Lest you think we are all work and no play when we go to our land in the country, I figured I should report on our war games…er…model rocket launching fun this weekend. We did work some but that bit seems like an old tune now. The kids were pretty much over the non-fun stuff so they explored some in the woods and found a new “hide-out” while I did the rest of what I had to do before play time. I have no idea what sort of cave, bramble or whiskey still they happened upon but they had an awesome time!
Anyhow, we finished up with all of that and we headed to the top of the hay field to prep our launch area. There were a bunch of kids at the next house over so I think our position was as much an advertisement as it was anything else. So we launched a few rockets. It must have been the humidity or something because the nose cones were on so tight that they never discharged the parachutes. And what is a model rocket without a parachute as it heads back to earth? It’s a freakin’ bullet! Run!
Isaac and Abigail decided to invite the neighbor kids over and they brought some cousins so there were at least 6 kids…more targets! Just kidding. We were very careful to keep everyone safe. Everyone got a chance to push the launch button, which I thought would be the thrill. I was wrong. The real fun was racing across the field to recover the rockets! Who knew exercise was so fun!
One boy said he had always wanted to launch rockets but his Mom wouldn’t let them (for safety reasons I bet!) I think I found our new role on the hill. We are the people who let you do all the stuff your parents won’t let you do!
(click here if your computer cannot play the movie above)
By the time we were through, we had a bunch of the parents up there too. We have met so many people and everyone has been so nice. I suspect most everyone confirmed that we are the unstable, crazy ones up on that hill. Maybe that’s not such a bad thing?
I cannot believe that I am so far behind on reading your posts! I’m sorry we missed the missile launch–looks like a good time. And driving in that hayfield? Oh yeah, that can get tricky. We had many an experience with stuck vehicles before we learned where we could and could not go, and when.
It sure looks like you are all having a great time on your land, Warren. As for copperheads–this must be a bad year for them. Larry has killed two near our house, something that’s never happened in the 35+ years I’ve been up here. We killed one last year, and most years never see any. I think there must be a bumper crop this year. They like it around rocks, under plastic tarps or junk on the ground. I like rocks around my gardens, so this year I’m being mighty watchful, I can tell you.
OH!
Awesome.
Hey, we gotta see about combing our posts and activities… getting a rocket set up under a piñata could be spectacular!
That sounds like lots of fun! We’ve not ever done that before.
Looks like fun : )
Love this!
At the camp my husband works at, they actually have a few weeks of Model Rocketry camp. The high point of everyone’s week is going to the launches on Weds. and Fri.—and you’re right—running after the rockets is one of their favorite parts!
Remember 4-H rocketry club. You guys had a lot of fun that summer shotting of rockets. What fun.
Oops shooting off rockets.
My mom was the one who let us do stuff. She once gave me and a friend
permission to toss a few firecrackers out the kitchen window into the all-concrete alleyway between our apartment building and the next. When a neighbor leaned out her window yelling, “Diane! I know that’s you. You wouldn’t do that if your mom was home” she nearly fell out of her chair laughing.
And my daughter loved model rockets, for a while. We found out that the high school athletic fields, abandoned in the summer, were a local rocketry hot spot. I think one of ours is probably still up in a tree there.
Butch used to do that with The Boy at the elementary school across the street. I guess there is a need for People who do all the stuff your parents won’t let you do!
I remember when we built rockets in school and launched them. So fun!
I figure we will do that again pretty soon. We have a whole arsenal to build in the coming weeks!
Ha! See the space program at NASA isn’t being taken apart. It’s just been relocated.
Seems like a pretty good way to meet the new neighbors. You know the Dads were all, “Man, his wife is cool. She lets him play with rockets! I barely get to hold the darned remote control at my house.”