Rand Air Show

Yesterday we took the boys to an air show - What you need to understand is that my husband comes from a family of pilots. My Father-in-Law is a pilot, so is Adam's eldest brother, and his cousin and his uncle - On top of that they all love anything with an engine and speed. Planes, bikes and cars are the order of the day in this family! Add to that the fact that I am mad about motorbikes and aeroplanes. I dated a couple of pilots before I met Adam, and I absolutely love living near OR Tambo (South Africa's largest international airport) because it means that I can watch the planes coming in and out. In fact, my fascination with aircraft is so obsessive that I sometimes have to focus when I am driving so as not to crash on the highway because I am staring at the aircraft landing.. Caleb seems to have developed the same love of aircraft and he goes absolutely nuts whenever we see one..

Right, now that I have set the scene..

Adam, my Father-in-Law (Mike), myself and the boys head off to the air show. We take (one of) Mike's cars (4X4) and off we go. So on the way there, Mike keeps swerving into other lanes..and I start wondering if he has been drinking? Keeping in mind that it is 09h00 in the morning, I am a little concerned. Then I start paying closer attention to when he is swerving into other lanes, and it dawns on me that he is trying to miss the puddles - when I ask him why he is trying to miss the puddles in the road, he informs me that it is so the car won't get dirty...??? Pardon??? lol.. what you should understand about my FIL is that he is meticulous about his cars. This is a man who will get up at 05h00 and spend 3 hours washing and polishing a car. In fact, he puts so much weight in how a person looks after their vehicle, that I find myself making sure my car is spotless when I am going to see him..

Anyway, after I tease him about not wanting to get the tyres of his 4X4 dirty/wet (am I the only one who thinks this is crazy?), we make our way to the show. We had a lovely morning watching all the aircraft, and I must admit that I love the old planes.. there is something so majestic about them. The aircraft in the video is 53 years old - it still has roll down windows.. can you believe it???

So after we have been there for a couple of hours, Caleb decides he wants a hotdog - so off he and I go to find him one - only to discover that the queues are horrendous. I, naturally, try to persuade my first born child that perhaps he desires some other form of nourishment for his lunch - I even offer ice-cream or crisps out of desperation. But no, he is standing firm and it must be a hotdog (see stamping foot)!

So we stand in the queue.. and it is moving as slow as a wet weekend.. so we stand.. and we inch forward.. and we stand and we inch some more. The people behind me are.... lets see.. how do I put this? Umm.. the people behind me are not my cup of tea. The lady has on enough make up to start her own drag queen extravaganza, and the man is not wearing any shoes - Now keep in mind that it is winter in South Africa!!! How can you not be wearing shoes man??? No wonder people on the East Rand have a bad reputation!

Just in case you are wondering, we are still standing.. and still inching...

Eventually we get the hotdog - after about an hour in the queue - naturally, Caleb has 3 bites and then decides he does not want anymore.. grrrr... thinking rude words, but not saying them! I missed the best part of the show because I was stuck in a hotdog queue behind a tent watching make up run off the face of a lady who was standing too close to me.. So the above video is the only aircraft I actually saw that I was interested in!

And to top it all off, when we arrived back at Mike's car it was filthy.. and I mean filthy.. covered in dust and dirt from all the cars driving past... ha ha ha.. that made me feel a little better.. Does that make me a meanie? Nah... it just makes me human with a wicked sense of humour!