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(This is all the blog posts in cronological order, rebuilt every night so may be up to 24 hours out of date. It's also a big file with lots of graphics; please be patient.)

Sep 27, 2015

Cloudy Super Moon Eclipse
last update: 09/27 @ 22:59

The National Weather Service said it was going to be cloudy but there were breaks in the clouds.

At least there were breaks as the eclipse started.

By the time it was supposed to turn into the blood moon, Alexandria was pretty socked in.

I got several partial eclipse shots in the breaks, but only this one when it was turning red (and I was too slow on getting the right exposure to get a second shot).

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Sep 24, 2015

One more Slyder photo
last update: 09/24 @ 21:54

Robert and I were engrossed in getting one more shot with the Slyder and its motor; Bob was sneaking production pics :)

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Sep 20, 2015

Making Movies
last update: 09/20 @ 16:24

Bob has a new toy and he invited Robert to crew on a test shoot. It’s a SlyderDolly and it helps take some really cool shots.

We met at the Long Branch Nature Center parking lot and took several smooth tracking shots along the creek.

Robert seemed to be having fun, and Bob was having a blast with this nifty gadget. I even got in on the fun.

An unexpected treat: Bob had a small video camera as a gift for Robert. He seems quite taken by it — I expect we’ll be looking for video editing software shortly…

We ended up moving around for about five shots, all on the slyder. We did a couple under human power, a couple under motor (yes, it has a small motor), and one using a rope to slow down gravity a bit.

It really was a lot of fun to do and Bob promised to share the video when he’s edited it.

Robert is already talking about wanting to go back to the park. Clearly a win all around.

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Sep 18, 2015

Geek
last update: 09/18 @ 15:25

Robert got his new, 6th grader Chromebook Thursday night. He’s is psyched. Sarah and I were astounded that the school got so many handed out and all 6th graders (new to the program) logged in with new passwords on schedule. Best run training class either Sarah or I could remember.

Of course now, Robert has joined the first worlders with the problem of multiple email accounts… He’s adapting well to both Gmail and Thunderbird as clients for his different accounts.

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Sep 09, 2015

First day of Middle School
last update: 09/09 @ 23:34

Robert ready to start middle school; that will be the last 3 years on his current campus — though middle school is in a new building.

His style compares well to previous years (though maybe a little more nervous than most):

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Sep 05, 2015

Ropes Course to Round out the Week
last update: 09/05 @ 22:55

With summer winding down and school starting soon, we met up with Eleanor and her dad Mike to go back to the Sandy Springs ropes course.

We’ve been several times before and this was as much fun as any of the other trips — but maybe the lines were a bit longer.

We started with a moderate green then the kids talked us into a Blue course, Waterfall.

Waterfall was entertaining — in the sense of a challenging rapid.

With encouragement and an occaisional helping hand, both 11 year olds made it through every element.

Sometimes ingeniously.

After one element ended with Eleanor just barely able to stand on tippy toes to get disconnected, we reconfigured the group to surround the kids with adults. That worked well; with a helping hand available as needed (which was not often).

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Ropes Course
last update: 09/05 @ 22:54

These loose ropes dangling turned out to be one of the tamer elements on the blue course.

And you can tell from the smiles that the kids were loving it.

I think the adults were too.

Check out Robert’s form as he rope swinged into the cargo net towards the end of the course.

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Outer Banks Trip
last update: 09/05 @ 22:37

Lots more photos from our trip to the Outer Banks in the vacations section.

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Sep 04, 2015

After a full day at the beach…
last update: 09/04 @ 21:07

…you gotta get some ZZZZZs.

I hope to pop up photos from the trip sometime this weekend. We had a blast (an exhausting blast). We even stayed an extra day because the weather was so perfect and it gave us a chance to hang out with friends who also wanted one last shot of beach summertime fun before school starts.

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Sep 03, 2015

Gliding Along
last update: 09/03 @ 11:04

It may not be far off the ground, but I was gliding along at this point — under close supervision. I got two good landings out of five attempts. It’s true what they say, landing is the hard part.

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Sep 02, 2015

Up, Up and Away…
last update: 09/02 @ 08:47

There are more things to do here at the birthplace of powered flight than play in the sand and surf (and pools) — and watch fire trucks. We all ran down a hill with a kite strapped to our backs :) Robert, Sarah and I all had a great time.

Surprising twist: Robert decided to be the first of the Williams-Zapolskys to give it a go…

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Sep 01, 2015

Rude Awakening
last update: 09/01 @ 08:34

Not the morning we expected this morning. A surprising coincidence: just about the time the breakfast started this morning, so did the fire alarm. False alarm as far as anyone would tell us. But it’s good to know that the alarm is loud enough to wake us up. And they we’ve learned the right things to do: we checked the temperature of the door and took the stairs down.

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Not in Alexandria
last update: 09/01 @ 08:29

We ran away from Alexandria to check out the Outer Banks before school starts next week. And we brought the sparklers that we never used for July 4th. Robert spelled out Hi on the beach.

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