Rocketry, Part 4

If anyone ever doubts how much kids learn by osmosis, check this out. Stephen was supposed to be helping Angie cook. What did he do instead? Stephen built a "rocketship":

Halloween

Well, we managed to carry on our traditions from past years pretty well. Our Annual Pumpkin Carving Party had a total of 45 people this year, and no carving-related injuries (at least none that I know about)! We might have to move the carving to the garage next year to make enough "party space".

I started on the Halloween costumes earlier than ever, and still ended up finishing the day before the big event. Marcus was Harry Potter in Quidditch uniform, complete with a broomstick and Golden Snitch. Elise was Hermione with wavy hair and her wand. Stephen was Hedwig the owl, although without the beak many people thought he was a chicken. I'd say chicken is about right, since this normally-talkative kid wouldn't say "Trick-or-Treat" or "Thank You" to anyone we visited!

Here are some pictures from the party and from Halloween night:

2007_10_31 - Halloween and Pumpkins

Rocketry, Part 3

I rebuilt the fins in a different way and made some adjustments to the nose cone to help it stay on a bit better and release a bit better. We still had one "nose-first-into-the-ground" incident, but it was fixable with some tape. All 3 kids enjoyed launching and catching it. Here's a video of what the current launches look like:

Still some work to be done, but it is getting more reliable and a bit higher!

More Rocketry

Well, we made a few adjustments to the rocket and tried again. On the first launch, we tried wedging the nose cone on a bit tighter to stop it from coming off before apogee. Apparently it was on a little too tight:

That freed us up to try other configurations, including empty bottles. They worked surprisingly well (sorry about the bad camera work!):

So now the rocket is back on the bench for repairs... I mean, design improvements!

Water-powered Rocketry

About a year ago I got an issue of Make magazine with plans for a water-powered rocket. Well, I finally decided to give it a try. The build went pretty smoothly overall, with the main problems being finding a way to get glue to stick to a 2-liter bottle and finding the right o-ring/notch depth combination to create a good seal when pressurizing the rocket. Marcus, Elise, and our neighbor, Addie, helped... mostly with the parachute.

Today we headed out to Smith Park along with the Mangolds for the rocket's inaugural launch. I'd say it was a success because: no one got hurt, the rocket went up in the air, the parachute worked, nothing unfixable broke, and we all had fun. Next up... more height!

Here are some pictures:

Water-powered Rocket: First Launch

... and some videos:

Nose Cone Failure On First Launch:

Early Nose Cone Release And Tether Failure On Second Launch:

Our Best Launch:

Stephen's First Day of Preschool

Stephen had his first day of school on Wednesday, and it was a success! No clinging, no crying, just quiet attention and eventually some participation.

Stephen's First Day of School

Strong Wind

Wind speed today was 15~18mph, gusting up to 30 at times. So lots of windsurfers (and a few kiters) left work early to take advantage. I only had strength for a couple of runs, but I used my rest time to take some pictures. My new personal speed record is just shy of 25mph! Click the photo below to see my favorites from the album:

Riding the wind at Alum Creek 9-7-07