Making a Day of It {Air & Space Museum}

This morning we headed north for a church service in the DC area; but rather than returning home directly after it, we took a little detour and made a stop that we've been talking about doing for a really long time.

Here.  (You just gotta love free museums!)  :)

It was fun to announce to the boys, while we were riding along munching on sandwiches and pretzels and applesauce in the van, that we would be going to this museum--they had no idea--but what was REALLY fun was seeing their faces, especially Tobin's, when we got inside the museum.  I wish I could have a videorecording of his expression after we walked in.  He was looking to the left, at all the items in the gift shop, and was exclaiming about the model airplanes and other things displayed in the windows.  Then Jeff told him to look the other way; and when he saw the expanse of the museum FILLED with real airplanes, his jaw literally dropped.  He had the most surprised, delighted expression you could ever imagine.  That moment made it all worthwhile, even if the rest of our time there had been worthless.  Which it wasn't, of course...  :)

 There were SO MANY airplanes there.  A true aviation enthusiast would have wanted to spend all day there, reading all the informative signs and so forth; but we kept strolling along, with occasional pauses when something interesting caught our eye.  What I appreciated most about it, from an educational standpoint, was how the things we were seeing connected with the things we've been reading about: i.e. seeing swastikas on planes from WWII (which we're currently studying in history), seeing the plane of a man who tried to fly it just a few days before the Wright brothers successfully flew theirs (earlier this year, Josiah and David read a book about Wilbur and Orville, and we've also been to Kitty Hawk to see where their first flights happened), etc.  To tell you the truth, I'm not really hard core about getting the most information possible out of a field trip.  I don't prepare a checklist ahead of time.  I don't give a quiz afterwards.  We just go, have fun, see what we happen to see...and then the best part?  The dots get connected between knowledge we've acquired at other times and in other ways and new knowledge that we're gaining on that field trip.  The fun of seeing those connections "just happen" is a powerful motivator for me to keep homeschooling.  :)

 At one pause, I asked Tobin and Shav if I could take their picture, and they said they wanted to do a silly picture...

 ...then a serious one...

 ...then a scary one.  (Admit it: you're terrified.)  ;-)

 While I was trailing the family and watching all of them walk ahead of me, I suddenly realized how tall Josiah looks compared to Jeff.  It's a highly-anticipated rite of passage when a boy surpasses his mom and his dad in height.  I have a feeling that day will be here before we know it!  :)

 One neat thing about the museum was the walkways on various levels, so you could end up seeing each aircraft from different angles--sometimes even directly above it and directly below it.  As we made our way through the museum, we circled back around and saw some of the same exhibits, but in a new way...which explains why there is a picture of a space shuttle here, and you'll see more of that in a little bit because each time we went by it on a different level, I took more pictures.

When we were walking along this top walkway, I was literally getting dizzy and had to hold onto the hand railing as I went along.  The combination of being up pretty high in the building with that huge space below plus reading about various planes and gliders and how high each one went and world records for ascents and things like that--well, it made my head start spinning and my stomach start feeling topsy-turvy.  I'm such a wimp when it comes to heights!  :)

Shav made me laugh when he looked over at this display (below) and said, "That looks like a roll of toilet paper!"  :)  (It sorta does!)

 The last thing we did before we left was to go up to the observation tower that has a wonderful view of Dulles Airport; but by this time, Moriah had HAD it and was being generally uncooperative and feisty (I had assumed she would nap in the car between the church service and the museum, but she very decidedly DID NOT).  Jeff kindly stayed below and entertained her while the boys and I went up the tower.

 It was so much fun to watch planes come in to land.

 I think I probably got more excited about it than the boys did (although they enjoyed it, too).  ;-)

 You could not have ordered a more perfect day weather-wise for this little field trip.  The sky was gorgeous, visibility was perfect, and...oh wait! here comes another airplane!  :)

I finally tore myself away, and we went back down the elevator to meet Jeff and Moriah for the trip home.

We got home later than we usually do, of course, but it was so worth it to make a day of it and include this destination.  I'm already thinking of other places we can visit when we once again travel north on a Sunday.  :)