Eli has been very busy this last month, with the Exercise Arctic Ram in and near Yellowknife.
A perk, so to say, of helping to coordinate all the necessary air flights, is that Eli had a chance to fly in a helicopter this past Saturday to watch as 63 army people parachute in the final exercise.
I told him to take my camera.
Miss G told him to remember what colour the helicopter was.
He travelled in one that was red and white.
It was cold and early when Eli arrived at the location of the parachute drop.
Lots of snowmobiles were part of this important military exercise-- the first for the North, and a very large exercise.
Helicopters are cool.
Here comes the Hercules. Hercules! Hercules! Hercules!
Aaah! He jumped!
Aaah! A whole bunch of them jumped!
Oh. Right. They have parachutes. And, they know what they're doing.
Second round...
Make no mistake.
It's freakin' cold up there!!
Brr.
Eli said it was quite a treat to be close to the action.
On Sunday, the Department of National Defence put on a community relations day, and we went down on to Frame Lake by city hall.
Don't tell Nanny, but she's standing on a lake.
They cleared a big space (on the lake that Nanny may or may not be standing on) to accommodate the military vehicles and the public, and the girls climbed up onto the snowbanks for a good view.
It's a lot like going to the Air Show in the East, aside from the minor detail that it is -30 degrees Celcius.
The girls were well dressed.
And, they played in the white white snow to stay warm.
They loved having Daddy there.
This friendly dog enjoyed the kids and the snow, too.
Don't you love his doggie parka?
Miss G found an army tent, equipped with a lantern and a Coleman stove.
Eventually, the plane arrived and began to circle.
Eli actually chartered this plane for the event.
Miss G and Papa
Miss A and Daddy.
Miss A is giving the frozen eye here, because it was taking a while and she was getting cold, even with all her layers on.
The first parachutist descended with flags.
He landed. But, he missed a large orange circle, which Miss G thought was the target, so she was seriously disappointed in his parachuting abilities. Disgusted, really.
The girls ducked back into the "warm tent" with Nanny as the next parachutists prepared.
Miss G also had a chance to visit the heavy military vehicles.
Here they arrive!
See the white camo?
Once the parachute demonstration was done, we headed back to the cars, but stopped to visit the vehicles parked on the lake.
Miss G was careful to do a complete inspection.
2 comments:
Looks like a super fun day! xo Auntie Annie
Sweet!! I love that Nana may or may not be standing on a lake! hahaha! I went out on said lake at Christmas, with a Colonel, to cut down a Christmas tree from the island and there was overflow when we stepped on the ice near the island. I was not so impressed!!!
Looks like a great day though!!
XO Kel
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