Rocket girls and boys

What do you do when the temperatures soar and there air is so still that nothing moves--you launch rockets?

T wanted to build a rocket with Steve on Saturday. She wanted to build the rocket out of cardboard. Steve thought it would be better to go and buy the rocket with launch pad, remote detonator and the likes. So we went to the store and bought the various components and came back and the girls helped Steve build the rockets. Only one was ready to launch by early evening so we took it over to one of the local parks and let it fly.



Now to justify my actions--the rocket was starting to fall right to where M, H, and I were sitting. I knew that if that parachute (which I was in charge of folding correctly) didn't come out that we would be bombarded with a that rocket now plummeting back to the earth at a rapid rate. However, as soon as I shut off the camera, the parachute deployed and the rocket was carried on the breeze away from us. I'm not normally afraid of things like that unless they are aimed at the little ones. M however was clear across the field because my "oh my" scared her. We sat and enjoyed the next launch and that rocket went so high that it blew into the neighborhood by the park and one gentleman, out in his backyard, saw it descending and offered to go get it for us. Everyone thought that launch was awesome. We now need to find a bigger open space if we launch the rockets that high because even the slightest bit of wind picks up the parachute and carries it away. H loved it all--the countdown, the lift off, the thrill of a speeding rocket traveling upwards, and then the descent of the rocket and chasing after it.