XMas 2015

We went to Ashland for Christmas as we often do.  There was snow on the ground for part of our time there this year.  Some pictures of the local wildife in the back yard, and a picture of Aaron taking pictures of the local wildlife in the back yard.

OKC Nationals 2015

The US Canoe and Kayak National Championships were in Oklahoma City this year.  Steve helped drive the club trailer from Seattle to Oklahoma in a 3 day road trip and met the rest of the family there (the whole family went this year).   Cynthia was volunteering--mostly helping keep kids on the team fed-so Noah was a little bored.  Steve and Noah took a day and went to the Cowboy Museum which is highly recommended--interesting and educational.  Lots of cool stuff including probably the world's biggest collection of barbed wire.  Noah is below next to a giant statue of Buffalo Bill.

Charleston 2015

We had a great trip to Charleston to visit cousins Sophie and Sam, Sheryl and Doug, and Grandma and Grandpa Small.  Got to do lots of paddling and hanging out on the beach, and even did a bit of surfing.  Aaron and Noah managed to get some decent rides in and seem to be hooked.  Steve was able to rent an V10 surfski from the great folks at Epic and got in a lot of paddling in the tidal creeks and into the harbor, some of it with the local dolphins.  Doug took us all out to Capers Island in his boat and we had a nice South Carolina beach all to ourselves on a nice July weekend.

Another Birthday for Aaron and Noah!

Aaron turns 14 and Noah turns 11!!!

Tornado Machine

For Aaron's middle school science fair project we decided to build a tornado machine.  It ended up working pretty well and produces a pretty realistic looking funnel cloud.  We could change the characteristics of the funnel by tweaking the vents on the sides.  We tried a few different things to generate a decent amount of visible cloud for the funnel and finally decided on dry ice in a bowl of water.