Oshkosh 2006

On July 25 Rich, Roger and Noah took their first-ever trip to the EAA fly-in at Oshkosh, Wis. We saw hundreds if not thousands of aircraft, and had a great time!



From the top are Noah and Grandpa in front of a P-40 Warhawk, Noah sitting in the cockpit of a Vietnam-era OV-10 Mohawk, and Rich and Noah in front of a P-51 Mustang.

Noah's dream car

Roush Racing had a bunch of their souped-up cars at the airshow, and Rich and Noah kinda liked this blue Mustang with about 500 horsepower...

Our own magazine cover

Looks like Noah's taking Rich for a wild ride!

Our future airplane?

Rich is a member of AOPA, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Each year they refurbish an older aircraft into like-new condition and give it away to one of their members. Here, we're pictured in front of this year's giveaway airplane, a 1967 Cherokee Six 260. They've already put in a new engine, propeller and glass panel, and they're getting ready to do the paint and interior next.

Hmmm, let's see ... six seats in the airplane, for (1) Rich, (2) Erin, (3) Noah, (4) Lucas, (5) Caleb and (6) Sarah. Yep, that's about right!

B1 bomber

One of the more impressive military planes we saw at Oshkosh was the B1 Lancer. Here, Noah is standing by its landing gear.

Future Blue Angel

Noah hopes to be sitting in the cockpit of one of these in another 15 or 20 years. Blue Angel No. 7 was at the fly-in, and during the afternoon airshow we saw him give a ride to actor Harrison Ford, who was in the backseat! They pulled up so hard after takeoff, we're pretty sure ol' Harrison was nearly puking his guts out! He got about an hourlong ride before they returned. Harrison Ford is a pilot himself, in both fixed-wing and rotorcraft.

End of an era

It was a bittersweet day Wednesday, Aug. 16 ... I helped mom and dad move their belongings out of the old Gordon family home in Richfield, and we drove away for the last time. The house where we lived for some 27 years will be razed to make way for a new Super Target. Still, mom and dad are now freed from having two houses and can focus on their retirement home on Bowstring.

Here's how the house looked on that last day. Dad removed many of the windows from the house so he could install them in his workshop up north. So we had to board up the house so nobody could get inside.

Bouncing baby girl

Look how excited Sarah was to get her new bouncy baby play station. Lately she's not been too happy with reclining a lot, so we got her this so she could be upright more without us having to hang on to her.

She passed her four-month checkup at the doctor's office last week with flying colors! She's almost 16 pounds (90th percentile), is 26 inches tall (95th percentile) but still has a smaller head circumference (50th percentile).

Dr. Manney told Erin, "She's perfect. You should have five more just like her!"

Mmmmm ... no. Four's plenty!

Tender loving care

Lucas likes to hold Sarah while he sits on the couch! She gets lots of kisses from Lucas, and he's always one of the first to help try to calm Sarah down when she's fussy!

Little green thumb

Here's Caleb with just a few of the many plants he's nurtured lately. If there's mud on the deck or grass seed scattered in the garage, we know Caleb's been at it again!

Cute bald guys

Four of the best-looking cats at the Gordon reunion!

Rich, Arthur, Bill and Paul...