Grandma and Grandpa's Visit

It was so fun to have Grandma and Grandpa Hoggan here! Emma really loved the extra attention and Nate and I loved having a couple of live-in babysitters for a while. It really was nice that they were able to make the trip up here and spend that time with us. We definitely enjoyed it! This was a needed "vacation" of sorts because we were able to take a break from the daily schedule and truly spend time with family. It's so important to do that every once in a while so that we don't lose track of what's really important in life.

Some of the fun things we did were going to the Salt Water State Park, visiting my Aunt Anita and Uncle Galen, going to the Everett Boeing plant for the Future of Flight museum and tour, and the Museum of Flight in Tukwila. It's fun to be a tourist of the state you are living in!

The park turned out to be freezing, so our picnic at the park idea didn't work so well. My mom and I ended up walking along the beach front while my dad played with Emma in the car. It was too cold even for her who doesn't mind the cold that much. But I think Grandpa enjoyed the one on one time with her! After we went to the park and ate our food in the car, we went over to South Center Mall to walk around and look at things. Grandma and Grandpa wanted to get Emma a ball, but that wasn't really the place to get it. So after driving aimlessly for a while (I was a little lost), we ended up stopping at a Target on the way home.



The next day we got up bright and early and headed to Everett. My parents were tired but didn't want to close their eyes because the drive was so scenic. I, on the other hand, ended up sleeping part of the way. Guess I missed out on some of the scenes! Once we got to the plant in Everett, I was astounded by the size of it! It was HUGE! The doors that open to let the planes out once they're finished were the biggest doors I'd ever seen. Then right after we parked, we got to see a plane take off just on the other side of the fence. I felt that one in my chest, it was so powerful! At the museum Nate and I walked around the gallery and the stores while Grandma and Grandpa were on their tour. They got to see the Dream Lifter take off, which was built to carry the parts for the Dreamliner. It's a funky looking plane, but very cool to think that it works! Then when they came back they took Emma for us while we went on our tour. They don't allow anyone shorter than 4 feet on the tour for safety concerns. So Nate and I kind of got to go on a date, which was nice! The tour was incredible! I could not believe how much goes into making an airplane. So much engineering, so much man labor, so many parts, so much money. It's mind-boggling really. I felt so small the entire time, especially when we saw the 747 being made. That thing is humongous! The people working on it looked like ants and those wings were so long I couldn't even see the whole thing without moving my head. It was almost scary, that's how big it was. Anyways, I learned so much about Boeing and about airplanes that I now have a very great respect for them both. It also made me feel so excited that Nate is a part of it. How cool to be a part of that kind of technology! I think we take it for granted when we hop on a plane to go visit family or take a vacation. We don't realize what it has taken to get us there. It's truly inspired technology. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures at the Future of Flight Museum and they don't let you take pictures on the tour so all we have as our souvenirs from this experience are our memories, a CD from the tour, and our 787 wings. We got them for being willing to participate in a survey that we didn't end up participating in because there weren't enough people. :) So that day was a great day!

Then the next day we went off to the Museum of Flight in Tukwila. We were definitely getting our fill of aviation! It was a really fun museum. They had so many different planes to see and many of them were very large! Once again, I felt very small and started to get an inkling of what it's like to be an ant. We went through the gallery, the Amelia Earhart exhibit, and the space exhibit. Those were all very interesting. Then we got to go into the old air traffic control tower and watch planes as they landed and took off. It also had an amazing view of Mt. Rainier. Of the many computer screens around the tower, there was one screen that showed all of the current flights, both private and commercial, in the air at that moment. There were TONS! It's really astounding when you think about it. Of course there has to be someone to control the air traffic with that much traffic in the air! Other parts of the musuem we saw were the airpark, the barn, and the hall with all of the WWI and WWII planes. In the airpark we got to go inside a

Concorde and the Nixon Air Force One. So neat to think we were walking where past presidents had walked, talked, and discussed classified information! :) The barn was where Boeing first started building planes back in the 1920s and they were made of mostly wood, metal, and cloth. All very fascinating. One of the best parts of the museum was the flight simulator. Nate and I got in it and he piloted (except for the take off, which I did very badly) an F-22. Man he took me for a ride! We did barrel rolls and flips and dives. I was honestly very sick to my stomach by the time we got out. But it was so much fun! Totally worth it!

After the museum, we went home and ate and then headed over to the church to hear Nate play the organ. He did a great job! It's so much fun to hear him play, especially when he pulls out all of the stops and plays full blast. So the day went very well (except for Emma being extremely fussy at the museum) and we enjoyed the time we got to spend together. My parents stayed Sunday and then left on Monday. It was sad to see them leave, but at least we had a fun time while they were here!