Kendra and Joe Duggar 6: Sitting in a tree...M.A.R.R.I.E.D!

[SapphireSlytherin]

6 hours ago, feministxtian said:

snip<   I'd have killed to have a ride on that F-22...DAMN...90 degrees straight up, slide down and into an aileron roll...then a couple of good loops to boot. ...snip.... The F-15's and 16's would fly so low we could see the pilots, and those things are LOUD!!!  >snip

Honest to shit, you and I would be best friends in RL. I grew up with the music of B52s "warming up" and then taking off over my house. I lived near an airport where the F15s and A10s would bounce-and-blow all-day-long. I'd sit in my college (community college for the win! - Got my AA, not even the S.) and stare out the windows, watching the flyboys doing their stuff.

I took a "training ride" in a Navy trainer - tandem-seat, single-engine T-34. It was one of the best days of my life. And I got to "fly" a B52 simulator (in a building) with my then-boyfriend. I managed to take out the tower at Barksdale Air Force Base with my right wing - got the big RED screens. lol

 

[Bassett Lady]

Nikedagain? The pools at Disney World are supposed to be heated year round. So, if your pool was cold last time a heater was out. Late April is great pool weather in Orlando. Which resort are you at this trip? 

[SapphireSlytherin]

@Nikedagain? - have you considered a hotel with an indoor pool? Would that be an option for her?

[Nikedagain?]

@Bassett Lady @SapphireSlytherin We are staying at Art of Animation. It is just wayyy easier to stay on property in the event of a behavior or something. They don't have indoor pools, I don't think... 

I'm relieved to hear that it will be warmer. I think we went last time around the week of March 22-23rd. It was Easter break and really crowded. Hoping to maybe avoid a bit of that this time. Last time we drove over to Universal for 2 days during the week to see Barney (yepppp) and HP. I LOVED it there, but I think that might be a bit ambitious for me on my own. 

Also, Art of Animation is one of the hotels now allowing dogs!! I am thinking about getting a service or companion dog. The dog would obviously not be "service ready", if I go that route, by then, but it's nice to know if we did have one, it wouldn't have to stay behind. (SERIOUSLY HARD TO LEAVE MY CATS!!)

I'm just in a conundrum about all of that though. I don't know if I can get exactly what we want/need or if such an animal even exists! 

 

 

 

 

[Bassett Lady]

 There are no indoor pools at any of the on site resorts and hotels at Walt Disney World. I agree that the ease and convenience of staying on property, especially when you have special needs kids, Is worthwhile. Art of Animation’s feature pool has music piped in underwater. If noise is especially bothersome to your child, then I would suggest soft foam earplugs.

[Nikedagain?]

10 minutes ago, Bassett Lady said:

 There are no indoor pools at any of the on site resorts and hotels at Walt Disney World. I agree that the ease and convenience of staying on property, especially when you have special needs kids, Is worthwhile. Art of Animation’s feature pool has music piped in underwater. If noise is especially bothersome to your child, then I would suggest soft foam earplugs.

Good to know! She doesn't like when babies or toddlers cry, she will start tearing up, but noise is generally ok. She is just very obsessed with water. Can't get enough of it! 

[feministxtian]

7 hours ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

Honest to shit, you and I would be best friends in RL. I grew up with the music of B52s "warming up" and then taking off over my house. I lived near an airport where the F15s and A10s would bounce-and-blow all-day-long. I'd sit in my college (community college for the win! - Got my AA, not even the S.) and stare out the windows, watching the flyboys doing their stuff.

I took a "training ride" in a Navy trainer - tandem-seat, single-engine T-34. It was one of the best days of my life. And I got to "fly" a B52 simulator (in a building) with my then-boyfriend. I managed to take out the tower at Barksdale Air Force Base with my right wing - got the big RED screens. lol

 

Yeah we would! Ever hear Boston's "The Launch" and "Cool the Engines"? Honest to God, that would send me on an adrenaline rush...very bad when driving said overpowered, barely streetable vehicle. At the airport near my house, Air Force 1 would do touch and go's. Hanging outside the engineering building at Harvard by the Highway, we'd check all the 15's and 16's. 

