The Sky is no longer the limit!

Oct 11, 2011 

1:45 p.m.

Stinson Municipal Airport

San Antonio, Tx

The world is changed forever...

The sky is no longer the limit...

The horizon is demanding to be tamed...

... all for one man...

(cue dramatic music)

THE MR!

Solo in a Cessna 172SP at 1600 ft MSL in the
traffic pattern at Stinson Municipal Airport

Me (left), Matt CFI* (right)

       

Congratulatory handshake from one aviator to another.

Sneak attack by another CFI, a water dunking is tradition after the first solo at SkySafety**

Note: I am not wet at all, they under estimated my ninja skills.

Here's a video of my second solo flight today (Oct 14, 2011)

Oh the possibilities that are coming available, lookout world here I come.

* CFI, Certified Flight Instructor

**Sky Safety is the flight school based at Stinson Municipal 

MR. 

Park Time!

So the other day (singular) we had a (singular) fall like day (singular). Did I mention it felt like fall for. just. one. day!!!! Well more like half a day, it was hot (like summer) again by noon.

Anyways, we took advantage of our HALF day of fall by going to a local park. It was awesome!

W finally got to go down a slide for the first time. He didn't know what to think at first. I'm sure he was confused, slightly scared and then, wham, an evil smile crept across his face. I say evil because I know he was smiling about the inert "dangerous" feeling he just experienced. After all he is my son and those of you who know me personally can attest to my attraction to danger as a kid. Here's a video of his first slide experience, look for the evil smile at the very end.

W also got to go in a swing for the first time, this however, truly did confuse him and I still don't think he knows what happened. All the same to him, his parents were overjoyed, well his mother mostly! I was still thinking about the intermission just minutes before where W lit up like fireworks when he discovered the tunnel!

Whoa, getting distracted, here's a video of the swing. Look at his face and tell me he doesn't look genuinely confused.

Now back to the tunnel, yes the tunnel was AWESOME. W and I agree on this so that makes it a fact, check him out! HE LOVED IT. I can only imagine the awesome dungeon or cave or pirate ship or space ship he was imagining to be in. Yes, I cannot wait to play "pretend" with my little guy, we are gonna have the coolest adventures. Ok I'll stop jabbering, here's your video....

So, that was our trip to the park to enjoy our half day of fall. I should point out one more time, as ordered by the MRS. that these were all firsts for W, the swing, the tunnel, and the slide. Hope you enjoyed our time at the park. 

P.S. yes we did geocache while there, here we are with our booty that we scavenged from the park villagers after running ashore in our ship(tunnel)!

P.S.S you didn't really think we would leave the park without W eating some mulch did you?

Ok, really that's all folks!

-MR.

David Crowder Tribute Part 1 The Mr's take

Everyone has their favorite band. You could even say that most couples have their favorite band. Are they ever the same? In our case, that is me and the Mrs, yes they are.  So you're asking who is yall's* favorite band, ha, what other band could it be than The David Crowder Band!

Who is the David Crowder band and where did they come from? What type of music do they play? Etc. Etc. Hey calm down people, I'm gettin' there.**

Here's a quick rundown; pulling from a hazy memory so don't quote me here...
David Crowder and a handfull of his college buddies starting a college church in Waco, Tx. Can't remember the year but it's not important. Moving on, so being a talented musician Crowder naturally takes the lead as the music director/ praise band leader guy. Crowder puts together this praise band*** with his buddies and play electric rock (not techno rock). Then the praise band starts to become popular for their songs and they begin to branch out from their church with local concerts and gigs. This popularity grows exponentially until they become who they are today, the same guys just with lots more fans.

So, a typical music band story right? Ya you could say that but the characters in the band are far from typical and their not-so-typicality comes out in volumes in their music videos. Here take a look...

  

So you probably picked up a little "craziness" from these guys huh? They are definitely a high energy bunch, but the coolest part is their message, Jesus Christ! So here they are today, infinitely popular while staying true to their message and their style (straight weird and quirky). 

Now, to answer the question rattling around your head, why a random post for these guys? 

Unfortunately, the answer is a sad one. The David Crowder Band is calling it quits this year. The band members all have different reasons but their seems to be one central them among them all which is to go back to college and/or spend more time with their families. This is a reasonable desire considering none of them set out to become super popular and tour the entire country all year long. All they originally set out to do is start a church, play some music, and bring people to Christ. I'd say they did all that and a lot more. 

Thanks David Crowder Band for all the great songs, awesome videos, and more importantly all the souls you helped bring to Christ's Kingdom. God Bless all of you on your future endeavors.

-Mr. 

*Ya I'm from Texas, yall is a word down here.

