The Airport Series

I have a confession to make.  I really like disaster movies.  The Poseidon Adventure is clearly the best of the lot, but I also have a lot of love for the Airport series.  I know they're terrible--seriously, the line between the Airport pictures and Airplane! and it's equally hilarious sequel is a fine line indeed.  Still, there's something about those abusrdities that I cherish.  Airport '75 is surely my favorite, yeah, Lancaster is a legend, but he's no Charlton Heston.  Of course, this comes from a guy who loves The Omega Man, so take it for what's worth.

Oh, about The Omega Man--if you look at it as a strict adaptation of Matheson's novel I Am Legend, it's a total jive-turkey.  If you look at it as something unique that was loosely based on Matheson's text, it's a hell of a good time and one of Heston's best.  That's my take, anyway.

Blue Ridge Regional Airport Field Trip with the Fam

Today we visited Blue Ridge Regional Airport as part of a field trip set up for children who are home-schooled.  One of the cool things about home-schooling is being able to incorporate activities like this into the curriculum, and this was a true family affair.  This was definitely a cool outing, and I'm sure the kids learned a lot.  Heck, I learned a lot, and I thought the airport did a terrific job of providing us with an interesting and educational tour.

We started by scoping out a medical helicopter that is located on site 24 hours a day as a part of Wake Forest Baptist Health Care's Air Care program.  Scope it out:

Learn more about the program itself here:
Medical Helicoprter at Blue Ridge Airport story c/o WSET
The pilot was on hand to educate everyone about the helicopter, and he also allowed the children to get up-close and personal with his vessel.
Check out Alaina getting a closer look:

Here she is in the pilot's seat (Kristen is looking on in the background):

Taryn also got to sit in the pilot's seat:

Love the jacket, the cap, the gloves and the shades.  She kinda looks like a tiny version of the crazy chopper pilot usually found in one of those campy war films I frequently enjoy.  Here's another:

They were learning and having fun, and that's just the way it should be.
Next, we got to check out a jet:

I made sure that my main man Ash got a closer look:

  

Kristen would probably begin her explanation of this little field trip by noting that she was cold:

We also got to scope out a plane (a plane and a jet are quite different, that's one of the many things we learned today) and the maintenance hangar, and the kids got to see how the airport communicates with pilots who are approaching.  They learned a lot about aircraft and flight in general, and I salute the airport again for keeping things so educational and intriguing.  They really did a terrific job with this tour and I know that we enjoyed it a lot.

I'm also very proud of my wife for encouraging me to consider home-schooling.  After my experiences as a student and a teacher, it wasn't a tough sell, but I probably wouldn't have given it serious consideration if not for her.  Thus far, it has been a tremendous blessing for our children.  They're only 6, 4, and 1, and they're already getting to do so many things that I never got to.  Most importantly, the learning experience is tailored specifically to their wants and needs.

I'm sure that you'll learn more about our efforts to give our children the best education possible here in the Land of Way.