Birthday Bash

Yes, it was the big day for me. I turned 29. Again.

Little Guy and Baby Girl helped Rachel decorate cupcakes for me. The icing was based upon the book "Spot Bakes a Cake." It was Baby Girl's first time icing a baked dessert

Little Girl put a candle upside down into one of my cupcakes which make it impossible to light.

Aren't they both adorable


We went to Red Robin and I got a free sundae plus a song for my birthday. BSBG was hilarious. She immediately knew to grab a spoon and start eating my sundae. She would scoop out a huge pile of whipped cream (to start) that was bigger than her mouth. Then her mouth (and eyes) would expand so the spoon could get in. Here I remind her to share my sundae with me.

By the way, I went to IHOP for birthday breakfast. I didn't get a discount but I did get a coupon for my next birthday for 20% off. Why didn't I get it for this birthday? How tacky?

Halloween Treats

BSLG paints his pumpkin at the church pumpkin carve.

He iced his cookie and ate it, too!

At home, BSLG carved another big-eyed pumpkin.

Buzz, buzz! It's the big night.

Here's our little swarm. I thought about dressing up like the Orkin man but my co-workers thought I needed therapy when I told them my idea.

Air Force Memorial Dedication Part III

There were planes in the air and planes on the ground.

The giant C-17 airlifter made a pass

On the ground, there was a Blue Suit Little Guy-sized C-17. The most beautifully restored B-24 Liberator I have ever seen.

The B-2 flew overhead. BSLG was sure to mention that Miss Beth flies the B-2 (referring to a friend of mine).

BSLG said, "Look, Daddy, the F-22 has friends.
The CV-22 Osprey made an appearance.BSLG enjoyed trying out being a helicopter pilot. He got in the cockpit of a UH-1 and MH-60. His favorite helicopter of the day was the Pave Low.

Air Force Memorial Dedication Part II

A funny thing I heard during the President's speech --

President Bush: "Having flown an F-102, I know the exhilaration of flight; and as a son of an aviator who was shot down in combat, I am keenly aware of its dangers. I have spent a lot of time with the aviators, and one thing about them that has always struck me, aviators, by their nature, are optimistic people. It takes an optimist to climb into a steel tube, race to the sky at 1,500 miles an hour heading toward danger, and expect to return home safely."

An old man in the crowd standing next to us: "I think it takes a damned fool to do that."

Air Force Memorial Dedication

"A soldier can walk the battlefields where he once fought; a Marine can walk the beaches he once stormed; but an airman can never visit the patch of sky he raced across on a mission to defend freedom. And so it's fitting that, from this day forward, the men and women of the Air Force will have this memorial, a place here on the ground that recognizes their achievements and sacrifices in the skies above." President George W. Bush, October 14, 2006.

Blue Suit little guy and I attended the dedication of the Air Force Memorial. The memorial was designed to look like a "bomb burst" maneuver. The Air Force Thunderbirds performed an aerial salute to the memorial that included the bomb burst.


The crowd enjoyed the video view from the cockpit of Thunderbird 1 as they began their salute.

Here they come over the Pentagon. They flew right over us.

On their next pass, the Thunderbird's diamond formation pulled into the vertical for the bomb burst. The four jets separate in four separate directions right after turning on their smoke. Then a fifth solo jet trailing behind flies through the middle of their smoke while doing a vertical roll. I didn't photograph the moment of the bomb burst because it was too awe inspiring, but I did take a photo a short while afterwords.