Wilson Family News

Photos

2009-10-03T11:15:00.001-04:00

In case anyone is regularly checking this blog, we're now posting our family photos at http://gallery.me.com/jimkelzack

Georgia/Florida Trip

2009-08-06T22:15:00.004-04:00

Zack got to spend some time at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, then got a day at the beach in Daytona.

Video of Zack on the beach:

Northeast Georgia Railroad:

Fourth of July Weekend

2009-07-06T22:04:00.006-04:00

We spent the Fourth of July at Hersheypark in PA. A good time as usual. Check out the photos and video.

On July 5, we were at Gettysburg for a reenactment of Pickett's Charge. This weekend was the 146th anniversary of the battle. Check out the photos and videos.

New York City

2009-04-12T16:10:00.004-04:00

We spent Spring Break and Zack's 8th birthday in New York City. It was the first visit for all of us. We saw an amazing amount of stuff in the week we were there, but still felt like there was more to see. We'll definitely go back some day. I'm only posting about a third of the photos we took, so that should tell you just how much we saw:

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March 1-2, 2009 Snowstorm

2009-03-02T12:44:00.003-05:00

The first big snow storm of the winter hit us on March 1. This is definitely the most snow we've had since moving here. Check out the photos:

Washington DC -- Feb. 14

2009-02-16T10:08:00.003-05:00

We spent Valentine's Day in DC, getting our first view of the East Front of the Capitol since we moved here. We saw the Abraham Lincoln exhibition at the Library of Congress, which included the Bible he and President Obama were sworn in on. We also visited the National Archives, where they were displaying the original copy of the Emancipation Proclamation for just a few days.

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Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!

2009-02-16T09:53:00.003-05:00

We went to the Washington Auto Show on February 7th. They had a Green Car Pavilion as well as the typical manufacturers in the main hall. The Lincoln C, Tesla and Fisker Karma were our favorites.

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Marching in the 2009 Inaugural Parade

2009-01-21T13:52:00.011-05:00

This is probably the best shot of me in front of the President.
You can see how close I got. Click the pic for the full shot.

Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to get these details down while they're fresh:

I ended up going into work Monday night to avoid the throng, which turned out to be a great call. They had cots in the office for us to sleep on, complete with chocolates on the pillows! A nice little touch from the HQ facilities folks. I couldn't really sleep on the cot, not that I would've gotten much sleep anyway, so I got up about 630am Tuesday and started getting dressed. I'll spare you all the gory details, but let's just say there were many, many layers and that bathroom breaks were to be avoided for the sheer logistics of it all.

Screengrab from C-SPAN as we passed the Presidential
Reviewing Stand. C-SPAN Parade Video (we're at the end).

The first adventure was getting from NASA HQ to the Pentagon for the security screening. We're only a few blocks from the Capitol so the streets were clogged with buses and swarming with people. We couldn't get on the interstate the regular way because of a "suspicious package." I'm sure the cops were dealing with that all day. We set out for plan B but couldn't maneuver around the crowds. One of the other banner carriers, Glenn Posey, got out of the van and took charge, directing traffic, stopping buses and limos, yelling at pedestrians. It was great. He ended up repeating this later in the night when we were rushing to get Buzz Aldrin back to his hotel in time for him to attend some of the balls.

CNN Video of NASA in the Parade

Anyway, we got to the Pentagon and created a little more confusion because we were there early. Eventually we found the right spot and went through the metal detectors. They had boxed lunches for us there, but it was hard to eat with two layers of gloves on. We waited there for a while and then got in our van to head to the next staging area.

Of course we sat in the van for a while waiting for the military convoy to pull out of the Pentagon. The swearing in ceremony started around this time and we were listening on the van radio. We finally got rolling and things were getting interesting. We crossed the river on Memorial Bridge and it was really cool to me to be heading toward the Lincoln Memorial right as all this stuff was happening. We made our way through the Mall and saw all of the crowds up close. Next to the parade itself, this was the coolest part. Seeing it on TV was a big enough "Wow," but seeing it in person was sort of surreal. People were on top of buildings and in trees. The lawn around the Washington Monument was just a massive sea of people. We were hearing the speeches on the radio and then hearing them on delay from the giant Jumbotrons around the mall.

NASA TV Parade Video

We finally got to the next staging area, and we heard the swearing in while waiting in our van. Applause broke out in the van and I know several of us got chills. Next, we went inside one of the "warming tents" and got to see some of the speech. There was a group of Native Americans in full tribal dress in there and I watched the speech with them. That was one of the more moving things for me. Unfortunately the TV audio in the tent was bad and we couldn't hear well, so I really didn't get to fully appreciate the speech until I got home later.

The next phase was the least enjoyable, since we just waited in the cold for about four hours before the parade actually started. During the wait, we got to see some of the other groups and parade floats. There was a group of "Lawn Rangers," these guys who wear crazy costumes and push creatively decorated lawnmowers. There was one lawnmower with a toilet on it and another with "Viva Obama, Si Se Puede (Yes We Can)" on it. There was also a huge group of Indiana high schoolers on horseback. This school has apparently been in the parade 15 times over the years. The horses were getting a bit frustrated with the cold and delays and a few of them kicked some of the students. We were hanging out near the first aid tent so we saw the injured kids come in. That was pretty tough, but the kids let out a huge cheer when they finally started moving. It sort of made you want to go charging up a hill or something.

Cold, dark and tired -- but making our way down Pennsylvania.

