September

September was full of planes, trains and automobiles (but without the trains).   The weather was finally nice enough to be enjoyable and we loved taking Owen out to the park that is right next to where we live.  

Picnic lunch.

Then at the last minute I decided to take Owen on a trip to Reno to visit my family.  My dad is an airline pilot and he doesn't get to be home for extended periods of time very often.  But in September Reno is host to the Reno Air Races.  For the past few years my dad had been involved in one way or another with filming the races.  He has done some DVDs for them, but this year he streamed the races live and created daily podcasts about the races.  So he would be home for at least a week and I thought that it was time for  Owen to start to appreciated aviation.

Hanging out in the O'Hare airport waiting for our flight.

Owen loved spending time with his "Naunties"!

He's a chubster and has trouble getting out of his bumbo sometimes.

While Dad was off zooming around the races, making sure his crew got the perfect shots, Owen and I got to enjoy some races, check out the planes, do some shopping and helped out the crew sometimes.

Memorial to families affected by last years accident and Thank You to rescue workers.

Taking a break in the office.

Rare Bear F8F-2 Bearcat - A crowd favorite in the Unlimiteds

Our chauffeur Nikki driving us around the grounds.

Owen modeling in front of the military display planes.

Tuckered out after all the sightseeing.

Newest crew member of the C-130.

Trying to shield him from the F-22 noise.

I just had to include this video of the Jelly Belly stunt plane doing some amazing aerobatics.  The pilot stalls the engine and then using a series of loops and dives is able to land the plane without the engine turning back on.  But as if that wasn't enough, the announcer is standing in the middle of the tarmac waiting for the plane to roll to a stop without running him over. The video is a little long so after seeing some of the rolls, feel free to skip to the end.

Owen with Pilot Ernie Sutter, winner of the Silver race in the Sports Class.

"On a wing and a prayer"

Sole survivor of a crash landing found shelter in the tail engine!

On the last day, before Jeanie, Daniel and Katie had to leave, we took a trip up to Lake Tahoe to do a little sight-seeing.  We stopped at the scenic outlook on the way down the mountain and then of course we had to visit the beach.

Owen tired Grampy out...

After a long day, nothing's better than cuddling with Great Grandma Van.

Owen helped Grampy check us in for our flight home.

He was such a good boy on the plane trips home.

Owen was SO good on our trip to Reno. Then once we were home, it was time to get into mischief again.

"It's the ties fault that it was hanging over my Johnny Jump-Up!"

He was having a great time when he figured out how to roll across the floor.
Until he rolled under the pack 'n play and got stuck!

We got to go to another wedding of some friends that Nick knew in high school.  It is always great to be able to catch up with people that you don't normally get to see or wouldn't run into without some type of event like a wedding.

Owen and Nick making sure that they have beautifully quaffed hair for the wedding.

Look at those studs!

One happy family.

We also got to have one last trip before the month was over at Tanner's Apple Orchard.  Unfortunately because of the weather and the season being so dry, we weren't able to actually pick any apples ourselves.  But we still have fun making Owen do silly things while we laughed.

He's not just a one trick pony!