How many photos of airplanes are too many?

So this one time (last week), I took the boys to see America's Hangar.  You know, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.  No?  Well, okay, you may know it better by its other name:  The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.  Not the one in downtown Washington, D.C.  The one in Chantilly, Virginia, about 35 minutes away from D.C.

Okay, now that we have cleared that up, let's look at waaaay too many photos of airplanes.  I don't know why I took so many photos of airplanes.  And missiles.  And spacecraft.  And my kids.  But here are a few:

Like this one.  Do you know what this is?  This is Connor with the Enola Gay, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress that dropped the first atomic weapon used in combat on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945.

But that isn't what drew us to the Udvar-Hazy Center in the first place.  No, we went with an aim to see two particular things: the Blackbird and the Discovery.

Here is the Blackbird.  You can see Connor and Kevin near the rear wing on the right side.  Also, you can see the space shuttle in the background.

1.  The SR-71 Blackbird:

Both Connor and Lex picked model SR-71 Blackbirds from the gift shop as their souvenir for this trip.  Their sound effects are amazing.

 2.  The Space Shuttle Discovery:

I was also really impressed with the F-14 Tomcat and the Concorde.  There are so many airplanes and missiles and airplane engines and helicopters and gliders and things to look at there that every time we walked past something, we spotted something new.  And the boys were running around for hours, so we walked past everything many, many times. It never got boring. 

Full disclosure:  I took a full 390 photos in a single day trip to see the Blackbird and the Discovery.  Oh, and we ate at the McDonald's restaurant next to the gift shop THREE different times during our visit.  (For lunch, snack and dinner.  Really.)  And, after a full day of running around this huge place, Lex fell asleep on the cab ride back to the hotel, and slept like a baby, while the rest of us watched the Olympics on TV. (Sidebar, I think I am having Olympics-withdrawal this week.  So is Connor.)

What He Said: Olympics Edition

Yesterday, I watched a little bit of the Olympics with the boys.  The coverage was of men's swimming and ladies gymnastics.

Connor was particularly interested in the swimming.  He was yelling at the screen, "Go, go, go!"  When he saw some French swimmers, he said, "We don't like them."  Daddy corrected him, "We like them fine, we just hope that USA wins."

During the balance beam routines, Lex was totally engrossed.  He said, "I want to do that."

Passports are all here!

We got Kevin's passport in the mail this past week, and we got Connor's yesterday.

We applied for Connor's passport on September 24. It arrived October 3rd.

It took only 9 days. We were given an estimate of 4 to 6 weeks. They really beat that!

Connor's First Passport

Yesterday, armed with Connor's completed passport application and a notarized consent form from Kevin granting permission for me to apply for the passport in his absence, I took Connor to the local post office and applied for his passport. No trouble at all!

The lady said that we could expect to receive his passport in the mail in 4 to 6 weeks. Let's see just how long it takes!

Passport Turn Around

Today, I got my new passport in the mail.

This means that the total turn around time for a passport renewal by mail is 20 days. I think that's pretty quick.

Passport Photos

I took Connor to JC Penney's portrait studio this afternoon to have his passport photo taken, because when I went to Kinko's to have mine done a few weeks ago, I was informed that they didn't take pictures of babies there. I think that the photo turned out well enough for his passport, and I'm getting ready to start filling out his application.

Kevin's application is all done, and he was supposed to stop by the Post Office this afternoon to apply in person.

One interesting fact about passports: Kevin's passport and mine will each be valid for 10 years. Connor's will only be valid for 5 years, and then we will have to renew it. Fortunately, our trip to London falls within that five year period!

Step One: Complete!

Today, I dropped my application to renew my Passport into the mail.

Step one of about a hundred thousand for our trip to the London 2012 Summer Games is complete!

Now Commencing Project Step Two: Kevin's Passport application!

(It seems to me that the easiest way for us to get a Passport for Connor is to show up in person, all three of us, with Kevin and I having our Passports for identification already.)

B.I.G. Plans

I mean really *BIG* plans!

Kevin and I have decided that we are going to take our family to the Summer Olympics in London in 2012. Connor will be 5 then.

I've been to London once before, and I've always wanted to go back. I loved it! Kevin and I have always wanted to go to an Olympics before, so this seems like the perfect match. Plus, I think that Connor being 5 will make him old enough to go to England, but probably not someplace that would be harder for us to get around (say, China) due to a culture/language barrier.

According to the official website (http://www.london2012.com/index.php), the games will be from July 27, 2012 to August 12, 2012. That gives us 1436 days to plan our trip! (Don't worry, I didn't count.) Tickets to the different events will go on sale sometime in 2011. When do you suppose we should book airfare and hotel accomodations? A lot can happen in 4 years. We'll probably even have another child by then.

I suppose our first task will be to get passports. I need a new one, and I've got to look up the rules for passports concerning babies.