Festival of Flights returned to Long Beach after skipping last year due to Covid-19 pandemic; I remember William as having so much fun in 2019 Festival of Flights, he loved the cannons!
We were asked to show the vaccine cards; they offered free rapid PRC test for those who are not vaccinated; so William had to take one. It was nasal swab, William did it by himself. We waited only for 15 minutes for the result; it was negative.
I was a bit disappointed because this year there was not that many airplanes and booths like in 2019. Luckily there was 1 airplane that allowed us to get in and touch the controls; William loved it!
We sat on the fake lawn to each lunch and watched the performers on the stage; William did not pay much attention to the music because he was busy playing with the Jack’s Game that he got from 1 of the booths.
We got some chicken noodles for lunch, at first he said no but after the first taste, he loved it. It’s really good but too salty, I guess because there’s no veggie; I did not know that if we want veggie we need to order it, which costs a bit more. From the pictures on the truck, I thought veggies is included.
Then I went to get some Churros Sunday which has ice cream on top of the churros; I asked to have the churros separated from the ice cream and that all the toppings should be on the ice cream but they misunderstood, they have the ice cream on a separate cup but the sauces and toppings (I chose Hershey chocolate and Oreos) are on the churros! William took the ice cream and did not want to eat the churros because there was sauce on them. From his look, I think he enjoyed this event.
With the help of Facebook, we know more about the events around Orange county without having to search other places. So you guessed it right that we knew about the Festival Of Flight from Facebook. Knowing William loves airplane, we decided to take William here. It’s taken place in Long Beach airport, which is only 25 minutes from our home. The Long Beach airport celebrated its 95 Years with lots of people coming to the event.
We arrived around 10:30 AM; and there was still lots of available parking space. From the parking lot, it’s a short distance to the event. There were a few small helicopters and few big airplane on display. William wanted to get on the big airplane, which is used to deliver gas and passengers (it can hold 75 passengers maximum). It took about 40 minutes to get in line; William was running around while Tim stood on line waiting for our turn. Lately William seems to be ok with waiting in line, which is a good thing. Even though he’s not actually standing in line to wait, but he understands the concept of waiting for his turn. Of course I’m always the one to run after him and redirect him back to the line.
Waiting for our turn to get in the airplane.Still waiting ….. and waiting, almost our turn.
He got so excited to get up the stairs but when it was our turn to get into the pilot seat, he got scared and tried to go back down the stairs. I had to redirect him to the exit way. We managed to take 1 photo of him in the pilot seat (and me too :)).
Pilot seat; he got scared and wanted to get out.Passenger seats
There’s a lower level inside the airplane; at first he did not want to go down but later on he changed his mind: “I want to see the mirror!”. I had no idea what he was talking about, then I realized that there’s a mirror beneath the the lower level which we saw when we were walking under the airplane. So somehow he knows that if he goes to lower level, he’d see that mirror. William is such a smart boy; and he pays attention to things more than I realize.
There’s a lower level inside the airplane; at first he did not want to go down but later on he changed his mind: “I want to see the mirror!”. I had no idea what he was talking about, then I realized that there’s a mirror beneath the the lower level which we saw when we were walking under the airplane. So somehow he knows that if he goes to lower level, he’d see that mirror. William is such a smart boy; and he pays attention to things more than I realize.
In the back of the airplane
It took about another 30 minutes to get to the lower level because it’s very small down there: only 5-6 people can go down at a time. There’s a small stair to go down; and there was another young pilot seating there to introduce us to the airplane and to answer any questions. And there it is, a big window in front of the pilot seat. From outside, it’s a mirror which reflects our images but from the pilot seat it’s just a window where we can see people down there. William loved it, he pressed his face against that window!
Done with airplane tour, we got in line to get some freebies; 1 of the things that he liked is the plan pen.
It was 1:00 P.M.; time to have lunch but the lines to those food trucks are so long and it’s hot so we decided to leave the event and stop by the nearest Mc. Donald for lunch.
On the way home, he kept playing with the plane pen and the little airplane that Tim assembled for him with his name on it.
It was a fun day for all of us.
He especially loves this one so much that he refused to check out the other helicopters.Here’s the plane dad made for you!Young at heart!
About 2 hours driving to the Railroad Museum from our house. It was a beautiful sunny day. We bought tickets for train ride at 11:00 AM but we were 5 minutes late so we had to wait for the next train; which means we have about 1 hour to spend in this area before riding the Thomas train.
William loved the traffic signs area with lights and sounds; he also liked to climb up the old trains.
But 1 thing he did not like is to ride the Thomas train! He kicked and cried while we were walking to our train car; so I had to pick him up and carry him to find the car. Finally we got in, he did not want to stay; and it got worse when the captain started to talk: he covered his ears! Obviously he is not a big fan of Thomas The Train! But overall it was a fun day.
Everyone rides the train will get a certificate.
Other activities that he liked was petting and riding the shuttle around.
Tim loves to Selfie!
On the way out, we bought him the Thomas balloon; he loved it so much that he kept smiling when holding on to the balloon. Later at night he used the balloon as his pillow.
Sunday 10:00 AM, we went to pumpkin patch at the Irvine Railroad Park. William had lots of fun riding the car and the pony. He kept saying “No Tutu Train”.
William was really bad at riding the car but the staffs there was really nice and patient. However on the 2nd time, we waited for 20 minutes this time, the new young man staff was not as much patient, he let William out of the race because William hit the hay stack. Poor little William, he kept saying “I want to try again” but they would not let William go back in.
Most of the activities cost 1 ticket, which is $5.00. Pony ride is $5.00 too which pay at the Pony area, no need to get the ticket because it’s a different company.
The Touch-A-Truck event is held by the OC Market Place in OC Fairground, free to attend. It was a raining day but that did not stop us from going. After going to swim lesson, we went straight to the event. At first William did not want to go to any truck; so I took him to the police car because I know he’d like that. After that he started to run around and touch this or that. Luckily the rain was not that hard and the raincoat I bought him 1 year ago still fit. We don’t have much rain in California so this is his 2nd time wearing it.
The line was not that long but it was moving slowly so I stood in line while Tim watching William running around.
Saturday, after swim lesson at Australian Swim School, we went to Global Festival in Irvine; this year it’s held at the Great Park instead of the Bill Barber Park. At first William seemed to have fun but then he started to get cranky. I guess because it was hot and he was hungry too.
Saturday night, we wen to Asian Garden Mall (Phuoc Loc Tho) for the Full Moon festival. William enjoyed listening to the music, drum beats and jumping around. He patiently waited in line to get the balloon which is very good; then he was ok with face painting which surprised me because he refused several times before.
William likes his Head balloon, but 1 of the balloons broke shortly after that.
William sat still during face painting, he chose the Boat Anchor design.
Saturday Evening. We went to Long Beach to see the Twilight Streets festival; William had so much fun jumping, running around with music. Our dinner was the Hooters burgers and hot dog and fries (Kids menu for $5.99 which includes 1 entry, 1 side and 1 drink but they forgot our drinks); it took about 15 minutes waiting for take out; best thing is that they validate the parking so we saved $6.00 for parking).
First we walked to the light house; On the way there, William saw 2 birds and said “I want to chase 2 birds” then he ran after them. Continue on to the light house, William had a chance to touch the fish that some nice man caught but had to release because the fist was too small, he loved it! Then he had fun running around the light house, up and down the hills.
When we just got to the place, he saw the lights and immediately ran there and stood next to the men; Tim caught it on time.
