The Final Frontier

Onion Ring's senior project (completed last spring) was to launch a weather balloon into space.

He did research, some fund-raising, bought a kit, and we drove out to Sevier Lake (southwest of Delta) for the launch.  Based on his calculations, he hoped that if launched from this area, the balloon would avoid population, but also have a chance of landing somewhere that we would be able to access by car.

The payload was equipped with two cameras, a GPS, and a flight computer.

Luckily, the calculations were perfect!  The balloon traveled around 65 miles northeast, landing in the hills, within a quarter of a mile from a dirt road.  We drove to the area, and hiked into the hills.  While the balloon was equipped with a GPS, we did not have a GPS tracker.  So we used the coordinates from the GPS to find the area, but then we had to search through the fields ourselves to locate the balloon.  It took us over an hour because the GPS had detached from the balloon on impact and the balloon had blown over a hundred yards beyond and it was a lot harder to see among all the grass and rocks than we thought it would be!

 Success!

Check out the video for a view from space!  (Beware, the payload spun badly at first--at around two minutes, it's not so bad.)

Smoked

School began this week.  (Goodbye, once again, summer...)  And so did "The Rim Fire".  If you haven't heard, The Rim Fire is a huge fire burning at the northwest edge of Yosemite National Park.  The smoke has been blowing into our area for several days now and at times we have seen little bits of ash.

All outdoor events have been cancelled and we try to stay indoors as much as possible.  (Can you see the sun behind Eggs on Toast and Junior?--below)

It is an enormous fire and hardly contained at all (our prayers go to those who live nearby the fire and those fighting it) and no forecast for a shift in the wind until the end of next week.

Thankfully the outside temperatures have not been very hot so keeping the windows shut has not created unpleasant interior temperatures (we do not have AC).

Lockdown

A week ago today, Buttermilk Sky did not come home from school at the normal time.  I waited a bit, thinking maybe he stopped in at the library.  When he still did not come, I got in the car and drove the short distance that Buttermilk Sky walks home from school.  As soon as I was about a block from the school, I could tell that something abnormal was happening.  Parked cars lined the streets.  I could see a lot of adults walking toward the school.  There were some police car lights flashing.  I parked in the nearest place that I could find and began walking toward the school, my heart pounding, with thoughts of recent school horrors in my mind.  As I neared the school, I could see that the grounds were blocked off and many black clad figures with helmets and machine guns were walking around.

Photo from carsonnow.org.  Go here for the story.

At the first chance I got, I asked some people if they knew what was going on.  I was told that a student had seen a couple of kids with a gun, so the school was locked down.  I joined the large throng of people standing around, waiting.  I ended up waiting for two hours before I was able to retrieve Buttermilk.

As it turned out, there was no gun.  The student (a sixth grade boy) made up the story. From what I heard, he was arrested.  There were around 60 SWAT team members dispatched to the school as well as much of the police force.

Buttermilk said the ordeal was very boring.  He said at about 1:10, the lockdown began and they had to get on the floor in their classroom and stay there for nearly three hours until they were taken to the gym to be released to their parents.  He said they didn't know why they were locked down until their teacher checked the news online.  He said one kid had to go to the bathroom so badly that he was almost crying and the teacher had him go in the trash can while everyone looked the other way.  Buttermilk said he was mostly bored and only felt scared when they heard someone shouting what sounded like "Get down!" out in the hall.

So, we are grateful that no one was hurt, and also disturbed at a few aspects of this incident.  Now we are looking forward to summer vacation even more, if that is possible!

We Freezie and See Kokanee

A week and a half before Halloween, I got to go to Eggs on Toast's school field trip to Taylor Creek (near Lake Tahoe) to see the Kokanee salmon.

After beautiful, endless, sunny summer and fall days, this day slushed in the valley and snowed in the mountains.  Just three weeks before, we had been at the lake, swimming.

I don't know how the poor little wet, shivering kids survived.  I almost didn't.

Eggs' class had been studying the life cycle of the Kokanee.  By the time we got there, they were nearly finished spawning.

The red color of the salmon was spectacular and it was cool for the kids to see what they had been studying.  However, we were so very, very cold, it was a little difficult to enjoy.  But I think everyone was still glad that we got to go.

After I got home and changed into dry clothes, I got into bed and stayed there until the kids came home from school, and I still felt cold.

Check out the video below to see exactly where we went and what we saw (minus the snow).  Although, in the video, the narrator says that the bears eat the salmon, but the tour guide told us that while there are many bears in the area, they don't eat the salmon.  She said that they don't for two reasons.  One is that the fish are about to die and they are pretty much rotten so they wouldn't taste good to the bears.  The other reason is that fishing is a learned behavior for the bears and because the salmon are not native to the area, the bears do not know how to catch them.  So now what are we to believe?  The tour guide or the movie?

