On Sunday we bought a family membership at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville.

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The site houses four buildings. Aviation, Space, IMAX theater and an indoor water park.

We went to the IMAX 3-D showing of D-Day: Normandy 1944. Excellent. Not only informative but very emotional. It looks like they show about five different movies a day. I want to see Jerusalem 3-D next time we go.

When you approach the aviation building there is this huge statue of Capt. Michael King Smith. He and his father were the visionaries of the museum.

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The main attraction to the museum is the Spruce Goose.

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I wasn’t able to get a picture of the whole plane. It is just too big. The plane was commissioned as a way to get troops and supplies across the Atlantic Ocean. The German submarines were blowing up so many Allied ships that the idea of a large cargo plane made sense. The idea was given to Howard Hughes but unfortunately the plane wasn’t finished until the war was over. You can read more here.

The museum has a lot of really neat planes. So much history is visible here. They have a replica of the Wright brothers plane.

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As well as many others. Here are just a few pictures.

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We spent all of our time after the movie in the aviation building. With the membership we can take our time and really enjoy the exhibits.

They also have homeschooling classes once a month.

Oh, and then there is the room that has some scientific activities such as: trying to land an airplane on a carrier, “flying” a simulated hover craft, and many more things.

The WWII dog fight video game “Blazing Angels” was a big hit.

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So, not only is it great to have such an educational and fun place to go, but we spent the entire afternoon there. We did a little bit of chores in the morning and then went and had fun together as a family. No wonder the end of harvest was celebrated every year.

Enjoy your week,

Karen