Selena Jets Away

One day after Anthony left, it was Selena's turn to visit the friendly skies.   Two days in a row of 530 AM wake up calls ended up with a Monday flight to Chicago.

Here's Sel in the elevator up to the check in counter and in line.

Thanks to Priority Access status, she got to jump in the short line and check in right away.  That gave me plenty of time to look up her flight on the Flight Aware website.   American #1400 was on it's way.

About 10 minutes after she took off, her plane turned left a little sooner then usual and pointed east.  Here's her plane crossing the El Toro Y where the 5 and 405 join together.  This meant her plane would fly closer to the house than Anthony's flight the day before which had made a much wider left turn.

And just as planned, at about 18,000 feet, her plane flew directly over the backyard.  That's her twin engine Boeing 757.  She was seated on the left side in seat 26A.  If she pressed against the glass she might have gotten a glimpse of the house to see Mom and I waving.

That little spec is her plane just beyond our tallest tree in the backyard.

The map below confirms her location right after she passed over us.  The house is located due east from the El Toro Y by about 8 miles.

A little while later she crossed into Arizona.

Here's her plane crossing Nebraska.

And finally confirmation of touchdown just 3 and half hours later.

Using Flight Tracker to Follow Anthony Home

It was an early alarm for Anthony.  Up at 5 AM to be able to get to the airport ahead of the crowds for his 7:45 AM flight.

Back at the house, we located his flight on the web and waited for confirmation that United #316 was in the air. 

And, using this technology, we could pinpoint when he was going to be flying across the backyard.  It worked.

The dotted line is the planned flight path.  Anthony would fly out towards the ocean and turn left to cross over Dana Point.

Moments before take off, we could see when he pushed back to taxi.

Anthony's flight is in the air and just passed over Newport Beach.

Here's his plane passing across the backyard.



The flight tracker shows his plane's location once it passed the house.

A few minutes later he was at 17,100 feet on his way to a cruising altitude of 39,000.   See you in a few weeks Anthony.

Disney Birthday Dinner

If it's Thanksgiving Weekend, that means that Goofy's Kitchen is in the weekend's plan.   Emily was joined by special guests from Disney movies as she celebrated her 14th birthday.

But first, time for a birthday donut at the house.

 And then it was time for dinner at Goofy's. 

Soon, the characters stopped by to say hello.

The mischievous Chip showed a new skill we didn't know he had.  He's great with doing hair.

Here's Chip helpful cleaning Emily's nose.

Holiday scenes were all over Disney.  Couldn't resist some group shots.

Happy Birthday, Emily

Since Sunday was get away day for Anthony, Emily celebrated her birthday a day early.