Boy Scouts: Building a Rocket

Even though Drake is home with a fever today, we can still build his rocket for the event this weekend.

He is gluing it all together, following the instructions.

Here is the rocket, all finished, and ready to race!

Rocky Mountain High

We were blessed with a surprise, last minute, jump on the plane sort of trip to Colorado to see my good friend, Matthew...

We hiked in ElDorado Canyon, Rocky Mountain National Park, and Boulder Creek.  Wow!

Seeing Matthew was awesome too!

Drake's Online Photo Album

Pinch me!

School Lunch

School lunch - with Drake's friend Mitchell.

:-D

More work on the Bomb Costume

We found blue and black spray paint in the garage. Let's put the blue on first, then cover it with the black.  We're also going to test the flammability.  Since we intend to put a sparkler in the top of this.

Paint is dry, lets try it on.  The top blows off, sound effects provided by Drake, and he's got a little stick inside there that blows the top off.

Looks like it needs another can of black paint.

Cocoa Beach Air Show

What a great venue!  Playing in the water, or lounging on Cocoa Beach, watching a pretty high tech Air Show.  Patrick Air Force Base, and Kennedy Space Center and NASA are all within just a few miles.   It was hot, but the ocean was cool.

The Army Paratroopers were first to arrive.  By the time the 3rd one landed, we ran over to within 50 feet of where the next 2 landed.

This is our new friend, Josie.  We cleaned up the beach together before the event as part of Keep Brevard Beautiful. What a neat girl.  We really enjoyed meeting her.

Can you see the formation of 6 jets behind them?

Here is Drake, splashing around in the water, watching the planes.  Ahhhh!

Can you see the planes?

Couldn't have been a prettier day at Cocoa Beach!

What a crowd!

This was my favorite part.  Four para-troupers jumped out of a plane.  They are going to end up in the water.

Here is one of them splashing down.

They have fins on.  Probably a wetsuit too.

Then, a helicopter came and picked them up!

Did you ever see that picture that floated around in forwarded emails for awhile.  It was a helicopter just like this one, with a guy climbing up a rope ladder, and a huge great white shark, jaws open wide, about to eat the guy....

Well, thats what is just about to happen here.  (Except for the shark part, of course.)

Here, you can barely see the guy who is almost done climbing that rope ladder.

This was also very cool.  Here, two helicopters are re-fueling behind this ginourmous plane.

 And, of course, we can't forget the self-portrait.

Kennedy Space Center - Brevard Resident's Appreciation Days

This year, it was just me & Drake.  He led the way.  I followed.

We had a great time.  He is now tall enough to ride the Space Shuttle Experience.

Of course, we have to take a self-portrait!

Here, we got our picture taken with an astronaut!

Then, we checked out a 3D movie about the Moon.  Tom Hanks narrated it.

This entire thing is made of Legos!  How cool is that?

Freeze Dried Ice Cream!  It doesn't melt!  Drake ate some, and then we stuffed it my bag for later.  Delicious!

The playground is one of Drake's favorite spots.  We tried to meet Wyatt & Linda here, but the timing just didn't work out.

Next year, we really have to remember to bring a towel, and a change of clothes!  Mom really wanted to go in too, it was SO hot!

Since we had never visited the Astronaut Hall of Fame, we saved time in the afternoon to check it out.  Drake was still a little damp.  Oh well.

What a fortuitous choice.  The Hall of Fame boasts lots of hands-on interactive exhibits.  Here, Drake is trying to tighten a bolt, while sitting in a rolling chair.  This is meant to demonstrate an astronaut, on a space walk, fixing something, maybe on the outside of the International Space Station.  Not as easy as it looks.

The G-Force Simulator.  This one was a bit much for Mom.  There are two pods that spin on an axis.  Inside the pod, you feel the G-Force as it simulates an airplane flight over some mountains.  Mom was OK until the end, when the screen was turned off, but the door wasn't open yet.  It felt like we were still moving, but I think it may have been all in my head....

Here, Drake is wearing a space helmet.

This was the second simulator.  Drake enjoyed it while Mom just watched.  I was still feeling a bit queazy from that G-Force ride.

We had a lot of fun that day.  Thanks to everyone at the Kennedy Space Center!

The Halloween Ginger Bread House

Drake loves to build Ginger Bread houses.  This one is his reward for a perfect report card.

 His friend Wyatt is here to help.

 One for me, one for the house.

 There was a bunch of black icing left, so we decorated some pretzels too.  The ones with the Nerds taste the best.

It's all done.  Now who gets to eat what?

BOO!