Airport Fun

Back in June, her class subject was transportation and she learned all about planes.While we were at the farmer’s market, The Little Empress would look up and point at the sky at planes flying overhead. I remembered that the county airport was pretty close by and was a popular place for homeschool and mom’s groups to gather so the kids could watch planes. And all for the price of FREE. Who could argue with that? (If you have read more than one entry of this blog, I’m sure you have realized by now that I am a cheapskate so this should come as no surprise.)

I asked around to see if anyone from my mom’s group wanted to join us. (The more, the merrier!) As it so happened, S and her kids I and J were able to join us! We hadn’t seen their family in quite awhile since TLE’s been in school so I was so happy to be able to catch up to them.

At the Airport

Once we got to the airfield, I could see why this place is popular with the homeschool and moms crowd. The observation area is one, large FLAT and FENCED IN area for the kids to run wild. The Little Empress loves to test her boundaries and sure enough, she and her friends were trying to scale the chain link fence. Thankfully, they didn’t get too far. (Sadly, I did not get a picture of this!) Sadly, it doesn’t have any shade (why you would design an observation area with NO SHADE in an area known as Diablo Valley is beyond me) but were “lucky” to go when it was overcast and cool. (Summer? We haven’t had a summer.)

The kids loved watching the planes and helicopters takeoff and land. Well, honestly, it was just a few helicopters and maybe one or two planes. The kids liked them just the same. The vehicles were few and far between enough that I was too busy pointing out when one was landing to grab my camera and take a photo of one. (And… I forgot my zoom lens. Because I have no idea where I put the damn thing.) S brought trikes and scooters for the kids to ride in between planes. They had a blast riding their trikes and scooters. I was particularly impressed by the Red Flyer scooter which has a wider base for the little kids to ride on. Great design! I think I know what to put on TLE’s Christmas list

Bleacher climbing

As the kids tired of the scooters/trikes and running around, they discovered the aluminum bleachers that faced the landing strip. They had an absolute blast clambering up and down the bleachers. J tried to get the girls to play “Follow the Leader” at one point as he deftly climbed from bench to bench and down to the ground. The girls were happy to do their own thing, jumping up and down on the top tier and just basically having a noisy, fun time.

It was such an awesome, free playdate! We will definitely be going back to the airfield as we get the chance to.