Imagination Taking Flight

Sean looks to see what happens when he moves the control stick in the plane.

It's a place Sean and I have visited many times, and it's also one of our favorites. We decided to go to the Museum of Flight near Boeing Field one day during Spring Break. It never disappoints. There is so much to see there that we still haven't seen everything on display.

About three years ago Sean and I went and were able to walk through the Concord, and another time we were able to see Air Force One, which flew President Kennedy. While we are not a family of pilots or anything, we really do enjoy that museum. Sean has loved airplanes and helicopters since he was really little, and I find them quite fascinating.

This time Chuck went with us. He had been before, but it had been a while. Chuck and I watched quite a few of the videos at various stations, and listened to some of the radio broadcasts of WWII. We spent quite a bit of time in the barn exhibit, which shows the beginnings of Boeing. It also has some models of the first airplanes, and lots of memorabilia from early pilots. It's something to see. Remarkable, really.

Two of my favorite guys looking at a display of war weapons used in flight during WWI.

From there we ventured over to the WWII exhibit, then WWI, and over to the modern section.

We spent the better part of the afternoon looking at all of it, but still hadn't seen everything when it was closing time. As we were finalizing a selection in the gift shop, and Chuck told Sean we only had a few minutes until closing, an employee told us it was the first Thursday and they stay open late and it's free admission after 5 p.m. We were dead tired, and didn't want to stay any longer.

I'm sure we will go again, and when we go back I hope we can tour the space exhibit. We didn't get to that area.

It was most likely one of the last times we'll be in the kid zone. There is a small plane and helicopter, glider simulator, and some hands-on learning activities to teach how the controls of an airplane work.
Sean is getting bigger, so he probably won't fit into those small aircraft much longer, or be interested in that part of it.
But I'm sure he will go again and again for the flight simulator. He played that many times, and was trying so hard to perfect his landing. Luckily that one was free. There was another one that was more sophisticated that cost, but I don't remember the amount. I wasn't willing to pay, though.

The Museum of Flight was the perfect choice that day, as it was raining hard and an indoor activity was best.