We built a hovercraft and tested the vertical speeds as they relate to the surface the hovercraft is traveling over.  Ethan WON and we are headed to the next level.  Hopefully we will make it all the way to state.

        

        

Ethan and I spent the day touring Fort Fisher.  Here is our tour guide who spent most of the time explaining the part African Americans played in the Civil War.  Very interesting.


Just so happened that day they were doing a demonstration on how they fired the cannons.

        

What can I say other than WOW.  Somehow this place gets bigger every time I go there.  Ethan had a wonderful time and we spent about 6 hours touring the house and the grounds.



Got a picture inside until we were informed of their NO PHOTOGRAPHY policy.



How's this for a back yard?



I told Ethan we could buy the place if he would promise to mow the yard.  He thought about it then decided it might be too much work.



Went to the farm



God forbid we see a chicken and Ethan not chase it down and pick it up



Another perfect trip.  Ellie spent the whole time and her Grandmother's house preparing for and attending Courtney's baby shower.  On the last day Ethan and I were so filthy and exhausted we cheated and headed back to Raleigh and took showers and spent the night with the Grandparents.

        

Another backpacking trip with Ethan.  Got rained on a lot and spent a night at a KOA campground but had a wonderful time as always.  We got to the falls early one morning and they let Ethan raise the flag.


Headed to the falls.  Ethan was in a wonderful mood as always so we snapped a quick picture on the bridge.



These are the upper falls.



Damn I'm a good photographer.



Ethan being Ethan.





Here is the crevice in the side of the mountain Ethan and I were hiking on.  We were so high up and on such a small ledge I even started to get a few butterflies.  Spent most of the time trying to keep Ethan alive without killing myself.



 We got to the edge so I tried to take a picture while hanging on for dear life.



Here is where we hiked to.

        

I decided it was time to start teaching Ethan a little about handgun safety and he had been begging to go to the shooting range so we gave it a shot, lol.  Anyway, Ethan did incredible.  I didn't care if he couldn't hit the side of the building, all I was working on with him was safety and how the gun works.  He shot 50 rounds with a 9mm and hit 3 bulls eyes.  We had a blast and Ethan learned some important safety information.

        

So we sent the kids to horse back riding camp for a week this summer and it was a huge hit.  Of course we had to go and buy Ethan and Ellie cowboy boots so they would fit in.  Camp started at 8am and ran all day until around 4pm.  By the time they got home they were black from head to toe and smelled much worse than any of the horses there.  They both had an incredible time though.

Here are the stalls that they cleaned out every day.  Can't get them to put their dishes in the sink but somehow shoveling horse crap all day was fascinating.


Ethan mounting up to show his horse.



Ellie getting ready to show.









Ethan and Ellie placed First and Second.  What a team.

        

As of today I am an official FAA licensed pilot.  Flew up to Florence for my check ride and was handed my license two hours later.  I think the FAA examiner felt bad for me because he got kind of carried away with doing "unusual attitude" testing.  This is where you put your visor on so you can't see outside the plane then put your head in your lap and close your eyes while he flips the plane around to some weird  attitude then you have to open your eyes and correct everything using only the instruments.  The first 3 went fine but on the 4th one I think he was getting bored and wanted to play some.  By the time he was done "adjusting" the plane this final time I was so sick I couldn't even see.  I believe we were inverted in a dead spin doing about 2 negative G's.  God knows how I got out of it but he could tell I wasn't doing well and I think felt kind of bad.  I pulled it together, did a few more landings and he handed me my license.  YEE HAW.

I'm still feeling a little "green" in these pictures.





Thanks to Kaleb and Red Sky Aviation for getting me trained.

        

So we traded out our Carolina Beach Condo for a week with a guy who had a cabin in Blowing Rock.  Our first stop was a place called the Mystery House.  You would have thought I was trying to get Ethan to base jump off of Niagara Falls but with a little persuasion he finally came inside with us and had so much fun he made us come back later in the day. 



We had a tough time getting her out of the "out house" though





Playing with bubbles.



The next day we went on a two hour trail ride.  This was by far the most fun day of the trip.  Ethan and Ellie were naturals on their horses, I kept getting yelled at for running my horse and Angela did like she was supposed to and followed all the rules.





The next day we all went on about a 4 mile hike.  Ethan and I backpack all the time so I wasn't so worried about him but I had some concerns with Ellie and Angela.  Ellie surprised us all and not only kept up but kicked our buts on the hike out.  Angela fell well behind but it wasn't so much her fault because she got overheated and sick because of some antibiotics she was on.  Of course I have to show some of my amazing photography skills.





Next stop, the actual Blowing Rock.  I tried to convince Angela to jump off and see if the legend was true but she declined.  LOL






Can't you see how excited Ethan was about posing for pictures.



Finally after a long few days it was time for some R & R



So after such a fun trip we get home Sunday evening to find our home had been robbed.  Phone/alarm lines cut and we were completely wiped out.  Over $200,000 worth of jewelry and other items.  Everyone was devastated and needless to say Angela was a wreck since this jackass broke into two safes and took EVERYTHNG we owned.  Just to throw some salt in the wound we find out that we are only covered for about 25% of the jewelry loss.  I will say one positive thing about it all.  We have all made a conscious effort to no longer let "things" define who we are.  Don't get me wrong, if I find these guys before the detectives I will be laying out some good old fashioned vigilante justice but until then. . .