N'awlins Air Show 2011 (aka...how I spent my Mother's Day Weekend)

So, moving right along here...we are now updating May. Woohoo! Every other year, the Blue Angels come to town for an air show. And this year, they happened to be in town on May 7 (Mother's Day weekend). Garrett was scheduled to work all weekend (yes, you might be getting sick of hearing me say that in all of my posts) but he knew it was coming up. So he hinted (rather obviously) that he really, really, really thought that the boys should go. And of course, who would be the one to take them? Yep, yours truly. I can't say that I was dying to go, but at the same time I knew (or at least thought I knew) that the boys would really enjoy it and it would give us something to do with our Saturday. Tyler has been to lots of air shows, but Sam on the other hand, has always stayed behind in the past, since we figured he was too young to enjoy it. But he was certainly old enough this time, or so we thought. So, I caved and since I felt bad for Garrett that he had to work and knew he would feel really bad if the boys didn't go, I figured he would appreciate my efforts. :)

So fast forward to that day...we were cruising right along to get there and when we were about 2 miles away, we hit a dead stop in traffic. It took us an hour to drive the next 2 miles. People on bicycles were passing us. We finally parked, took the bus, then walked, and got a spot. Of course it had officially started about 2 hours prior to this.

And now, I will preface the rest of this by saying Sam has always hated loud noises...in a way I can't even describe. They petrify him to the point of no return. And it is especially bad when they take him by surprise. He is the child that flushes the toilet at a public restroom and then hurries to put his hands on his ears since sometimes those toilets are just SO loud! He hates fireworks too. You get the picture, right? So, as we were just barely getting our spot and getting situated, a demonstration of a rescue operation began. There were LOUD planes, bombs dropping, fire burning, etc. Words will never be adequate to describe just how bad it scared Sam. It startled him so bad and he immediately started screaming and shaking. We had been there approximately 5 minutes at this point. As you can see from the top picture (which was taken 30 minutes after the demonstration ended!), we were off to a good start.
I held him and covered his ears for him, tried everything I could do to console him, with no luck. After that demonstration was over, he would not take his hands off his ears even though it was quiet. He was absolutely terrified of it happening again. We took a little walk to go see what was there. We got him some earplugs. None of that helped. He was still crying. (you can see in the picture above...he even has the earplugs in his ears!). Tyler, on the other hand, LOVED it! He loves airplanes and he was in heaven. We got to go inside this airplane called the Hurricane Hunter and sit in it for a minute. Sam was calm for a minute at that point. :)
So, after a long while since we were waiting around for the Blue Angels to start, Sam finally started to relax a little bit. He didn't mind the little stunt planes that were performing. He quite liked them, actually. :) And during this time, low and behold, Garrett showed up!! It's a very long story, but the short version is, he had been at work for all of about an hour when a bunch of guys he was working with found out that one of their colleagues (no one that Garrett knew) had passed away so they called it quits early for the day. I guess it truly did take a death for Garrett to get out of work that day!

When Garrett got there, he was wondering what all the fuss was about. You see, Sam was just fine!

(the stealth bomber...this thing is almost eery as it flies over!)

But then the Blue Angels started! And they were LOUD!

And we were back to consoling a freaking out Sam...

They are pretty incredible, though, I must say!

No, he's not asleep in this picture...just had to have his earplugs in, face buried in my shirt, with my hands on his ears! And of course, Tyler loved the entire thing!

And then, it was finally over! Whew! We survived, but nothing prepared us for the 3 hours it took us to get home (normally it should take about 30 minutes!). WHAT A DAY! I definitely learned some lessons that day, and learned that we might wait 10 more years before attempting another air show with Sam!

And on a happier note, the following day was indeed Mother's Day so I made Garrett snap a picture of much happier circumstances. :) I sure love these boys and love being their mother! They are such a blessing in my life!