America's Army

When I say America's Army you think of the brave men and women that protect the great land from our enemies. However that is not all they do, A small group of them are working for you enjoyment in a more direct way. They have made the official Army game! This is not a joke. What they are doing is making a FPS (First Person Shooter) that anyone can play. However to fight you have to be ready (AKA boot camp) learn medic skills (you have to take a test to pass!) Fire a Javelin missile! Its an amazing game. here is you tax dollars at work!


Look Fun? check out the website.
http://www.americasarmy.com/

Rumo and Miraculous Adventures

Rumo his my favorite fiction book, and it involves a dog-like creature and his miraculous adventures. Rumo must escape from the roaming rock, fight his way through haunted forests and past evil creatures, following the mysterious silver thread. All with the aid of a Shark Grub with a mysterious past.

Go to this link if you want to know more
http://www.amazon.com/Rumo-Miraculous-Adventures-Walter-Moers/dp/1585679364/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245357547&sr=8-1

Mammoth Cave

More than 367 miles of mapped Mammoth cave hide unseen under Kentucky. No one knows how much the Cave really cover because the full extent of the caves have not been explored. The second longest cave is only 143 miles, and is located in Ukrainskaya. Because Mammoth Cave has not been completely mapped some believe it could reach to 560 miles! If the Cave are 560 miles long you could go from Louisville, Ky, to Washington D.C. without seeing the sky!

There are many caves in Kentucky, like Fisher Ridge, cave which is the 7th longest cave in the world. Also the Roppel Cave, which in 1983 was found to connect to the Mammoth Cave. Some of the other caves in and around Kentucky could be part of the great Mammoth Cave. In fact, Kentucky has 14 caves that are on the longest cave of the world list.

On vacation, our family got to see some of the Mammoth Cave, and it's an amazing thing to see. Here are some images from our trip to the cave.

Our Vacation and trip to Lake Cumberland

Our vacation had two parts. One was to Gatlinburg, which is by the Smoky Mountains. The other part was a trip to Lake Cumberland. We spent several days at each place and we had fun and enjoyable activities at each.My favorite activity at Gatlinburg was the world's largest mirror maze which was a lot of fun. In a mirror maze every wall looks identical, and theire are mirrors everywhere which are clean enough that you can not see them. We also did an activity called "The Vault", in which dozens of lasers stand between you and a button. Your goal is to get to the button as fast as possible and press it, deactivating a timer. How ever each laser you trip adds thirty seconds to the timer.

When we went to Lake Cumberland my favorite activity was actually going down to the lake, where we rented a ski-boat and we pulled a tube behind us. Josiah went on the tube first , and we slowly picked up speed. Occasionally we hit bumps caused by our own boat's wake or other boats. These would send Josiah into the air. At one point during a turn Josiah and the tube flipped over we stopped the boat and Josiah got back the tube. After a little while Josiah flew off the tube during a turn and we drove the boat over to him and picked him up. Then I got on the tube and during that time I got close to flipping over several times. However I stayed on but eventually my dad managed to throw me off by doing tight circles. Then my dad went on, and we was on for a much shorter time and did not get thrown off. We all took second turns but none of them were very eventful. Except my dad's second turn on the tube, when he flew off and we got a picture of it.

Here is a picture of the splash

Tornadoes and the TIV

Tornadoes are one of the most feared natural disasters on the planet. When a tornado is coming there is little or no warning before it crashes into a house or a town. Because of this, most try to avoid tornadoes. However, not for Sean Casey and his friends. Sean is an IMAX film maker who wants to do what no other filmmaker has ever dreamed of doing.... getting in a tornado and filming it. However, Sean also has no desire to end up in Oz. To make sure he does not end up in Oz, Sean has built two "tanks" to get him and his camera in and out of a tornado without getting ripped apart.

Sean made the TIV in 2003-04 and made the TIV 2 in 2007-08. The TIV was made from a 1997 Ford F-450 truck. It boasted 7.5 tons of steel plating, along with bullet proof glass with a 360 degree view turret, where the IMAX camera is. It can travel at speeds of 100 MPH, and can withstand 200 hundred MPH winds. The TIV 2 was a step up, It has four wheel drive, included much better armor, with stronger glass and radar detecting equipment.

In addition to Sean and his tank, a weather researcher who designed the DOW (Doppler On Wheels) is helping him. The DOW is the team's primary radar vehicle, and can spot tornadoes and signs of possible tornadoes with efficiency. They also have scout, a normal truck, but the truck carries stationary probes, which the driver and passenger of the truck deploy. The probes are full of scientific equipment which will allow scientists to learn more about tornadoes, if a tornado hits a probe.

How to have a fun Derby (or win it)

It is obvious that the Derby trainers work very hard on looking for ways for their horses to win this famous race . So here I have developed a few ways for horses to win the derby.