Oh, did I mention that I got to get up close and personal with a C-5 yesterday? I'd forgotten how big those things were. No 52's at Langley...home of the First Tactical Fighter Wing. I worked right close to Oceana Naval Air Station for awhile...could hear the Super Hornets light off...yeah buddy. Did a friends and family day cruise on the USS Enterprise...yep, just over 50 miles out...2 18's did a Mach 1+ flyby...fuck me running that was HOT!!! A friend's cousin got to fly the SR-71...talk about a sexy ass plane!!! 

Seen the Blue Angels like every year for years...T-birds too. Ever seen a B-2 do a low altitude pass? FUCK...that plane is wild. Quiet as shit and MASSIVE! 

 

[SapphireSlytherin]

I'm a HUGE Boston fan. I bet you're not surprised.

Yep, I've been taken by surprise by a B2 - it approached from BEHIND the crowd. The effect was enough to bring me to tears. God. I love planes.

BUFFs are my sentimental favorite, and always will be, though.  

I'm so jealous of the Enterprise trip you got to take! How amazing!!!

We've seen the Angels and the T-birds many, many times. And one year, THE Top Gun was at an airshow that I was attending with my flyboy boyfriend. We were at the Officers Club when all the air show attendees from other bases showed up. The flyboy introduced us and Top Gun (I don't recall his name at all, and he wasn't as pretty at Maverick - lol) started quoting "You've Lost that Loving Feeling" to me. I just laughed and asked him if he did that at ALL the airshows he went to. hahaha

When GryffindorDisappointment was a baby, we lived on an Army post, and lived on the flightpath for the Hueys and Apaches. They'd go over our house at what seemed like treetop level and she'd sleep through it, just as I could sleep through the BUFFs and tankers revving up/taking off in the middle of the night.

As for 'fuck me running' - that is MY saying. HAHAHAHA

 

 

 

[feministxtian]

@SapphireSlytherin Honey, I lived between Langley AFB and Ft. Eustis...aircraft noise is the soundtrack to my life!!!! Apaches, Hueys, F-15s, 16s, 22s, a few 18s, C-4. 131, 141, even 117s (talk about jaw dropping). They had a few 117s parked on the apron at LAFB and that's right across the street from the Exchange/Commissary complex...dude!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are wild as hell looking...

When I lived in Indiana, there were NO planes that flew over us...NONE. Talk about a weird feeling. I was happy as hell to move back to the land of jet noise. We were under a glide path for Luke AFB and Sky Harbor when we lived in Gilbert AZ. Now...not exactly under the glide path for Nellis, but we can see planes fairly frequently from McCarron. We're also near the path used by the lifeflight choppers going into UMC and Sunrise. 

I'd LOVE to meet up with you for coffee/drink/dinner/long bullshit session...3 days later we'd probably STILL be yakking!!!

[SapphireSlytherin]

6 hours ago, feministxtian said:

I'd LOVE to meet up with you for coffee/drink/dinner/long bullshit session...3 days later we'd probably STILL be yakking!!!

Next time we head Vegas-way, I'll let you know. I'd rather drink/bullshit than gamble.  

[Shadoewolf]

Lived a mile off of Langley for almost a year and just off of Naval Air Station Key West (Big Coppitt)  for a few years. My kiddos grew up with jet noise. Ahh fond memories!!

[SapphireSlytherin]

1 hour ago, Shadoewolf said:

jet noise

The sound of freedom.

And before ANYBODY downvotes this for whatever reason, research the history of this saying.

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

6 minutes ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

The sound of freedom.

I never thought I'd say this but I kind of miss the fighter jets that used to do maneuvers near where I live. The Iowa National Guard was in Des Moines and flew maneuvers from the airport that is about 5 miles from where I live.  They shut it down about 2 years ago. They  had a schedule that was kind of funny you could tell the time by what they were flying.  

[MsSaylor]

@Nikedagain? just wanted to add I have a water obsessed kiddo with Autism too. It has gotten bad/scary a couple times. All my kids like swimming but we need one on one coverage for them and theres only two of us and three kids so sadly he doesnt get to swim that often. He will go right into the deep end and he cant actually swim. Can your daughter? We have tried a couple different types of lessons but hasnt been that successful. Ive always tried to go as many places as possible with him but amusement parks scare me. I know he would love it but I would need lots of extra adult support to do it with him and my other two. 

