The other day we decided to have an adventure, so the boys chose a trip to the Palm Springs Air Museum. I cannot believe that we have never been there, and it is right here in the desert.It is really a great place. We were very impressed!
This is an air museum, but the emphasis is mostly WWII. There are two wings - the Pacific and the European. We started in the Pacific wing.
The docents there were wonderful! The were all WWII vets and so proud and anxious to share their stories with us. They were very helpful, and let the kids be kids - climbing into planes and simulators. So fun!
Almost all of the planes in the museum still fly! Some were still dripping oil so there were oil pans under the planes.
The kids had a blast in the simulators!
There are also a mot of planes and helicopters in the back right beside the tarmac for the PS airport.
There was also a M*A*S*H* style tent set up back there that the boys enjoyed exploring.
And helicopters and jeeps to climb on.
This helio was huge!
We could watch the planes at the airport take off and land.
Back inside the museum we explored the Europe wing where they have a great area just for kids. They could try on military uniforms, color and craft.
There were also more vehicles, flying and non-flying, to climb on.
Nate was having too much fun with the machine guns on the biplane.
And they played and pretended for a long time that they were behind enemy lines. We decided that we need an old airplane in our backyard! How fun would that be? I promised them I'd look for one at a garage sale.
There also was a real airplane that they could paint!
The whole museum was really fascinating and the boys learned a lot.
This is an air museum, but the emphasis is mostly WWII. There are two wings - the Pacific and the European. We started in the Pacific wing.
The docents there were wonderful! The were all WWII vets and so proud and anxious to share their stories with us. They were very helpful, and let the kids be kids - climbing into planes and simulators. So fun!
Almost all of the planes in the museum still fly! Some were still dripping oil so there were oil pans under the planes.
The kids had a blast in the simulators!
There are also a mot of planes and helicopters in the back right beside the tarmac for the PS airport.
There was also a M*A*S*H* style tent set up back there that the boys enjoyed exploring.
And helicopters and jeeps to climb on.
This helio was huge!
We could watch the planes at the airport take off and land.
Back inside the museum we explored the Europe wing where they have a great area just for kids. They could try on military uniforms, color and craft.
There were also more vehicles, flying and non-flying, to climb on.
Nate was having too much fun with the machine guns on the biplane.
And they played and pretended for a long time that they were behind enemy lines. We decided that we need an old airplane in our backyard! How fun would that be? I promised them I'd look for one at a garage sale.
There also was a real airplane that they could paint!
The whole museum was really fascinating and the boys learned a lot.
Upstairs, there is a really impressive WWII library with some really knowledgeable and helpful docents. If my kids ever need to do a report on WWII I will certainly send them there first.
They also have a bank of computers that have WWII airplane simulator programs. The docents were wonderful! They patiently showed the older boys how to do the controls (they made it very clear that these are NOT video games!), then they took the two boys who were too young and helped them with another game and shewed Mom and I off to go watch some movies. They told us to go enjoy ourselves and kept all the kids entertained.
It was wonderful because we some some short documentaries where WWII vets talked about their experiences. One 99 year old vet told about his experience as a paratrooper in Normandy. Having recently been to Normandy, I found his story very moving! We were both so touched and cried like crazy as he reminded us of the price of freedom. We are so grateful!
It was a wonderful visit! We will come back for sure!
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