Ballooning, Part Two

Finally got the video that I shot up on YouTube. This was shot from the gondola during the approach and landing. No, it's not spectacular, but I prefer it that way. You can see how smooth and gentle the whole trip was - all the shaking is simply from the camera operator. :)

Ballooning Over Tallahassee

Last Saturday, my Dad and I took an awesome balloon ride over north Tallahassee. My Mom had given us the ride as a gift, and it took us almost two years to make it happen. It was worth the wait.

I used to fly single engine aircraft, and I've flown in most other types of aircraft, and I have never experienced anything like this before. I recommend that everyone try it at least once.

Here are some shots that I took during the flight.



Thanks Mom!

Soccer Photos

Today kicked off (no pun intended) the Fall 08 Capital Soccer Association soccer season. D3 and C had their first games, and we got some pictures. Most of these are from D3's game, since Holly and I were both coaching C's team.



I think we are going to have a great season, all around.

Soccer and Scouting

Well, the Fall has officially kicked off. Scouting is going well, and keeping me very busy, and Holly and I started coaching C's soccer team again last Friday.

Both kids are playing again this year, and it looks like it's going to be a fantastic season.

First, C's team looks good, and it has a great coach, so I know we'll do well. She's playing U7, and the first practice went well, we have some kids that have some good skills already. Most importantly, everyone had a good time, and I'm sure all the kids will enjoy the season. We'll get some game footage up here as soon as we have it.

D is 'playing up' this season. He will be in the U10 division, rather than U9. There was a group of U9 players that are ready to go up, so CSA has put them up a notch together. Yup, a team of all U9 age kids playing in U10. Sounds a little odd... but you haven't seen this team. Honestly, I think they will hold their on (and then some) against the older kids. Again, we'll put some footage up here when we get some.

All games start this Saturday, so we only have on more practice (Friday) before we get rolling. Cool!

It's that time of year again! Popcorn! D's Cub Scout Pack is selling popcorn starting on the 26th, so those of you that bought from us last year, we're coming for you again!

Take care all!

Another Template

Hi all. No, we haven't abandoned the site. I've put up a new 'look' for the site, which took me about four evenings to put together. The old one was having issues on some browsers.

I like this one, and it should last for a while.

Bike Riding

Well, C has finally learned to ride her bike. She's been real close for almost a year, but was frankly too scared to really trust herself and give it a go. This weekend, we headed down to the elementary school to igve her some more practice, and she finally nailed it. Starting, stopping, turning (mostly), she's got it down. A little more practice, and she'll be ready to join the whole family on rides.

Here are a couple of videos:





Yes, she hits the wall in one of those videos, listen to it again, it's pretty funny. She was fine, and got right back going.

Of course, when it was time to go, she decided to ride her bike back to the car. Along the way, there is a gate you have to go through. As she was riding ahead of me, I told her, "be careful of that gate, you might want to slow down."

"I want to ride through it!"

Uh huh. And sure enough, she rammed the post at full speed, and ended up all over the sidewalk. She's fine, her first words as I ran up were, "I thought I could make it!" After a little bit of crying, it was determined that she'd live. I think she was more annoyed that she hit something than that she crashed.

D3 rode around the corner a second later, sees the bike sprawled out in the walkway and says, "Well that can't be good." He is definitely his father's son.

Hope everyone had a good weekend.

Flying Rockets

Hello all! D3 and I headed down to the greenway on Sunday afternoon to fly some model rockets. It was a beautiful afternoon, with sunshine and a nice breeze, but the girls decided not to come. Their loss! :)

We started out small, with a pair of rockets using the relatively mild A8-3 size engine. We then moved up to a double launch of rockets with the B6-4 size. Now, the letters in those sizes are the relative strength of the motor, where the 'B' engines are twice as powerful as the 'A', so they were more impressive.

On the second flight, D3's parachute melted a bit as it was ejected from the tube - I'm sure due to a problem with the flame proof wadding you pack in there. David packed and prepped all his rockets this trip out, and he did a pretty good job. We've got some minor repairs to do to his 'chute and shroud lines, but nothing major.

Since we didn't want to fly his rocket again, we decided to put a C6-8 in mine for one last launch. Since each letter progression means that the motor is twice as powerful as the previous, the 'C' engine was about four times the power of the 'A'.

The launch was awesome, and boy! did it climb high. Unfortunately, the rockets fell apart on parachute ejection. We don't know exactly what happened because the pieces came down in the treeline 200 yards away and weren't recovered. We found the nosecone and parachute - stuck in an oak tree 60' off the ground. Oh, well. This is why rockets are fun!

Here's a video of the ill-fated launch.

Three Day Weekend

We had a nice weekend at home, for the most part. Saturday we had the scouts' Welcome Back Picnic, where everyone had a great time.

We got to swim some, since the weather was pretty good, and I got caught up on the yard work. Mostly.

Monday, we had some friends over and grilled hamburgers, swam in the pool, and watched the kids play in the backyard. Typical American summer holiday. The weather was gorgeous, which made sitting on the back deck not only bearable, but really nice.

I got some work done, too, which always makes my week start better.

I hope everyone else had a great weekend, if you did anything cool, share it in the comments.

Cheers!
David, Holly, David and Chase.