There are many stories told to couples in the midst of courtship about the dreaded "in-laws". They talk about how EVIL they are and how much they dislike you for "stealing" their beloved son/daughter away and chaining them to you in the bonds of matrimony.
If these stories are actually true, then I may just be the luckiest guy on the whole planet. Like, won the lottery without buying a ticket, lucky, because I have AWESOME in-laws. And they took time and flew down to visit us after having returned home from their mission to South Africa, late last year.
For one of our adventures while we were here, we took them to the Lubbock Ranching Heritage Museum. Dad tends to dig on history a bit and there's a fair bit about how ranchers and frontiersmen used to live to be learned there. Old cars, old wagons, old houses, roughing it... What's not to like, right?
Here's Jacob on one of the old freight cars that they used to transfer cattle and feed from location to location once they finally got track laid down.
Another day, we went to see a museum that I've wanted to see for quite a while, but whose hours are almost always when I am at work or otherwise occupied. It was the Silent Wings museum. Apparently, during WWII, Lubbock was the largest training ground for American glider regiments in the country. I knew that glider-borne infantry was used quite a bit in landing troops behind enemy lines during initial campaign assaults (such as capturing Pegasus Bridge on the Caen canal at Benouville on D-Day). What I didn't know was that such training began in America, having thought that it started during the preparation for the invasion of Europe in England.
The museum had all kinds of glider parts and even a few actual gliders one could look in. Below, you can see the kids in front of an engine built around that time. What kind of engine, you ask? Why, Jacobs Radial Engine of course... :)
Below, Dad and the kids are standing in front of a Douglas C-47 Skytrain located out in front of the museum. The propellers of the engine on either wing are bigger than both of the kids.
Additionally, they were here over Easter Sunday, for which there is apparently a requirement that there are eggs decorated. Naturally, with Mom & Dad here, the kids wanted them to participate.
Mom, however, is just too cool to do eggs, unless it involves the greatest potato salad in the world. THEN she'll do eggs. Come to think of it, I should have had her make some. :( Next time, I guess. But for now, she's chillin' in the dining room while Grandpa does the hard work of posing for egg photos with the kids.
It was great to see them again. We look forward to doing so in the future as well. We love having them around and wish they were closer, but the distance makes it all the more special when we do see them.
- Josh
