West Navarre Primary 2nd Grade Patriotic Performance

27. July 2013 · Comments Off on West Navarre Primary 2nd Grade Patriotic Performance · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

This is from June 5th.

I’m just sharing some You Tube videos I had taken of Timmy’s class’s “Patriotic Performance”. It’s a tradition with the school’s 2nd grade classes. Sadly, the school is so large you can’t get all the 2nd grade classes to perform on the stage at once…nor can you get that many kids’ parents/grandparents into the room to see it. There are four classes performing in these videos.

I think there were over 300 second grade students at Timmy’s school. Nearly 1000 students in all for grades K-2.

Enjoy!

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Colorado Discoveries 7: Pike’s Peak Cog Railway

24. July 2013 · 3 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , ,
In case you're wondering, yes, the air is VERY thin up there!

In case you’re wondering, yes, the air is VERY thin up there! I don’t know why I wasn’t wearing my jacket. I had one with me.

On July 10th my mom brought the boys to Colorado for us. They were staying in West Virginia so they wouldn’t have to endure the pain of the four-day westward drive.

I think they would have been okay on the long drive, but only because they would have been immersed in DVDs and their Nintendo DSs.

We got tickets for the Pike’s Peak Cog Railway during the weekend my mom stayed with us. It’s a great way for anyone to get up to the top of one of Colorado’s “Fourteeners.”

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The Boys’ Piano Recitals

19. July 2013 · Comments Off on The Boys’ Piano Recitals · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , ,

Enjoy these videos from the boys’ piano recitals at the end of May. The boys will definitely miss Miss Ashley.

We haven’t found a piano teacher here quite yet…but we aren’t looking quite yet either.

Timmy:

 

 

 

 

Jacob:

 

 

 

The Vollmer Space Program is a GO!

18. July 2013 · Comments Off on The Vollmer Space Program is a GO! · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , , ,
Timmy built a small rocket that had a lot of problems during construction, but ended up launching successfully not once, but four times!

Timmy built a small rocket that had a lot of problems during construction, but ended up launching successfully not once, but four times! Twice it nosed right into the ground, but Timmy got it to launch again.

Jacob is very proud of his "Far Side" rocket.

Jacob is very proud of his “Far Side” rocket.

Earlier this week, I was hauling the boys on errand after errand all over Colorado Springs. One of the errands was a short stop at Hobby Lobby to “dry mount” one of Timmy’s Atlanta Braves posters.

While waiting for the work to be done (about 15 minutes) I took the kids to the model crafts aisle. I thought they would look at the airplane kits, but they instead wandered over to the model rockets.

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Hiking Around the Neighborhood

17. July 2013 · Comments Off on Hiking Around the Neighborhood · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: ,
A nice map with which we could plan our trip.

A nice map with which we could plan our trip.

Sorry, you can’t really call it “taking a walk” here.

The kids, Howie and I decided to take a hike along the Cottonwood Creek Trail, which runs southwestward from our neighborhood. Just a couple houses down from us is an access point between two houses to Colorado Springs’ expansive network of multi-use trails.

We figured it’d be a quick walk to Cottonwood Creek Park, which is a nice big park with baseball diamonds, a basketball court and several playground structures. More »

Colorado Discoveries 7: The “Manitou Incline”

16. July 2013 · 1 comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , , , ,
The Incline itself is the green line, and you ascend from right to left. Then you take the crooked red line down the mountain. One mile up, four miles back.

The Incline itself is the green line, and you ascend from right to left. Then you take the crooked red line down the mountain. One mile up, four miles back.

Locals in the Colorado Springs area frequent this very unique fitness challenge: The Manitou Springs Incline.

Manitou Springs is one of the towns due west of Colorado Springs. It’s known as a vacation spot for their natural springs and boasts the home of the Pike’s Peak Cog Railway (for another post).

It’s also the town with the trailhead for the hiking trail up Pike’s Peak, the Barr Trail.

Not far from the Barr Trail is something called “The Incline”.

“What on earth is this Incline you speak of?” More »

Pensacola Blue Wahoos “Field of Dreams” Experience

15. July 2013 · Comments Off on Pensacola Blue Wahoos “Field of Dreams” Experience · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , ,
A fine finish to a great baseball season. Our youngest son's baseball team celebrated with the Pensacola Blue Wahoos.

A fine finish to a great baseball season. Our youngest son’s baseball team celebrated with the Pensacola Blue Wahoos.

Just before the boys left Florida for good, T’s baseball team enjoyed an evening with the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. I had written about the Blue Wahoos games in a previous post in 2012.

The kids got to take part in the team’s “Field of Dreams” experience, which was a block of seats together, dinner, getting introduced as a “featured guest” at the game, and a chance to hang out with the Blue Wahoos players before the game, either by singing the national anthem with them, or else running out to the field with the players as the players’ names are called.

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Colorado Discoveries 6: Garden of the Gods Park, Colorado Springs

15. July 2013 · 1 comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , ,
A beautiful day at a beautiful park.

A beautiful day at a beautiful park.

While we were in Colorado in May to buy our house, we took some spare time to visit the Garden of the Gods park, which is along the western edge of Colorado Springs.

The Garden of the Gods park is a gift to the City of Colorado Springs. In 1879, Charles Elliot Perkins, the president of the Chicago, Quincy and Burlington Railroad, purchased the land that included the Garden of the Gods. He intended for the land to one day be used for a summer estate, but that plan never came to fruition. After his death, Perkins’ children conveyed the land, 480 acres worth, to the City of Colorado Springs. A plaque commemorating this is affixed to one of the rocks. More »

The Weather Station is MOSTLY Up and Running!

04. July 2013 · Comments Off on The Weather Station is MOSTLY Up and Running! · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

Tonight I had set up our PC desktop computer on our new Ikea desk.

I turned on the Davis Vantage Pro 2 console, and I didn’t realize that our weather station is already transmitting from inside a deck box where it’s awaiting a more formal installation.

So for now, trust the temperature, dew point and barometric pressure. I’ll let you know when we get the anemometer and rain gauge assembled. I’m awaiting the formal movement approval for our MADIS community reporting also.

Alabama Discoveries 6: Bellingrath Gardens for Mother’s Day

04. July 2013 · 4 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , ,
DSC_2986

I love this picture!

As always, when asked what I want for Mother’s Day, the answer is the same. I want an outing with the family at a location of MY choosing.

It often involves something more feminine. Being in a house full of guys, I usually have to give up the girlier things during the year, but for Mother’s Day I get my berry picking and botanical gardens visits!

This year, I asked for a trip to Bellingrath Gardens near Mobile, Alabama. Again. I had already dragged the family out there over the holidays to see the fantastic light show, but I wanted to see it in the spring with all the flowers in bloom before we moved to Colorado.

I was not disappointed. And Timmy, my little naturalist, was just as impressed with all the flowers and animals.

I took the good camera with us so I could capture the beauty! Enjoy some pictures. Be forewarned, I took over 300 pictures, so I’ve distilled it down to about 30 of my favorites.

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