Young Eagles

I took this aerial photo today while accompanying children #2 and 4 on their Young Eagles flight. If you click on the photo to zoom in, you can see my BIL's boat and his kids' fort, my brother's red truck, the trees in his front yard, and of course, the ugly spray-on grass that was just installed in front of everyone's homes for Des Moines Water Works.

Although we were not geocaching, I include this photo because 1) the flight is free for ages 8 - 17 years and I like to spread the word about free offerings for families, and 2) because it gives everyone a different perspective on the world. Geocaching forces you to look at things in a different way, so does flying. To see where our geocaches are from 2000 ft. To gauge distance at 150 mph. To see and hear the special lingo that pilot's use is like geo-speak. To see a pilot use gps. To have a kid control an airplane.

I first about Young Eagles back when there was a push to get a certain number of kids in the air before the year ended. Only two of my kids were old enough. I politely opted us out, despite the tempting invitation from a fantastically nice home school mom. This year, with Son #1 in Boy Scouts, it worked out to have all the kids go up. To schedule your flight, go here: http://www.youngeagles.org/programs/youngeagles/requestflight.asp