Monday, April 14, 2014

Earning my "A"

Here are a few photos from my A license weekend. Hanging with my sky family in Taylorville, IL. There is a little bit of video here as well, featuring part of my check dive and my awesome licensed landing!

With Larry, congratulating me on passing the license test.



Me (with my lovely skydiving hair) and Mark, shortly after everybody sang my induction song (not for children's ears!) and I got my forehead stamped.




With Brian and Larry, two guys who were endlessly patient, imparted hours and hours of knowledge, and always encouraged me on my way to the license. Brian also took me on my very first tandem skydive, the jump that started it all.



The happiest person at the drop zone, always! The wonderful Jerry, our jump pilot. Love him to bits.



Checking over all of my license paperwork with Brian and Larry. Making sure that everything is ready to submit to the USPA.




Heading up on my first dive as a licensed skydiver! Boy did this feel good.




Just a random shot from another jump that weekend. Mark and I looking out into the wild blue yonder, waiting for somebody to shout, "DOOR!" and our turn to fly.


Sunday, April 13, 2014

Spring break in Branson (March 2013)

Lots of fun photos from our super fun spring break in Branson. This was Antoine's first visit to one of our favorite spots and he's already got big plans for the next trip!

Starting out with a few souvenir shots. I'm a sucker for these. This first one is from Powder Keg, Antoine's first proper big roller coaster. I love his face! He had a blast. Literally.




We took the lantern cave tour. Got to see lots of bats and learn some interesting history about Marvel Cave.




Goofy white tiger shot from the Kirby Van Burch show. Love his magic!




The Frisco steam railway at Silver Dollar City.




Not a great shot because the guy in front of Antoine is blocking him. But we'd been on four times in a row trying to get the perfect souvenir shot and just had to go with this one. Mostly because I love Kel's pose. Outlaw Run. One of the best rides out there.




Now back to a more chronological order. Here's where our trip started. We went to Fantastic Caverns on the way down to Branson. Boys loved it.














Some shots from our two days at Silver Dollar City. Didn't take many photos. Did have lots and lots of fun!















This is the boys at the Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum. For some reason, I didn't really take any photos here!




Dinner at the Golden Corral is always a messy experience.






The thing that I love most about the condos is that they are right on the lake. We had a beautiful morning to take the paddle boats out.







Boys got their wish for a full day on the bumper cars, go karts, and laser tag. They never get tired of this stuff.


















The last batch of photos is from our fun trip on the Vigilante Ziprider at the Shepherd of the Hills Tower. Weeeeeeeeee!