Flying High with Benjamin....the Photo Story

Last week, I received an amazing phone call. On the other end of the phone was one of the directors of Hope Therapy in Temple. She was calling to tell me that Benjamin had been nominated to be a part of the Flying Vikings program. We felt so honored and thrilled for our little guy. The Flying Vikings is a very generous program that puts together flights for special-needs kiddos. The children go up in a plane with their pilot and a parent and then are even able to "take control of the plane" and fly on their own.

Saturday morning, we woke up bright and early to head to the airport in McGregor for Benjamin's flight. 

Our Little Aviator

While we were there, a photographer from the Waco Tribune followed Benjamin around for a bit. Sunday morning, we found this photo in the paper! So cool! 

My four favorite guys....my parents drove up from Marble Falls for the big event! We had some time to kill while waiting for the clouds to clear, so we took a little walk around the airport.

We were in the group of flights that went up first.

This was Benjamin meeting his pilot, James.

Watching James prep the plane for our flight.

Ready to go!

I got to ride along in the back. 

What an incredible experience to be a part of with Benjamin.

This was right before take off....getting excited!

This is a short video of our take-off:

Flying high over McGregor and Waco. 

Benjamin said his favorite thing to look out and see was the "little swimming pools".

"Okay, James....ready to take over from here."

This is my FAVE video-- it's of Benjamin landing the plane! Look at him go!

Being presented with his First Flight Certificate and his Little Pilot's Wings

Woohoo!

Getting his wings pinned on.

This was the plane we flew. It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. We really did enjoy it. Although, I felt like an old lady when James asked if we wanted to try some "zero gravity tricks"... he pushed some buttons and it felt like we were free falling for a moment. A little much for this mama. I have grown into such a wimp!

Jonathan was well occupied while we were in the air! 

There were bounce houses, face painting, crafts, pizza and more. 

He had a great time, too!

Benjamin's therapists, Shana and Rachel came out to cheer him on. 

LOVE these ladies so much! 

They are the ones who nominated him for this incredible day!

Jonathan flew his own plane, too! ; )

Doing a few crafts and connect-the-dots before we left.

This was a day that will live in our hearts forever. What incredible people the folks are who put so much time and effort into making this day so amazing for us. Thank you, Flying Vikings, especially Paul Hansen who works tirelessly to run this organization and make it so incredible! Thank you to all the directors at Hope Therapy, especially Heather! And we couldn't forget Shana, Rachel and James, our pilot! You guys made the day for our little man. Thanks a million times over!