Is it illegal for you to attach rocket boosters to the back of a horse running the Kentucky derby? I would like to see anybody beat that horse!

Clone Secretariat! He is the only horse to have run the derby under 2 minutes After you clone him, you could genetically engineer him, making him stronger and faster than even Secretariat was!

You could get a horse that could take the lead for the first few seconds,(There are quite a few horses that could do this, but they couldn't actually win the derby, not enough stamina.) and then drop a couple of smoke grenades.(Bet there's no rule against smoke grenades!) Scaring and confusing the other horses, who would likely not go into the smoke, being to afraid. (Would also work with other things that might scare or confuse horses, like sparklers.)
You could even give your horse a really long name like the first 100 digits of pie. Then the announcer would have to say ," and around the corner comes 3.14159265...........


These are my ideas for making the derby a fun experience, and to have laughter, and maybe, if someone uses one of these ideas, it will be worth it to pay 500 hundred dollars for a metal folding chair.

Firearms

Firearms are the best hand-held weapons of war in this age. Most people do not know much about weapons. In this post I will be talking about the three best Handguns.

There are three handguns that most people consider above all others. The first is the Colt M1911A1

This weapon has served the U.S. in World War I and II and even if it is retired from service it still is a much loved handgun.

The second is the Desert Eagle. It is known for its power and its ability to be customized.

It has a strong backing from anyone that likes .50 cal gun or that says "no kill like overkill."

The last gun that is the best selling Glock. This gun is most law enforcements' top choice.

The Glock has the ability to shoot under water. It will also work after being in the mud!

The F-22 Raptor

The F-22 is most powerful plane of the age. At Thunder Over Louisville we went to see this amazing plane in flight. Nothing I say can describe the power and grace that this plane flies. It is capable of tricks that no other plane of this age is able to do. It is able to stall and slip backwards under complete control. All weapons aboard the plane can be hidden inside the plain to increase the F-22's speed and aerodynamics.

The plane is 62 feet long, 17 feet tall and with a wingspan of 44 feet. Its weight is 43,430 lbs and the two Pratt & Whitney thrusters can carry 83,500 lbs. The F-22 can fly over Mach 2 and can fly 1,840 mi. without refueling. In addition, it can carry up to 8 missiles.

Thunder over Louisville

Thunder over Louisville starts with an air show my favorite component of the air show was the F-22 raptor. This plane is truly impressive, it can move very slowly, in comparison with other jet planes this allows too have a very low minimum turning radius. The F-22 can also slide backwards, a feat which no other plane can accomplish. They demonstrated all these things and more, however, they did not show you its maximum speed, or firepower. :(

At the end of Thunder there was a most impressive firework show. There were hundreds of different firework types even some that exploded into heart shapes! In addition there were streamers of light and explosions on the bridge. Unfortunately there were two barges, each one on the other side of the bridge, so you only got to see half the fireworks!

Revolution Conference.

On Friday and Saturday we attended the Revolution Conference, where thousands of teens came together to hear certain speakers talk. These speakers included Dr. Albert Molher, the Harris Brothers, and Flame, a Christian Rap Artist. They spoke well, and did not water anything down.

They spoke on things like, Doing Hard Things, God's will for your life, and the Harris Brothers and Flame shared their testimonies and many stories. There were over a thousand people there, and they fed us food. There was a lot of music, but some of it was VERY loud. The teaching was very good as well.

The revolution conference challenged me to do things with excellence, and not be lazy. In addition, it challenged me to become more active in doing hard things.

The Revolution

There is a mind set the the "teens" of this generation can't be responsible for anything. We can't be trusted to do anything. However "teens" in history could do great things for the world. So what has changed? the world's expects less of the "teens". Here is what the world expects from teens:

When you formally develop a set of expectations for your teen, you begin to set your teen up for succeeding in meeting those expectations. That’s the first step in learning to handle responsibilities. Here are a few suggested expectations for teens by age level. Please do not feel that your teenager should be doing all of them. Pick and choose a few and add on as your teen is able to handle more responsibilities.

Preteens:

• Managing an allowance.

• Making plans with friends and giving you all of the necessary information.

• Have useful daily habits like making his/her bed and picking up his/her room.

• Cleaning his/her room – vacuuming, dusting, etc – weekly, with some parental help.

• Take phone messages and putting them where someone will see them.

Older Teens:

• Everything on the preteen list that you have not added before.

• Cleaning his/her room – vacuuming, dusting, etc – weekly.

• Doing a daily household chore, such as cleaning the dinner dishes, straightening the family room, swiping down the bathroom, etc.

• Helping with the weekly household chores.

• Make sure the gas gauge in the car does not go below a quarter of a tank.

• Marking special dates and plans on the family calendar or planner.

Be sure to praise your teenager when he/she accomplishes his/her responsibilities. A simple hug and a “good job” will go a long way.

