For Kids Who Love Planes

We landed in Dayton on Wednesday and stayed with my cousins whom I've never visited before. It was nice to be in a real house and have home cooked meals for a couple of days. No children in the household, just grown ups and cats, so my kids entertained themselves with the cat toys and Zac found plenty of items to remove from cabinets, drawers and low-tables. The house was not toddler-proofed, so I had to be extra vigilant. My cousins found it entertaining, I think.

On Thursday we went to the National Air Force museum. My cousin works on the base so he knows his way around. NO ENTRY FEE and miles of exhibit on all aspects of flight travel.

Kids (and grownup) will love it here.There are hundreds of planes, from prop planes to jets, and exhibit areas for aviation's early years (a la the Wright brothers), World Wars I and II, the Cold War and the modern era, including missions in Iraq and Afganastan.

The exhibits prompted Adam to ask a lot of questions about war, which I found difficult to answer. He wanted to know who Hitler was, why he wanted to take over the world, why people make missles that blow up buildings and people,why America bombed Japan and why countries fight each other. I did my best to explain things without scaring him.

We saw a B-57 jet bomber flown by Vermont's Green Mountain Boys in World War II. We sat in a flight simulator and peeked inside Air Force One planes from all of the past presidential administrations. We bought toy airplanes in the gift shop and ate lunch in the museum cafeteria. It was an inexpensive and entertaining three hours.