[Antipatriarch]

20 hours ago, feministxtian said:

Oh, did I mention that I got to get up close and personal with a C-5 yesterday? I'd forgotten how big those things were.

Enjoying the plane talk! I'm an Air Force vet (not a pilot). At one of my bases, one of the roads out was perpendicular to the brim of a runway, so often as you were entering/leaving you'd have a plane fly overhead just a few feet above your car. Took some getting used to, but really fun!

So one sunny day, I was bopping along when suddenly my car was under a shadow. And it went on... and on... I looked left, and there was a Galaxy. Yeah, those things are hella huge.

20 hours ago, feministxtian said:

A friend's cousin got to fly the SR-71...talk about a sexy ass plane!!! 

Got that right! That's my all-time favorite USAF plane. I had a poster of it in my room in H.S./college. When I went into the Air Force and did my initial training, one of my training classmates had been assigned to a unit that supported the SR-71... and while we were there in training, the AF announced they would be retiring them. Sad day!

The only small jet I've been up in is the T-38 (during my field training). Lots of hops on C-130 and C-141 but that's nothing to write home about... although the C-130 is probably the best thing the AF ever bought, in terms of life and varieties of mission.

[SamiKatz]

My jets flying overhead story.

I used to live in the Dufferin/Dundas/College area in Toronto, and every Labour Day weekend, my roomie and I would be hanging out doing whatever, when suddenly dishes would start rattling, furniture would start shaking, the house itself would shake.  We'd look at each other like "WTF"!, then run outside to see jets flying very low over our house.  Part of the air show held every Labour Day weekend at the CNE in Toronto, and obviously we were on the flight path (as we were so close to the fair grounds)

We would always start laughing at the fact that somehow, we managed to forget that fighter jets flew a few thousand feet over our house once a year -  heck of a thing to not remember.

 

[Nikedagain?]

2 hours ago, MsSaylor said:

@Nikedagain? just wanted to add I have a water obsessed kiddo with Autism too. It has gotten bad/scary a couple times. All my kids like swimming but we need one on one coverage for them and theres only two of us and three kids so sadly he doesnt get to swim that often. He will go right into the deep end and he cant actually swim. Can your daughter? We have tried a couple different types of lessons but hasnt been that successful. Ive always tried to go as many places as possible with him but amusement parks scare me. I know he would love it but I would need lots of extra adult support to do it with him and my other two. 

It can be scary! I have no doubt that if she was still a kid prone to eloping (knocking on wood right now...), she would be sneaking out at night and scaling the fence to get to the pool in our community. She can dog paddle so I tell myself that she could save herself if needed! Our school district does swimming with the kids in self contained classes in the fall (I live in a town with a large university so lots of volunteers) and we have adapted aquatics in our town. We do all of those, and I think it has helped a lot, but she still doesn't swim in the conventional sense. Do you guys have special olympics? They do swimming.

[sabeek]

On 11/12/2017 at 12:32 PM, Nikedagain? said:

Good to know! She doesn't like when babies or toddlers cry, she will start tearing up, but noise is generally ok. She is just very obsessed with water. Can't get enough of it! 

I stayed at Art of Animation last month, in a Little Mermaid Room. The pool by my room only ever had a couple kids in it. So if you want a quieter spot, might be worth venturing to the smaller pools. 

[Nikedagain?]

34 minutes ago, sabeek said:

I stayed at Art of Animation last month, in a Little Mermaid Room. The pool by my room only ever had a couple kids in it. So if you want a quieter spot, might be worth venturing to the smaller pools. 

Thank you! I know we are in a Little Mermaid Room. Are they all in one building or spread out? A smaller pool would be great, but not right in view would be great. I have weird demands, it seems!

[cascarones]

@MsSaylor and @Nikedagain?, I'm not sure if you've heard of Morgan's Wonderland, it's a theme park designed to be fully inclusive for special needs. I volunteered in the water park this summer, there's usually tons of hands and you can alert them to your families needs/ number of assistants needed ahead of time. It's also great because it's in the same metro area as a Six Flags, Sea World and Schlitterbahn. I'll put a little from their about section under a spoiler since Morgan's love of water is huge.

