Flights So Fancy

O AEROTREE: Our first stop this morning was The Museum of Flight. I had to pick up my photo from their "Spirit of Flight" photography exhibition. While we waited for our print to appear from the business office, we checked out their towering tree, decorated beautifully in an aeronautic/aerospace theme.

We loved the space shuttle ornaments, of course. And we noticed there were a number of nods to aviatrix. 

On the backside of the tree we found a display with a photo of the queen of aviatrix, Amelia Earhart. The Museum of Flight is currently waging a fund raising campaign to help bring a restored Lockheed Electra Model 10-E to the museum. The campaign is called Project Amelia, 

Built by Lockheed, the Electra Model 10-E began passenger service in 1935. It was also used in WWII, and the model the museum is trying to land was restored in 1996 to replicate Earhart's Electra. The following year, the plane flew around the world, re-enacting Amelia's pioneering flight. There's only one other Electra Model 10-E in existence.

We dropped a couple of dollars in the donation box and certainly hope to see the plane at the museum some day!

Also while standing in the lobby, CJ looked to the entrance to the museum's theater and asked, "Why is it called the William M. Allen Theater?" I pointed him to a nice, large display holding all the answers. 

There, he learned Allen was the president of Boeing from 1945 to 1968.  Allen steered Boeing through a tough time post WWII, when production plummeted, onward and upward for many successful years to follow. He oversaw the beginning of the 747 program and helped secure Boeing's place in the U.S. space program. In a 2003 article in Fortune, Allen was named one of 10 best CEOs of all time.

SOUNDTRACK OF THE SEASON: Around Christmastime last year, I realized the only seasonal song my kids knew by heart from start to finish was "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer." They could song a chorus or two of "Frosty the Snowman" and "Jingle Bells," but that was it. So, one of my goals this holiday season was to make sure the kids learned all of the standard seasonal songs. They're part of the fabric of our culture, and so I thought the kids should know 'em.

To that end, since the week of Thanksgiving, the "Warm 106.9" has been in heavy rotation on my car stereo. It plays nothing but Christmas/Holiday standards through the end of the year. 

Though I am super Duper SICK of Christmas songs at this point, I must say my approach worked. From "Blue Christmas" to "White Christmas" and every colored Christmas and tune in between, CeeJ and Bee gleefully sing along with nearly all of songs now. 

They've also been working on their old standbys, "Rudolph" and "Jingle Bells" on guitar. If they get their acts together enough, I'll post video.

TIME FOR KIDS: We picked up the latest issues of "Time for Kids" this week. One issue was "Coolest Inventions of 2012" as the cover story, the other was "2012 The Year in Pictures." 

 In case you're wondering, the coolest inventions they featured ranged from a 3-D printer, to TechPet (an app that turns your iPhone into a puppy). A new deep sea submarine, a wingsuit for racing and indoor clouds were three more cool new inventions. 

Apparently Laika and Kirby couldn't care less, though. ... 

After they read the magazines from cover to cover, the kids completed a couple of comprehension worksheets that came along with them. Cool learning tools,to be sure!

MESSAGE FROM THE BIG GUY: Less than a week from Christmas, and the kids were excited to receive special video message from none other than Santa Claus!

A wonderful service by Portable North Pole makes it all possible. Here are links to their videos.

Annabelle's message from Santa
CJ's message from Santa

The kids were both *very* charmed by the videos.