Milwaukee Air Show: Sunday August 7th! To go or not to go?

Ok brace yourselves.....

We went to the Air show in Milwaukee a few years ago.  We met my brother and his family there.  It was last minute, it was hot, it was stressful, and it was fun.  Fast forward a few years.

Going to the air show was on our summer list of things to do.  The show runs for two days.  Since we couldn't cram anymore into our Saturday schedule, we made plans to go on Sunday.  We had asked my brother to come with again with his family.  My brother isn't as adventurous as we are, I guess, and I believe he may have even laughed at us.  Anyways, we knew it just wasn't going to be the same without him when we went :(  

The day started off bad.  It was pouring rain.  We had decided that we were not going to go.  Therefore, I hit the snooze button on my alarm.  My plan was to get up super early and head to Pick N Save to buy some subs and what not for the day if we were going to go.  A series of events occurred that morning and at the very last minute possible, we decided to chance it.  I was frazzled.  I am a planner.  I  NEED to be organized with so many kids.  I wasn't organized today.  I didn't like it.  I wasn't in a very good mood.  If we wouldn't have told the kids where we were going and what we were going to do...I would have gone back home.  

It was last minute, it was hot, it was stressful, it was super super super humid, it was sunny....and I am pregnant.  

We got to Lincoln Memorial Drive and we were able to find street parking.  That was a bonus.  I hate having to pay for parking so saving the $20 it cost to park was awesome.  Down side, though, is that was far and we  had to walk...and walk...and walk.  Did I mention that it was humid?  We finally got to where we needed to be.  I wanted to be in the shade.  We weren't in the shade.  I was crabby, Dan was crabby.  The kids were just fine.  They weren't crabby....yet.  

 We sat close to a Lego Fun Zone type thing.  We headed over that way to play for a bit.  The Air show was supposed to start at 11, but it didn't start until noon.  The kids were asked by one of the Lego workers if she could take their picture with this lego guy to post somewhere.  I guess I should have asked more questions as to what she was taking the picture for....but I didn't.

 Then off to building they all went.  I sat with Lanie over by the Duplo table and she had so much fun being able to stand at the table and toss all the Duplos on the ground.

 Sadie was hard at work at her master piece as well.  She made some sort of lego grass house thing.

 Molly and Daddy entered a contest on building something sports related.  Molly built a field goal with the football going through the posts.  Dan tried to build a football....but it didn't work.

 Molly took her creation up to the front and the Lego lady really liked it.  She asked Molly to put it over on the table of "special" creations.  She really did a good job....and she only had 4 minutes to make it!

 Abbie worked for a long time and made a house of some sort.  It was super complicated!

 Gavin made something...I don't know what.  And when you asked him he had some elaborate description of what it was.  No one wanted to leave the Lego tables.  They all wanted to stay and play with legos and be creative.

 The air show finally started off with the National Anthem and parachute guys.  They had a moment of silence for the 30 men that lost their lives in the helicopter crash.

 I have no idea what these planes were or what they were called.  They were cool and did formations.  That is about all I can tell you about that!

 Kens chose to stand on a cooler and watch....in the hot hot hot sun...and not in the shade.   That is where she wanted to watch from...so we let her!

 Honestly, the kids didn't make it more than 2 hours.  They were interested for a bit, but then they lost interest.  They were hot.

 Sads sat and watched the planes the entire time.  She is truly a good kid.  Always listens, always willing to help, always doing what she is asked to do, and she is so sweet.

 Another plane did "tricks" in the air and made shapes in the sky.  Very cool to watch and see how talented they are as pilots.  I don't know how they don't get sick doing all those twists and turns.

 And we have now lost interest!  No one was looking at the planes anymore.  Kens was playing some sort of story with herself.  She has such a good imagination and can find a story to play with just about anything and just about anywhere!

 Lanie was in a crabby mood...you couldn't tell from these pictures...but she was.....and I will tell you why in a bit!

 Abbie kept asking if we could leave.  Remember, she wants to be a pig farmer and not a pilot.  This wasn't her thing!  However, she kept a smile on her face even though she would rather have been somewhere else!

 Molls was happy to watch the planes....she didn't really mind.  As long as we aren't at home cleaning, Molly is good!

 These yellow guys were neat.  They did formations and tricks as well.  After these guys, we decided it was time to go.  We had really wanted to stay for the final act, the Thunderbirds, but the kids were done.  At one point, 2 of them were playing both of our IPADS.  I knew at that point it was time to pack up!

Gavin was in his own world.  He wasn't as in to the planes as I thought he would have been.  Well, he was at first, but he lost interest pretty quickly.  Then as we headed out, he said he wanted to stay and watch more planes.....umm he was one of the kids playing an IPAD 10 minutes before hand!

We packed all our stuff up and headed for the long walk back to the car.  It was hot and humid.  The kids actually did very well.  Kenadie and Gavin needed to ride in the stroller or be held.  The girls had dressed themselves in their watermelon dresses that morning so that added extra attention to us as usual.  I was glad they chose those because they had a sunhat to wear to keep the sun out!

So we make it to the car...and we blast the air conditioning on.  We decided to stop at Menards to look for a closet piece we needed.  Dan ran in....the kids were watching a movie....and then I heard it.  Lanie exploded in her car seat.  Molly said something smelled really bad and then Lanie lifted up her leg and Molly got grossed out.  Let's just say the diaper didn't keep it all in!  We had no wipes left as we had used them all at the air show.  So, off to Target we headed.  It was bad.  It was really bad and smelly.  I took Lanie in and changed her and Dan worked on the car seat.  It was all over.  A perfect ending to our day!

We FINALLY made it home and I made a fresh pan on homemade Lasagna.  It felt good to be home!  I am glad we went.  I am glad our kids can have these opportunities to do these kind of things.  I am glad we take them to do these things.  Sometimes we have to put our feelings aside and do what is best for the kids. I will tell you that on Monday...we didn't leave the house.  We didn't go anywhere.  We didn't do anything....well I did , but the kids didn't!  I think they watched 4 hours of TV.  Sometimes it is good to let them do that!  I don't know that we will battle the air show next year with 7 kids.....time will only tell!