Spoiler

The tipping point occurred in 2005 when Gordon observed Morgan wanting to play with other vacationing kids at a hotel swimming pool, but the kids were leery of Morgan and didn’t want to interact with her.  Then and there, Gordon resolved to create opportunities and places where those with and without disabilities can come together not only for fun but also for a better understanding of one another.

While other theme parks accommodate people with disabilities and/or special needs, Morgan’s Wonderland was created with them in mind. This park was built to emphasize inclusion, so we want everyone to come and enjoy Morgan’s Wonderland!This unique park was created to enable everyone to come together and have fun, regardless of their abilities. 

Jets? I'm an Air Force brat, people are impressed by the party trick of being able to name the plane off noise alone, couldn't join myself from the nature of my migraines. I remember being really impressed by the lightning shoot in the air traffic control tower and wanting so badly to run, dive into it and slide to safety. I don't know if my grandpa was just one of those people who are naturally staticy and would always shock everyone, or if it came from "all that damn lightning". 

[sabeek]

45 minutes ago, Nikedagain? said:

Thank you! I know we are in a Little Mermaid Room. Are they all in one building or spread out? A smaller pool would be great, but not right in view would be great. I have weird demands, it seems!

There are 3 little mermaid buildings and the pool is at the center of them. And beware, the little mermaid rooms are about .4 miles from the cafeteria and bus stop. 

If you're driving and have a room that faces the parking lot, you won't always see the pool. If you take the path in the middle of the buildings or have a room on the pool side of the building, it's hard to miss. Search for Flippin' Fins Pool on google maps and you'll see what I mean. The 3 buildings right around it are the Little Mermiad ones.

[Incognito22]

5 hours ago, Antipatriarch said:

Enjoying the plane talk! I'm an Air Force vet (not a pilot). At one of my bases, one of the roads out was perpendicular to the brim of a runway, so often as you were entering/leaving you'd have a plane fly overhead just a few feet above your car. Took some getting used to, but really fun!

So one sunny day, I was bopping along when suddenly my car was under a shadow. And it went on... and on... I looked left, and there was a Galaxy. Yeah, those things are hella huge.

Got that right! That's my all-time favorite USAF plane. I had a poster of it in my room in H.S./college. When I went into the Air Force and did my initial training, one of my training classmates had been assigned to a unit that supported the SR-71... and while we were there in training, the AF announced they would be retiring them. Sad day!

The only small jet I've been up in is the T-38 (during my field training). Lots of hops on C-130 and C-141 but that's nothing to write home about... although the C-130 is probably the best thing the AF ever bought, in terms of life and varieties of mission.

My grandfather actually worked ( engineer) on the SR-71 when it was being built and was top secret.   I think that was at Groom lake but not sure.  I’m not good about listening to old family stories.  I just know he wasn’t allowed to tell my grandmother anything about what he was doing or where he was going.

[SapphireSlytherin]

I'm reading the Area 51 book about Groom Lake right now.

And there's a Blackbird on display at the Kalamazoo Air Zoo. Haven't been there? YALL MUST GO THERE.

[feministxtian]

1 hour ago, Incognito22 said:

My grandfather actually worked ( engineer) on the SR-71 when it was being built and was top secret.   I think that was at Groom lake but not sure.  I’m not good about listening to old family stories.  I just know he wasn’t allowed to tell my grandmother anything about what he was doing or where he was going.

Groom Lake is where they flight tested that beast. She was a Kelly Johnson/Skunk Works design. Find the book Skunk Works by Ben Rich...it's available on Amazon. Rich took over from Johnson and ran Skunk Works thru the F-117 days. Fascinating read. Starts with the U-2 spy plane.

 

Have I earned my geek full of useless trivia cred yet?

[Smoochie]

USAF brat here too ... when we moved to Canada and not near the airport, we found it deathly quiet at first!  It's funny when I travel, I typically end up near a base and the sounds of the jets, even all these years later, sound like coming home!