Arctic Thunder Air Show

We were very excited to hear that an air show was coming to Anchorage this summer. On July 30 we drove out to Elmendorf in time to see the show open with parachuters floating thru the sky with flags attached while two other planes circled them all the way down.

The kids were able to walk thru and sit in a number of vehicles.

Here's the plane we flew in to Hawaii. The kids were excited to see the enourmous cargo area below.

We watched a demonstration, with explosions and everything, showing how the service members react in a firefight, a bombing attack and then how they come in to treat and extract an injured soldier, fast roping from a helicopter and all. It was quite fascinating! Here the helicopters are flying in a hummvee and a cannon!

Demonstrating how they refuel in midair! 

Despite the long lines, the kids were dead set on doing this jumpy bungee thing, 

so we waited in line for 90 minutes. They felt it was worth it, and that's all that matters. 

And the grand finale.....the Blue Angels!!!!!

As we were making our way towards the exit, I turned to watch my kids behind us who had slowed to talk to each other. I was off to their side and about 10 feet ahead of them. I watched as they picked up speed and followed a man in a bright blue jacket into a line for cotton candy. I stood there laughing and when they finally looked up and saw me, it still didn't register with them. I asked them what they were doing and they stepped in front of the man and looked up in horror to discover it was not their daddy! They immediately ran to me. I was laughing so hard there were tears in my eyes and I could hardly speak. It was a good lesson for them in paying attention and how easy it is to get lost!

While we had a fantastic time at the air show, the horrible lack of traffic control in the parking lot for 162,000 spectators, put a damper on the whole thing. We sat for two hours in the parking lot not moving while other cars continually jumped in front of our line. Once we made it out of the parking lot, I was even more irritated to see four people standing together, one directing, while the others just stood there with him. Obviously when 283,000 people flood JBER over a two-day period, things are going to get a bit crazy, but that was ridiculous!