Rocket Time

A couple months ago when my Uncle Scott was in town, he regaled the boys with stories of the rockets he built and flew as a teenager and young man. He bought them from a company called Estes Rockets and it is still a major manufacturer today. Uncle Scott and my dad signed the boys up with the company and we got a big catalog that the guys drooled over for weeks leading up to Christmas. Well, it was a no-brainer for Jayme and I that the boys would get rockets for Christmas. So they did.

Clay's (appropriately) is the one that says "Rascal" on the side. Raley's is the yellow and red one called the "Hijinks" and Pattie's is the little one called a "Puma".
Finally last week, the weather was right for flight. So we took the boys' rockets (Pattie's need a smaller engine) over to the park near our house and blasted off.

Setting up the launch platform

Pattie shot Raley's rocket first. She was hopping with excitement!

Recovery team success!

After her turn, she was ready to go play

Raley's turn to launch

Camera wasn't quite fast enough! All I got was the smoke.

If you zoom in on this picture, you can see the rocket and 'chute coming down just above the powerline to the right of the T-pole.

The second time we launched Raley's rocket, the 'chute didn't deploy and it plummeted down into some woods nearby and we couldn't locate it. We are going to look for it again, but we know where to buy them now so I see a lot of rocket days in our future!