. The Giles .: Gunfighter Skies Air Show Awesomeness

The best way to spend a beautiful, glorious weekend? Not much can top taking the kids to the air show. See this picture? Yep, I was there. I got to see that.

There are so many things that I loved about the air show. Shamelessly, I admit to getting teared up a few times, as I watched, with my neck cranked, to see the majestic feats of what these pilots and jets can do. And most of the time those tears can't even be blamed on the sun glaring in my eyes. Dang it - I"ll remember my sunglasses next time.

Trace was busy with media and problem solving and you know - actually working. But he did manage take some time to sit with us and enjoy the "Whoa! Dad, did you see that?!?" and "AWESOME!" and "C'mon planes, drop another bomb!" (that one was all Hannah). And then there were the cheers that neither one of us could hear, because it was too darn loud. Watching the pure excitement and joy that our kids had plastered on their faces in the name of a smile never gets old.

I am unabashedly patriotic. I know that this country has a whole litany of problems. But, as a whole, I could not be anymore proud. Seeing those birds in the sky and what they represent isn't lost on me. It's a reminder of what it is we are fighting for. I am grateful.

When the Thunderbirds taxied in after their jaw-dropping show, Trace and I just smiled at each other - and then I realized that we were both emotional. Me of course, by way of tears. Trace just had a grateful look in his eyes. He asked me what my favorite part was...and I had a few parts that stood out more than others...but there was just too much to quantify with a simple answer. There were different types of favorites - like the sheer power of the F-15E Strike Eagle or the unbelievable precision of the Thunderbirds. Then there's the other underlying things that made me think - like the Heritage Flight - where the F-15E and a P-51 flew side by side - representing the past and present. And the music that was played that covered every genre - but most emotionally was the sound track from The Band of Brothers. Just too many levels of favorites...

But I think what I enjoyed the most was the overall experience. Seeing everything and feeling the roar of jets pound on my chest - I felt like a kid again. Dreaming and imagining what it would be like to be in that MiG or Hornet...it allows even us grown-ups to have pure simple fun. And for a brief moment, there are no worries. Then as the roar passes, one of my kids starts back to screaming about one injustice or another brought on by his/her siblings. Being a grown-up is so overrated. :)

The static displays that they had on hand were so cool. The Osprey, which Trent called the Transformer plane was a favorite. There were tanks, spy planes, experimental planes, helicopters, bi-planes, sheesh - even a 757 Fed Ex jet.

Kids having fun, driving this mama to crazy town.

My favorite was the C-5. I guess I kind of like the big birds. I look at them and just can't believe they actually get off the ground. The C-5 is HUGE. And it happens to remind me of a shark. So I called it Jaws.

Jaws - welcoming it's prey...

Now if you look closely - you can see Aleana, at the top of the ramp, just to the left. I wanted to get a picture of her - just to see the scale of the size of this monster.

Then of course, we got so sit down in the C-5, but Trace was busy working, so I had to take some pictures. The plane was kind of stinky - but that's because someone to the left of us decided it was a good time to pull out some food and eat. Whatever they were eating - it had onions on it:

Luke really wanted to sit next to us, but that was a battle that I wasn't willing to deal with. His poor little red face is just another example of why I should win "The Mother of the Year" award. Put sunscreen on his legs and arms, but forgot the face.

This pic just cracks me up...Trent saw it and said he looks like a sleeping lizard. Lizard boy it is.

MiGs and I don't know the name of the other - doing a mock battle.

The Heritage Flight I was talking about. There was bagpipe music playing in the background as they flew side by side...and by the flight pattern, I think it was flown in the shape of a cross.

My favorite solo-act. This is a F-15E Strike Eagle. This is what Trace represents at Mountain Home Air Force Base. These are our guys. And watching this one fly made me cheer. There's nothing quite like being able to feel the raw power and force.

Luke just cracked me up. He's such a chill baby. This is what he looked like when the F-18 did a fly-by. No feathers ruffled. No big deal.

Oh man, his poor tomato face :(

The next 10 pictures are amazing - which means that I didn't take them. They are courtesy of the Public Affairs Airmen at MHAFB. They are some good pics. Even though no justice can be done by pictures to explain the awesomeness of the Thunderbirds, these are as close as you can get:

Hands down, my favorite formation. It's called the Delta 1st. And when they do this, they are coming right at ya.

Love, Love, LOVE this pic.

Thunderbird 5 is the one that is upside-down. It's also the one that does all the upside-down tricks - Aleana thought it was cool that the number 5 is painted upside-down on the jet (when the jet is right-side-up).

Loved the contrail on this one...great pic

And afterwards, the kids got to meet the pilots and get their autographs. Trent was in heaven. And he was pretty good about getting in there and getting things signed. He had 4 signatures before Aleana even got one.

Random pic in front of a spy-plane.

Trent got to stand next to one of the experimental planes. It is the tiniest thing - I would need to shrink a few inches and drop a few pounds to fit in that.