museum of flight

Compliments of SPEEA, Shaner's union at Boeing, Saturday was free admission to the Museum of Flight in south Seattle. We thought it would be super fun to take Wesley. Shane and I went a couple years ago, but it was even cooler this time. There was more stuff, plus, it was fun to see things through Wesley's eyes.

So, a photo essay of our Saturday:

There was a lot of checking out planes hanging from the ceiling...


And toddling through the exhibits...


And sometimes taking a break and blocking traffic (because we were tired)...


I especially liked the new exhibit on Amelia Earhart. It was super cool to read about this woman who did daring scientific things in a day and age when women were just supposed to be refined and pretty. She amazes me, and I was humbled to learn more about her story.

I also liked putting Wesley in a spacesuit...


And a cockpit...


And the kids' exploration area. Here, he is opening and closing drawers that show the kinds of things needed to make an airplane. Oh gee, he does that with the cabinets in the bathroom at home...



There also was this teeny plane the kids could jump in and control. Wesley was having fun with this rudder, but the big secret is that the kid in the cockpit was the one actually making it move...


Then he decided to climb the stairs -- but the kid in the cockpit wasn't ready to be done. Lucky for him, Wesley only really wanted to climb the stairs...


Then, we ventured over the T. Evans Wyckoff Memorial Bridge (brand spanking new and structurally engineered by my awesome company) to the Concorde exhibit -- which Shane and I didn't get to see last time we were here...


The Concorde was cool. It was SUPER CRAMPED up there since they put these huge plastic bubbles over the seats so you couldn't touch anything. I definitely felt like a wide load going through those aisles! I also didn't get a picture of it, but the plane had a very cool super pointed nose...

And! To my super surprise, they had an Air Force One!! They've had it since 1996 but I guess I missed that memo, and enjoyed the surprise nonetheless. It was an AF1 for Eisenhower, JFK, Lyndon Johnson, and for a short while, Nixon. VERY COOL; we had to wait in a line to get up in it, but I was glad we did (I realize I look like a big dork here, but I was excited!)...

We saw some super hot 1960s technology and one of the presidential meeting spaces, as well as bathrooms just as small as those on airplanes today (so I guess the prez doesn't get any special treatment in THAT area)...

But overall, the best part of the day was wandering around a cool airplane museum as a family...


What a fun Saturday!