That last line just wants me to give my dog a hug and say "good job". When looking at this list I think the world would want more out of 3rd graders the "teens". But it's good for when the teen go to college they will be able to make their beds!!! I think that what we do this to the "teens" is setting them up to Fail!

The weekend of March 13th-14th , Boyce College sponsored a conference to challenge teens to do hard things, and not to put up with the expectations others put on us.

Chinese Food

Like good Chinese food? One of the best places is PF Changs. It has some of the best Chinese food. Some of their best foods are CRISPY HONEY CHICKEN, BEEF A LA SICHUAN, and my favorite, CHANG'S SPICY CHICKEN. But its not over! there is dessert! GREAT WALL OF CHOCOLATE takes the cake. Six layers of pure chocolate. Great Food, Great service!

PS Do not eat the peppers!

Blind in Louisville

The American Printing House for the Blind is a massive building, where many tasks occur. In one room they display many of their products they sell. In the next room massive machines and people make books in braille. As we journeyed throughout the building we saw people recording books for the blind, and a whole floor containing facts about braille and the history behind Kentucky's blind schools.

Interesting that technology is just catching up in this field. Computers have been developed to replace their old, handfed machines but the old machines are still more accurate. We tried our hands at writing and reading braille and enjoyed the personal tour we received.

We have a new appreciation for those who are visually impaired and what organizations like the American Publishing House for the Blind are doing.

Here is a link to their website.
http://www.aph.org/museum/about.html

Snow Tubing and Physics

Physics, anyone who doesn't like it has never gone snow tubing. There are many factors in determining the speed in snow tubing, number one is momentum, which is gained when you push off, and all the way down the hill. Momentum is influenced by mass, because the more you weigh, the faster you will go, but you will also have more air resistance. Gravity is also a major player, because without it, mass would not make a difference other than air resistance. Snow tubing is also very very fun! When we went as a youth group, we often went down hill as a group, or groups. We went much faster then going alone! The best time was also the last, when we went all together, and I figured out that we weighed several tons all put together.

Here is a link to where we went snow tubing. http://www.perfectnorth.com/index.php

ATTACK OF THE SNOW

On Monday night snow came down in large quantities. This was fine, but then the freezing rain started! Ice formed on branches and power lines, and on the ground, and the next day we lost power. The stormy weather has stopped since then, with only a very, very light constant snow coming down. We continue to be without power, although our water and natural gas are working. Hurrah that God's power never fails! Tonight we are due for colder temperatures and then a warming trend over the weekend. Another storm may hit us on Monday. We would appreciate prayers for sanity. Oh, okay, too late . . .

SNOW!!!

SNOW!!! snow is one of the things that we missed when we lived in California. but now we have tons of it (our back yard covered in snow!)


Me shoving the snow (I wish snow would not fall on our driveway.)

freshly fallen snow! Wait!! that car is destoring the fresh snow!!

Your pets will love snow if they get it!!!!

Note: the fallowing images are from LOLcats

Signs of the Time

Our move to Kentucky has brought along some interesting signs you would not see in Southern California:

In a grocery store:
"According to state regulations, you may not purchase alcoholic beverages until after 1 p.m. on Sundays."

In an airport and some public buildings:
"Tornado Shelter" or ""Storm Shelter"

At many dining establishments:
"Closed on Sunday"

We especially appreciate those small independent businesses that want to protect their employee's time. We know that many do not attend church on Sunday, but at least their work doesn't keep them from getting there.

General Ignorance

The Book of General Ignorance tells you many thing you thought you knew the answer to, but you are wrong about many of them. For example, you think the highest mountain is Everest, nope, it's a gigantic one on mars. Chameleons actually turn different colors by emotion, not background. There are an amazing total of 15 different states of matter, not three. Find out many more facts in the Book of General Ignorance. The book is by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson.

Sniper rifles

There is much debate about the best sniper rifles in the world today. However there are two that stand above all others according to most. they are the L96 and m82a1.

The L96 was made it the U.K. and is used in their army, navy, SAS (their Special Forces), and police.


The m82/m107 was made in the U.S. It is a very powerful weapon. It is used to blast throw the armor of tanks.

However it is every heavy and noisy. Some say it is more like a cannon then a sniper rifle.

Both of the guns look different then most guns. the l96 has the hole that your thumb go in. and the m82 has the arrow shaped front. This makes them very recognizable.

Martial Arts Update

In Martial Arts we are yellow belts! as of Dec. 20th! We are having a great time going to Martial Arts. I am doing good at it, and I love to spar other people. Jonathan seams to like to learn new things the most. But we all do not like the workouts that he has us do sometimes. There are some fun drills we do. One I really liked was where you would stand and face the wall and when the instructor would say "go" you would turn around to see a person standing there who would attack you as soon as you saw them. Sometimes they would have weapons like, a knife, a club or just the hands and legs. You would have to take in every thing they had and be able to defend your self.