** I talk to my self in third person a lot, sorry.
***Just felt like adding three stars here for no reason, well more like in honor of David Crowder's quirkyness. Read some of his blog and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Last Week of Summer

As many of you know I finally started college this past Monday and it is a blast. I'm really enjoying it and very excited about the future. This course is definitely going to be challenging but not impossible. Please keep me, the Mrs. and W in your prayers.

Any how, here is a snap shot of my last week of summer. Enjoy.

 

-MR.

Mr.'s Projects

Howdy Folks,

It's been awhile since I have posted anything here on the blog. Those of you who know me will also know that's because I have become obsessed with geocaching. Yes, geocaching. All I can think about is finding them, building them, and hiding them. If you have no idea what I'm talking about then go to geocaching.com and check it out, for video search "geocaching" on youtube.com

Anyhow, I have also recently built some really cool bookshelves (requested by the Mrs.) for Wyatt's room. Mrs. found the idea for these shelves on one of the blogs she came across here. Unfortunately I didn't document my build of these shelves as well as the other blog but you can still see the finished product. Here they are....

Oh you want to read a book?

Ok, pick one out.

Good job, is that the one you want to read?

Nope! I want to EAT IT!!!!

I used drywall anchors rated for 145lbs, so they can withstand this little monkey climbing on them. Not that we are going to encourage climbing up the walls but let's be frank with our selves... could you resist these if you were 7 months old? Besides he is my son...

-MR.

Find the Declaration of Independence!

Here's my latest geocaching adventure for your viewing pleasure. I don't really expect anyone other than my Uncle Kirby and Brother-in-Law Jason to truly appreciate this post but here ya go.... well let's not leave out my Big Sister who got us all started with this crazy hobby! Love ya Ash!

These are pictures of my 2nd geocache (Find the Declaration of Independence). This one is a puzzle geocache which a geocacher will need to decipher hidden clues within the U.S. Constitution (posted on the cache page on geocaching.com) in order to get the coordinates to the cache location. I'll post a link to the cache page once geocaching.com publishes it.

Interesting side note, while I was searching for a good place to hide this cache I happen to stumble upon an old geocache that is no longer listed on the geocaching.com. I wrote down its name and coordinates for later research and then signed the log. After looking into it, this cache ( Take a Bit) apparently has been archived.
-Mr.

More GeoCaching...Video!

Here is some video from the first few GeoCaches we hunted down with my Sister and Brother-in-Law! Enjoy!

-Mr.

Our New Hobby...GeoCaching!

A couple of weeks ago my Brother-in-law (Jason) introduced us to GeoCaching, which has become a new hobby for us. Well, if you asked the Mrs. she would say it has become an obsession. Either way, geocaching is super fun and addicting.

Here's how GeoCaching works. It's basically like a modern day treasure hunt.

• A geocacher hides a treasure (cache) and publishes it's coordinates on the website. 
• Then other geocachers see the cache on the site and plot the coordinates using their GPS units and hunt down the cache.
• In every geocache there is a log book which victorious geocachers sign when they find it. 
• Many caches also have small trade items (swag) that can be traded. 
• Only two rules; 1) if you take an item replace it with something of your own 2) sign and date the log.

To play the game you will need;

• A GPS enabled smartphone or handheld GPS.
• A free membership at geocaching.com 
• And the free smart phone app, c:geo.

Below are some snap shots of the site and a listed geocache.

And here are some photos of our first cache hunt's with my family.

Our first GeoCache

Our second cache

Jason finding a nano cache (very small)

Here are examples of the log and trade items.

Logbook

Swag (trade item)

A couple more of different geocaches the Mrs. and I have found.

Me and W picked this one up at a local park.

This is the spaghetti cave cache listed above

A magnet cache under the lamp post skirt

Park n Grab at the Texas State Line Rest Stop

Huge cache that I found at a rest stop on Hwy 87 N

Mrs. found this one hanging behind a guard rail.

(nice eye babe)

 

In a worn out knot hole. I had to battle 

an army of daddy long leg spiders to get this one.

Cache was in a tree in a parking lot island

(That's a 8 foot climb up to the tree)

A jar with bark glued to it for camouflage 

Wyatt monkeying around while picking up this cache!

Can you spot the nano cache in this pic?

Yupp that's a logbook stuffed in a bolt that was at the seat 

where the Mrs. is sitting in the picture above. 

Well now you have been introduced to GeoCaching, give it a shot and I promise it will hook you. If so, request me(tytom) as a friend on GeoCaching.com. 

P.S. I'm working on hiding a couple of my own cache's, I'll post them on here when I have them public on the site.

-MR.