December 2012 Archives

Hover Heli

The best present (from Santa) this year was this little remote control helicopter that my friend Matt once told me about. It has elicited multiple, non-prompted "thank you's." A Christmas Mircacle!

It flies for about 10 minutes on a single charge. When Colin first saw it he thought it would be too difficult. But he quickly learned to control it (as well as anyone can).

_MG_8665.jpg_MG_8666.jpg

We've been setting up obstacle courses in the basement. Things like: fly under the piano bench, between the two boxes, and then land in a certain spot on the floor.

Luckily the little 'copter seems to be very durable. The blades are not fixed in place, but can rotate. They take the correct position in flight due to centripetal force. When they hit something, which happens frequently, they sort of collapse, rather than break off.

Christmas 2012

snowy
We (finally) had a decent amount of snow overnight and woke up to a few inches on the ground. Enough to break out the electric snow thrower for the first time.
grillin
Anne smoked a pork loin on the Trager grill, outside in the snow.
big air
There was just enough snow today for Colin and Jordyn to enjoy some sledding and tubing. They made this gnarly jump on the back slope.
slightly less bigger air
There was just enough snow today for Colin and Jordyn to enjoy some sledding and tubing. They made this gnarly jump on the back slope.
cookies
We went to Grandma Theresa's house a couple weeks ago to decorate Christmas cookies. Somehow these survived the days between.
frozen colored balls
Pintrest put the idea in Anne's head that you can fill balloons with water and food coloring and then decorate your yard with pretty colored balls. I don't think the reality quite lives up to the hype here.
Minecraft Brain
Colin said his favorite present was the Minecraft magnet set, but he also seems to really like this shirt.
lights
This was our live Christmas Tree in 2006. Following the tradition in Anne's family, we planted the tree in the Spring of 2007 for Colin. It's now nearly too tall to decorate.

Arlington National Cemetery

Smithsonian NASM Udvar-Hazy Center

My company's Holiday Party was at the National Air and Space Museum this year, and I couldn't pass up the chance to attend. We had drinks and a buffet dinner next to the SR-71 Blackbird, Shuttle Discovery, and many other interesting artifacts. The party was in the evening and I went back later the next day to take more photos.

SR-71 Bluebird
Serving drinks next to the SR-71 Blackbird
Tiles
Closeup of Shuttle Discovery's tiles with re-entry streaks
Snoopy
This Snoopy/Peanuts sticker on the Mobile Quarantine Facility surprised me. Later I learned that NASA actually licensed the characters in support of the Apollo missions.
hangar
Entrance to the James S McDonnell Space Hanger, where they keep Shuttle Discovery
blackbird
SR-71 Blackbird "money shot"
spacewalk
This spacewalking astronaut dangles from the ceiling above the Shuttle
tdrs
This Tracking and Data Relay Satellite used by and deployed by the Shuttle hangs above it.
Concorde
Nose of the supersonic Concorde
Discovery
Full view of Shuttle Discovery