Shooting rockets off at the school

Which probably doesn't sound like a normal activity, but I'm sure it is. Yesterday, M came home with some sort of rocket launcher, which he said he got at Michael's for 40% off. Today, he went for the rockets, which are apparently pretty expensive. :/ So M and Mr. A spent all day putting together this rocket launcher, gluing it and letting it dry. Then we went over to the school to shoot it off on the track field. The rockets went up 1,000 feet, so it was important to be in wide-open spaces.


Miss A ran around the field while the boys set up. It was a little chilly outside, but not too bad. I actually took my camera off auto today, so the pictures only came out so-so. I wasn't impressed as the sun went down, because the pictures came out with this fake lighting quality. It was weird.


M says he's pretty sure the rocket(s) really did go up at lest 1,000 feet. In any case, it went so high up, my camera couldn't even find anything to focus on (without the zoom lens, anyway). Then it exploded, and a little parachute came out. It was kind of fun to watch. Mr. A chased down the parachute and caught it before it hit the ground. Miss A stomped her feet, clapped her hands, and screamed because it was such exciting business. :)


See that little white speck above the trees? Yeah, that's our parachute coming down after several seconds. It was waaaaaaaay up there. :)


We had three rockets today. It was sort of sad when we were done, because it was like a mini Fourth of July. I guess the rockets cost about $20 for a pack of 3, so it's definitely not something we're going to do all the time. Besides, it's getting too cold to be hanging out outside for long periods of time.


After the rockets were done, we played a little improvised soccer with the kids. Poor Miss A was really frustrated with her little legs, because she couldn't keep up with the boys on the field. So she just sort of followed behind them, crying after awhile when they got too far ahead of her. It was sad and funny at the same time. So M and I took turns putting her on our shoulders and running up and down the field with her, which made her laugh. Too bad I can't run with a baby on my shoulders and snap crappy pictures at the same time. :)


I've decided to call this one "Man Down on the Field." It's ridiculous. And it makes me laugh Every.Single.Time I look at it. Every time. It's just nonsense. All afternoon he kept pretending to be hurt.