Yes, I'm Serious, And Don't Call Me "Shirley."

Hey y'all, 

So...I never really know what to say when people ask your dad and me what we do for a living. "We do a bunch of stuff," I start with, but if I don't expand on it, I assume people hear, "We do a bunch of stuff...that the cops don't know about."  I work on TV shows and I film some stuff for a PR company and I write some stuff for a fitness company and I do some website design stuff and I take pictures for fun and in my spare time, I'm learning Common Core math because that mess is crazy. Same with your dad: "Well," I say, "He's a Hydrologist with the Forest Service and he's in the Navy and he flies some stuff and he works with the Civil Air Patrol which has something to do with saving people with the use of planes, and in his spare time, he's learning Common Core math."

But if you were to ask you dad what he loves to do most, he'd no doubt say "anything that involves flying."

He's trying to pass that love of aviation on to you guys, so whenever he can, he takes Laney with him. Now that Hagen's getting bigger, I assume he'll be roped into the wild blue yonder more often, too. I've been the holdout. "But Thor!" I always say, "There's a reason the President and Vice President never fly on the same plane." And your dad rolls his eyes while I started humming Don McLean's American Pie about the day the music died. 

Last weekend, I finally agreed to go along for a pre-sunset flight. 

When we got to the plane, I was surprised at how small the thing was, and how everything inside was covered in red naugahyde. It looked like we were about to take flight in an old Camaro. "What the heck kind of plane is this?!?" I demanded. "A 1979 Cessna blah blah blah blah..." said your dad. I didn't really hear anything after "1979." "Is that old?" Laney asked. "Well," I explained, "When this plane was built, I was Hagen's age." Her mouth dropped open, because if there's one thing Laney knows, it's that her mom is OLD. 

Still, I got in the plane. I figured your dad is the most competent, capable dude I know and if he's okay with putting his family in this plane, then it's okay by me, too. 

I'm sure pilots are supposed to - or even HAVE to - consult their flight checklist, but still: It made me nervous that your dad kept consulting a cheat sheet. 

The plane came with three headsets, so Laney took the third one and was the communications officer for the backseat. 

The scenery was fabulous. 

Sun peeking under the wing

Car on a dirt road

Hidden lake and waterfall

Ch-paa-qn Peak

Flathead Lake

River at Sunset

Your dad took along his iPad, because it has his ForeFlight navigation program on it. Halfway through the flight, Laney's voice came through our headsets: "I think Hagen has something to say!" She took off her microphone so she could hold it up to Hagen's mouth. That's when we heard his tiny-but-irritated voice coming through:

"I...WANT...TO...KNOW...WHY...I...CAN'T...WATCH..."DIEGO"...ON...THIS...COMPUTER."

I looked at your dad and said, "I'll be damned if I'm going to explain to these children why they can't get Wifi and watch Netflix ON THEIR PRIVATE PLANE"

And then we landed. I think it's safe to say you guys aren't totally swept away with the magic of flight, but I hope - like me - you're totally impressed by your dad's ability to "do all kinds of stuff."

Love,

Mom