Last weekend, our friend David was in town. In addition to being a Broadway actor, David is a pilot. By which I mean, he actually flies his plane from here to there. And from there back to here. When he comes to visit, we pick him up at a little air strip south of Chestertown.

Kato, who is a big fan of airplanes, loves his Uncle Davey. I can’t compete with the cool factor of someone who arrives in his own airplane.

Since David was in town, we decided to go up to the Massey Air Museum this past weekend. They were having an “Open Hangar Day,” which meant hundreds of small airplanes from all over the country (and a few other countries, apparently) were gathered for food and fun.

It would be an understatement to say that Kato was excited.

Even Alden was excited.

We walked around and took it all in.

It was just plain (plane?) exciting.

After spending a while admiring planes of every shape and color, we walked to the grass airstrip where planes were taking off and landing every few minutes or so.

At first, we weren’t sure where to look, but Kato clued us in.

Whenever a plane landed, he let us know.

Did I mention how terribly exciting it all was?

There’s not much better than sitting in the sunshine with one’s kids and best friend, watching planes take off on a unseasonably warm December day.

At one point, there was a lull in the air traffic, and various hugs ensued.

Airplanes have a surprising way of bringing out the hugger in us all.

The day was so spectacular that Kato briefly considered auditioning for an action movie.

August considered auditioning for Man vs. Food.

Refusing to be drawn into our machismo, Robbi and Alden just kept hugging one another.

Kato and Uncle Davey made their own airplanes.

Later, we spent some time in the hangar. I include this photo because I think it’s beautiful. Such a large bank of windows. Such a small boy. Such gorgeous diffused light.

On our way back to the car, we stopped to poke our head into an old, long-decommissioned passenger airplane.

The kids each took turns flying.

We stopped to snap what could be the cover of this year’s Christmas card. Stay tuned.

Here it is from the outside. The sun was setting as he headed for home, adding to the drama of the day.

If anyone is interested, David tweets maps from his online flight log as @N874DT. I enjoy keeping up with his whereabouts.He is literally all over the place.

For example, here are the airports he’s visited in the Northeast (in addition to Independence, Kansas; Reykjavik, Iceland; and Cannes, France).

No wonder Kato is so smitten.