Earth, Wind and FIRE!!!!!!

No, this post is not about music - it's literally about Fire! It has been very, very windy and has finally stopped raining the past few days here in the North Woods. Today I was working from my home office and due to the wind we had a brief power outage which caused me to lose my Internet connection for a short period of time. I decided to make myself something to eat for lunch and while standing in the kitchen I noticed something orange in my neighbors property. It took a moment for my mind to process what I was seeing - Fire! My first thought was is my neighbor crazy burning on a day like today but I quickly realized that this was not the case. I called 911 and got the fire trucks rolling and then Rebecca and I started pulling hose to knock down what we could. When I first saw the flames it was a small area burning and within a few moments the woods were ablaze. The local fire department showed up quickly and started positioning their tankers along my neighbors driveway and the other neighbors back yard and after about 2 hours all the flames and smoke had been eliminated. One fire man stayed on site for about another hour to ensure there were no hidden hot spots. When all was said and done it was close to an acre of woods that burned and for the most part there are only a few trees that were a total loss, most of them were evergreens that once the flames ignited the sap there was no getting near them! We were all so involved with helping fight the flames that we didn't take any pictures until it was all over and Alex asked if we could take pictures of the fire trucks before they were all gone. I am very thankful that we were home otherwise it would have been much worse especially once we realized all of our neighbors were unaware of the situation.

Alex's Racing Career

It's that time of year again - Pinewood Derby Racing! Alex came home several weeks ago with the flier that announced the date for the Awanna Races. I made sure the next week he had the money to purchase a couple of the pinewood derby kits that they provide (one for race day and a couple to use as rainy day projects we can do together as a family.) I sat down with Alex the next night and we decided on the basic design he wanted for his finished car and then we shelved the kit and thanks to my work schedule being crazy I totally forgot about it! Thursday afternoon Alex asked me if we were going to work on his car and I ensured him that we would work on it Sunday afternoon. It was at this point that he informed me that the race was tomorrow (Friday) night and that Sunday would be to late! Thankfully with some 11th hour dedication we were able to finish most of the car Thursday night and with a final layer of clear coat Friday morning we were guaranteed a starting position Friday night!

We arrived and registered Alex's car which he named the "Mach 18" and weighed in at 3.1 ounces. Alex was up against some serious competition but was all smiles as he realized that they were all friends. He ran a total of 4 race heats and finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 2nd (there are 4 cars that run each heat.) Despite his great runs they have moved into the 21st century and have begun to track the times/speeds of the cars which determines who moves into the finals now rather than the average of each cars heat race results so his race career ended early which actually worked out well as I had to go to work.

We all had a great night despite the disappointment of not being one of the top 3 finishers. On the ride home we talked about the different cars everyone had built and the excitement of finishing each of his heat races without a single crash, we also reflected on how well his car ran despite the limited time we invested in its construction. I think what stood out in my mind from the evening was the fact that despite wanting to win all of the kids were cheering for each other and the good sportsmanship that was showed all evening between all the competitors.

Homeschool Wood Shop

The regular readers of this blog know that we are a homeschooling family. This year Rebecca's father decided to perform a wood shop class with Alex and his cousin Noah. They spent several Thursday's working with their Grandfather and this past week we got to finally see their completed projects. For this project the boys built multi-compartment bird houses which will be hung in the yard where we can hopefully watch the miracle of life this year and many years to come.

Here is Alex and Grampy posing with the completed bird house in the back yard.

Me hanging the bird house with the help of my climbing tree stand and admiring the view along with Alex and Dad's handiwork.

The final placement and view of our new bird house

Battleship Cove

Today we decided to take a family field trip to Battleship Cove in Fall River, Massachusetts. It was a cool spring day and perfect for a day of fun and education. I have to say I was in awe of the entire exhibit - I have driven by it year after year but never stopped to take it all in. The exhibit is made up of a PT Boat Exhibition Hall, The Battleship-Massachusetts, The Destroyer-Joseph P. Kennedy Jr, The Submarine-Lionfish and the Missile Corvette-Hiddensee. There is also a 9/11 Memorial, The Fall River Carousel and the ever present gift shop. The Battleship was amazing and seemed to go on forever, I began joking that we were lost as we kept going deeper and deeper into the hull of the ship when I noticed that Rebecca looked a little panicked! I decided it was time for us to go topside and had no issues convincing Rebecca that it would be nice to get some of the fresh air out on the main deck! We had a great day and enjoyed touring all the ships. If you are interested in more detailed information about the site and the ships you can find it at: http://www.battleshipcove.org/