First Day of School

The first day of school came and went.  I think everyone was kind of nervous, since it was all new, but they all survived.

We had some big changes this year.  Onion Ring began his first year of high school and Buttermilk Sky began his first year of middle school.  (They are both waaay too old for first day of school pictures.)

So far, so good!  Now they are making new friends and beginning to feel more at home.

The End and the Beginning

This week I attended a graduation ceremony.  It happened to be for Buttermilk Sky--yeah, another one of those graduating from elementary school graduations.  I wasn't ready with my camera and almost missed Buttermilk walk across the stage.  He's the one with the bright green circle around him.

I think Buttermilk is very ready to move on to bigger and better things.

The boys had excellent teachers this year, as always.

So after a week of nothing but parties and games, school finally came to an end.  And now...summer vacation begins!

Back to School

It's hard to believe it's that time of year again! Summer vacation has flown by. (Sniff, sniff.)

Though we are sad for summer to end, all of the boys were looking forward to school at least a little bit--some more than others. I think it's always exciting to start a new school year. It looks like it will be a good one!

Last Day of School

Today was the much anticipated Last Day.

All of the elementary school boys had great teachers this year. (Poor Junior had the sun in his eyes.)







Onion Ring thought middle school was way better than elementary school (and made sure to let the younger boys know it). He had some really excellent teachers, too. (And one not excellent at all teacher--but at least it was only one!)

Do you like this staged photo (below)? Onion Ring and his friend were so nice to walk down the front walk so I could take a picture. Onion Ring would never have consented to such a thing if his friend hadn't.

Amazingly enough, this is the same middle school that both the Ice Cream Grandma and Grandpa attended. It was brand new back then.



And now let the fun (ie: slavery to me) begin!!! They think they'll be playing all summer? Think again!!(Insert evil laughing.)

The First Day of School

The first day of school was nearly two weeks ago. We had a couple of big changes this year. One having to do with this boy.

He started his first year of middle school. I didn't get a picture of him on his first day because; a. I forgot, and, b. he didn't want his picture taken. When I suggested taking a picture of him on the second day of school, he said, "No way." And I keep forgetting to do a sneaky shot of him as he walks from our vehicle to the school. But maybe I still will.

The other big change had to do with this boy. This was his first day of Kindergarten.

(I love how his back pack is nearly as big as he is, and all it gets used for is a paper or two every now and then.)

Around these parts Kindergarten begins more than a week after everyone else so the week in which everyone else went to school but not him was a very long week.

Finally his turn came.

He was so excited to put on his new duds, don his new backpack, and ride his scooter to school like the bigger boys.

He told me he was a little nervous, but it didn't bother him very much.

He loved his first day of school and has loved every day since.

(By the way, did the people who built this place think that a room saturated in deep orange was conducive to learning? I mean, who thought this up? Orange carpet, orange walls, orange cabinets...yikes.)

This was the first day for Buttermilk Sky and Eggs on Toast.

Eggs was very excited to be back in school.

Buttermilk was not so excited, but he was a trooper, anyway.

Well, I guess it's time for those brains to kick into gear. Go boy brains! Let's see some forward momentum.

Speaking of brains, I think I will end this post with an inspirational thought by Jack Handy:

“I hope some animal never bores a hole in my head and lays its eggs in my brain, because later you might think you're having a good idea but it's just eggs hatching.”

School's Out for Summer!!!

Yesterday was the long-awaited last day of school.

Eggs on Toast was the only one who was sad about it. He really likes school.

I appreciate all of the teachers that my boys had this year.

However, this one holds a special place in my heart.

Summer, here we come!

The Graduate

It may come as a surprise to you to know that we have a graduate in our midst. Yes indeed, his name is Onion Ring, and he has graduated from elementary school. This wasn't supposed to have happened so soon. Did he skip a grade, or something?

I never had a ceremony when I graduated from elementary school, but Onion Ring did because he's so lucky.

Now that he's graduated he is too cool to smile when I want to take a picture. But never too cool to make a face.



On to bigger and better things!

A School Program and Joy

The boys had a school program this week. My favorite part about it (besides listening to the Kindergartners sing) was the look of pure joy (not!) on all of my boys faces.

School's Out!

This picture was taken at 1:32 pm on May 28, 2009 upon arrival. Buttermilk Sky has to go the bathroom really bad and Onion Ring looks a little glazed. But school's out for the summer!