth it this time. Tasty catered breakfast, lunch and dinner (dinner on night airshow days only) along with a fenced in outdoor seating area on the flight line and a nice indoor air conditioned room with free club only wi-fi. Oh yeah, free ice cream, drinks, sodas, and bottled water all day and various swag throughout as well. The free bag we got was a nice one too, none of this state fair reusable 10 times stuff there. I digress though, this is supposed to be specifically about bedtime. I know we would’ve made it work without, but having the pass to that place made the airshows so much nicer to deal with. It was Cecilia’s turn to fall asleep during fireworks as she fell asleep during the night airshow. (She would’ve loved the helicopter.) She did wake up before it ended. No show or stories, just the night airshow and drive back. Gideon asked me when I would take my walk as they were settling into their sleeping bags. So I took a walk and they were all asleep a few minutes later when I got back.

Sunday we got home around 5. We let the kids watch movies pretty much the whole drive back. Cecilia took a nap but we were all still pretty beat by the time we got here. Except then the kids played in the driveway 30 minutes while we unpacked. Cecilia picked Sheriff Callie. We haven’t gotten new ones lately so they’ll probably switch shows soon.
They shared stories out of Richard Scarry for Heather and then I read a couple letter sound books with a construction vehicle theme and Gideon picked The Boy and The Tigers for another shared time.