Engineer!

Skyler demonstrated the strength of a triangle and truss construction to his class yesterday.  The bridge successfully held 20 books!  The rest of the class will now get their chances to build bridges he said.

Being creative in class today.

Not really sure what's going on here but it's not a weight test!

BIG helicopters!

I heard the rumbling yesterday afternoon from downstairs, I raced outside to spot 5 MH-47G  Chinook helicopters (Army Special Forces) flying in from the South.  I hopped in the car and headed over to the airport in hopes of seeing them in action.  Too late!  They were tying down for the night.  The airport police were even kind enough to come and chat with me...

4 of the 5 pictured.  They for some unknown reason, landed on the grass instead of the tarmac.

Zoomed in view.  Look how much the rotors sag!

More from Daybreak.

Despite the tornadic winds, the kids had a pretty great time exploring.

Skyler and Abby at the playground.

Stu, Skyler and Abby on the dock.  Look at the mountains!

Bicycle sculpture!

We spotted this out at Daybreak yesterday afternoon.  The wind sucked but at least the temperature wasn't too cold.

There are several of this style of sculpture around the community out there.

Popcorn in bed!

Specifically, popcorn in my bed!

Mommy had a sustainability committee meeting Thursday night and Skyler wanted to watch "Wild Kratt's" while I was watching "The Big Bang Theory" in the other room.  He also wanted some popcorn to snack on.  He brought his "tuffet" made from stuffed animals in and was quite happy.

Lucky kid!  Can you spot the cat?

Can you spot the Bald Eagle?!

Skyler was the first one to spot him out by school yesterday morning.  Not shown, the fox that I spotted a few seconds later running along one of the ponds nearby.

Sitting on the perch possibly looking for a fish.

A surprise visitor in the morning!

Skyler was thrilled this morning to find Eddy cat sleeping on his bed when he got up.

Skyler said that Eddy was there earlier in the morning when he woke up.

Remember, everyone is dealing with something in their lives.

An hour at Crown Burger.

We had another school to tour yesterday afternoon after school.  Instead of driving all the way home and essentially back out to school, we stopped at Crown Burger for an early dinner.  It was delicious but Skyler took his sweet time eating, over an hour to eat his cheeseburger and fries.  3 refills of Orange Whip too!

First bite!

Later that same day...  Good thing we had an hour to burn before the school tour!

Heart cat!

5 hearts makes a cat!

Western Melody makers - Who Put The Turtle In Myrtles Girdle (1953)

Steak dinner.

Valentine's day I fired up the grill to grill some ribeye steaks.

Note my salad!😂

Valentine's party at school.

They had a fruit salad and exchanged non-food Valentines with each other.

Everyone enjoying some fruit salad.

A closeup of the fruit salad.  Yum!

A Fistful of Dollars - The Danish National Symphony Orchestra (Live)

Valentine's poem.

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air. . . .

Up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

— John Gillespie Magee, Jr

On 3 September 1941, Magee flew a high altitude (30,000 feet) test flight in a newer model of the Spitfire V. As he orbited and climbed upward, he was struck with the inspiration of a poem — "To touch the face of God."

Once back on the ground, he wrote a letter to his parents. In it he commented, "I am enclosing a verse I wrote the other day. It started at 30,000 feet, and was finished soon after I landed." On the back of the letter, he jotted down his poem, 'High Flight.'

Just three months later, on 11 December 1941 (and only three days after the US entered the war), Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee, Jr., was killed. The Spitfire V he was flying, VZ-H, collided with an Oxford Trainer from Cranwell Airfield flown by one Ernest Aubrey. The mid-air happened over the village of Roxholm which lies between RAF Cranwell and RAF Digby, in the county of Lincolnshire at about 400 feet AGL at 11:30. John was descending in the clouds. At the enquiry a farmer testified that he saw the Spitfire pilot struggle to push back the canopy. The pilot, he said, finally stood up to jump from the plane. John, however, was too close to the ground for his parachute to open. He died instantly. He was 19 years old.

Courtesy of Sierra Hotel Aeronautics.

Campfire!

Skyler's class had a campfire in the garden at school yesterday!  Complete with toasted marshmallows.  :)

Possibly the most amazing school ever?!

3 of my favorite things.

My truck, my tractor, and my Fiesta!  I got some pretty good "seat time" in the tractor yesterday.

The car and tractor got rinsed down with hot water to remove some of the road salt.

DEEP snow at the park!

Maizey got a good workout at the park Friday.  Over a foot of snow made for some hard frisbee play!

So hard!

She's doing it!

She made it!

A mouth of metal.

Poor Skyler!  He got his metal expanders put in yesterday morning at the orthodontist.  He's not terribly happy about having them and he sounds hilarious when he talks!  Fortunately, we were able to keep him calm during the procedure by promising him a Lego set from the new Lego Movie 2.

He spent most of the day assembling the set.  Mr. Mittens was by his side nearly the entire time.

Everything is (still) awesome!!

The Lego Movie 2, The Second Part didn't disappoint!!!  What a great movie!

He was SO excited!!  We surprised him after school by telling him we were headed to eat at  The Habit Grill, and going to see the movie.  :)

From the earth to the moon.

Skyler had STEM in class yesterday and he re-created the Saturn V's trip back to earth from the moon.

Pretty cool!

More snowy fun.

A few pictures from yesterday courtesy of Mommy.

I took this pic while I was moving my car.  He's not quite ready to operate it by himself but he fits in the seat pretty well!

Mommy stepped out and took a few pics and a video.

Snow day!!!

School was cancelled, Mommy couldn't get to work, (where her take home laptop was), and it just keeps snowing!  Lake effect bands continue to hit us, I haven't measured the actual depth but it's up to my knees!  Skyler and I burned quite a bit of fuel (in the heated tractor cab) clearing our driveway and most of the neighborhood.

This was first thing this morning.  I used the walk behind snowthrower to clear a path for Mommy.  I told her "I can get you out of the driveway but not sure how far you'll get".  She made it around the block!  Too much snow and too slippery.  After much fit throwing, she got into her work computer via remote desktop.

21st Century skills class.

Legos in school!?!?

Look at their delight!

"I see you!"

Skyler and Maizey yesterday!

Not shown, Eddy cat out on the patio below.

This.

Skyler's old teacher went skiing with Mommy and Skyler yesterday.  Maybe there is hope after all...

A house of cards.

Fridays at school usually are called "fun Fridays".  Yesterday was no exception, he built some houses made from playing cards.

First version.

Second revision.  Not quite sure what's going on here!

In the garden at school.

Last Tuesday was a snowy garden day. They even got to tour the pond over by the nearby golf course.

Some sort of circle the kids made.

Tuesday was Artemis' last day at school.  She transferred to a German language focused school.  :(

By the pond.  Throwing snowballs onto the ice!