New Sheriff in Town

This year for halloween, Owen is going to be a sheriff. The outfit is super cute and he loves it.

Here's the man in action...

Rotor Fest 2008

This all started when Mark sent me an email to this link http://helicoptermuseum.org/ and asked if Owen might enjoy going to the rotorfest this year. I don't think he was aware of our little guy's obsession with helicopters. His day care is at the hospital, so they see a lot of the life flight helicopters fly over on their way to the trauma center. Also, there is a reserve unit in Reading and we see a lot of helicopters fly over during the summer. Anyhow, it was on, so the Horvath's and the Rossney's made a day of it. The boys were in their glory.....

There were 3 or 4 helicopters giving rides around the area, so Owen hung out here for a while and watched them take-off and land. It was the first time he was able to be so close to a helicopter in action and he was frozen in place, taking it all in.

The museum is really nice. They have a great variety of stuff, and a whole area for kids to see how helicopters work. This was a little wind tunnel with a helicopter model on a tether. When they turned on the air, the rotors spun on the model, creating lift, which in turn caused it to "take off".

Here's the boys getting down to some serious business in a Rotorway Scorpion - Model 133. It was a homebuilt model that was introduced at OshKosh in 1967. The tail rotor is driven by a series of belts and frankly I thought it looked a little scary.

Owen & Jacob looking down the TOW missle mounts on a AH-1F Cobra.

The Navy used to have a drone R/C helicopter that would carry a torpedo out to a suspect location of an enemy sub. It was called the Gyrodyne Drone and the museum has a rotating model of one. With two drive rotors spinning in opposite direction, the torque of the system is cancelled so a tail rotor isn't required. It's a fairly complex mechanism and they have handles to control the tilt for each set. The boys.. I mean I enjoyed playing around with this.

Here are the US Army Black Daggers demonstrating a Combat Equipment Parachute Jump.

And their pilot doing a fly-by after the jump.

Here's Owen walking up the inside of a Navy Sea Knight.

What could be better than chowing down on some sugar coated dough, sitting under a helicopter?

The Army's version of the Sea Knight... the Chinook.

There were two Black Hawks that the North Carolina Army National Guard flew up for the show.

Strapped into the blackhawk.

You check under it and I'll look inside!

Why It's good to be human....

So you read about these things in middle school science class.... guys make jokes about it when telling stories about their ex-girlfriends, but a few weekends ago I saw the real deal in person. I was trimming some of the box plants in our front yard and came across this lovely couple...

Yep... he's about half gone and she's looking well fed.

Dutch Wonderland

We had season passes to Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster this year. http://www.dutchwonderland.com/ We've gone a handful of times throughout the summer. Sometimes for a weekend afternoon... and sometimes just for a few hours after work in the evening. It's a great small amusement park that was started in 1963 by a local family. It was acquired by Hershey Park in 2001, but they have continued to operate it while maintaining a family focus and charm that the founders intended it to have.

It's geared mostly for kids 10 and under, so Owen can ride pretty much everything except for the "big kids" roller coaster. He loves it and gets all excited whenever we tell him we have plans to go. Here's a few pictures from our visit on Oct. 4th.


Flying on the gondola with mommy!

Riding the scooters..... note the wheel in the air after hitting his apex.... eyes on the entrance strategy to his next corner. I think he may have some racing in his blood. :)

He loves the pony ride and chatted it up with the handler all the way around the loop.

I can't wait for Owen to get a chance to milk a real cow someday. He begs to milk "bessie" for water every time we go by.....

Be aware of the purple and yellow Baron. He's a dangerous character with deadly aim.

The pedal trains are such a cool ride and one of Owen's favorites. I think it would be neat to build one of these in the yard.. but I think by the time I would be done with it, he will have moved on to something with an engine and a steering wheel.

Here's Owen and mommy on the carousel!

2008 Susquehanna Old Fashioned Field Days

The weekend of Sept. 20th was the annual Susquehanna Old Fashioned Field days in Bainbridge, PA. Allison's Dad is part of the organizing committee and over the past few years the event has grown into quite a big deal for Conoy township. It's a fun filled day if you ever have the chance to attend. There's lots of great activities for the kids and parents alike: Dipping Candles, pressing apples for cider, rope making, pedal tractor pulls, wagon rides, sharpening pencils running off a hit/miss engine, a tractor show, an auction... fire trucks, civil war battle re-enactments, a consignment auction, pony rides, a pumpkin patch... and food... did I mention food? :)

It's a little paradise for Owen with grandpa & grandma, tractors, fire trucks and ice cream. What more could a boy ask for?

Here's Owen checking out a fire truck with Grandpa.

The pony ride was a first this year for Owen. He was so serious about holding onto the saddle horn. What a little cowboy...

Owen picked out his very own special pumpkin.

They have a corn box with tractors, which Owen spent close to an hour playing in. No sand in the clothes... which is the best idea ever.

At the auction, Owen and grandma bid on a John Deere tool belt and hat. Uncle Donny helped get him hooked up

Hershey Park

We visited Hershey park in September for an afternoon with the Rossney's. Owen and Jacob had a great day riding the rides! The new fahrenheit rollercoaster is a lot of fun. It doesn't look like much standing next to it, but it's a unique sensation being pulled straight up where all you can see is sky, then dropping back in. Falling while being pulled out of your seat is quite unusual.

Here's Owen... sitting back, very confident letting the woman take care of the driving.

The boys waiting for the airplane ride. ahh pure enthusiasm...

And riding the ride.

The convoy is one of Owen's favorite rides.. and Jacob's too. Of course we had to ride this several times, experiencing the cab and the top seats.