We were all getting cold and tired, and we were trying to get updates via cell phone and blackberry. We were able to figure out things were running pretty late. We finally got lined up to march around 5 p.m. Things kind of went in fits and starts for a while. We'd move to a position, stand there for 20 minutes, move to another position. My hands and feet were starting to get pretty numb at this point, but I knew it would get better when we started marching. We were all running around and hopping up and down to keep warm. It was pretty entertaining to see 79-year old moonwalking American hero Buzz Aldrin jumping up and down. The shuttle commander Chris Ferguson was cracking jokes to keep our spirits up. At one point he said sarcastically, "well, it's cold and windy, but at least it's dark now."

Finally we made it to the "merge point" at the corner of 4th street and Madison, on the north side of the Mall near the National Gallery of Art. They were bringing the marching bands and other walking groups in from Madison and merging the horse and float groups in from 4th. We were considered a "float element" because of the lunar rover. We knew we would be behind the Virginia Military Institute Corps of Cadets, so we were all looking down Madison anxiously awaiting their arrival. Before them we saw some strange groups, including a Chinese contingent with a big paper dragon and a guy in a huge panda suit. Again, surreal. There were a couple of marching bands I didn't exactly enjoy hearing for college football-related reasons -- the University of Utah and the University of Tennessee. Please, no more "Rocky Top."

Eventually, the VMI cadets came down Madison. And kept coming. For a while. There were 1200 of them. Just marching behind them was an amazing experience in itself. The parade controller called on us to fall in behind VMI and we started moving. After this it was pretty steady, though we had to pause a few times as other groups stopped at the reviewing stand and slowed up the rest of the parade. Unfortunately by this late hour there were very few folks left on the parade route, but those who were there were definitely enthusiastic about NASA.

President and Mrs. Obama see the rover

We were announced at several points along the route, but the announcers never quite got it all right. They either messed up the NASA acronym or mispronounced an astronauts name. They also didn't announce Buzz, which was kind of strange. But that's probably because he added himself to our group at the last minute.

We followed VMI down Pennsylvania, then made the short jog right onto 15th street to get back on Pennsylvania and pass the reviewing stand. As we turned on 15th, we noticed this guy on a bicycle pulling a cart with a passenger (think rickshaw) turned into the parade between VMI and us. None of the security folks really did anything, but we all thought it was sort of weird and started saying, "this guy shouldn't be here." I wasn't really concerned that he was up to anything bad. It was more a case of "what's this joker doing here?" Our military escort called it in on his radio and a motorcycle cop was there in less than a minute to run the guy off. It was a little scary for a minute.

Not long after that, we made the big left onto Pennsylvania and could see the reviewing stand. The bleachers were all pretty empty but I could see even from the corner of 15th that the Obamas were still there, standing and waving as VMI passed by. Michelle and Joe Biden were also still there, but most of the other folks had left the reviewing stand. As we passed by, I gave a big smile wave and a thumbs up and the President waved back. He was probably waving at all of us and I know the focus was on the rover, but I've pretty much convinced myself there was direct eye contact. Once we were past the stand, the banner carriers stopped and looked back to watch the rover salute. It was pretty cool watching the astronaut get out, salute, and carry the flag from the rover.

After all the cold and waiting, it really was worth it to get that close to the new president and be a part of history. We fought the DC traffic and got back to NASA HQ where I recovered for a while and actually did a little web work before heading home on the metro, which was surprisingly empty. At this point, it still doesn't all seem real yet.

Christmas 2008

2009-01-10T18:14:00.004-05:00

Zack woke us up about 5:30 a.m. Christmas morning. We forced him to wait a couple more hours, but here's what eventually happened.

Seeing what Santa brought.

Indoor Scooter

Carpet Skates

Scooting in the cul de sac.

One of many silly photos

Trip to Georgia
We left early on Dec. 26 for the long drive south. It was a lot of driving, but nice to see all the families.

With cousins Isabel and Ethan Pearson in Danielsville.

Opening gifts with Grandma and Grandpa Lurwig.

Flying the kite with "Papa."

A hug from Great-Grandmother "Gammaw."

New Year's Day in Newnan.

Building TinkerToys with Grandaddy (Sadie is helping).

Sparkler time -- pre-fireworks.

The usual jam session. Jim and Dad on slide.

3D Photos

2008-11-25T12:51:00.004-05:00

I learned a new Photoshop trick today. Check out the pics. Of course, you need some 3d glasses.

(Click the photo for the full size slideshow)

Election Eve In Manassas, VA

2008-11-11T15:39:00.005-05:00

We were there, with 100,000 of our closest friends ...

Click the picture above and check out the red circle. We think that's us.

Our video:

The full speech:

Fall Soccer 2008: The Chewbaccas

2008-11-02T14:47:00.001-05:00

Highlights from Zack's third season of soccer:

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Suburban Wildlife

2008-11-02T14:37:00.002-05:00

Since we do live in the middle of a huge forest, we get more visits from critters than you might expect. In September, a family of deer came to our front yard, practically right up to the door. We also got a chipmunk on the back deck. This is not counting the mysterious coyote and owl sounds we hear at night.

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Your Friendly Neighborhood Zachary

2008-11-02T14:35:00.001-05:00

Halloween 2008:

Zack's Teeth

2008-11-02T14:30:00.005-05:00

In September, Zack shows off his big bad gap (and a funky hairstyle):

Now, the left permanent tooth is coming in:

What We Did This Summer

2008-09-01T21:47:00.004-04:00

It was a very busy week, with lots of walking, line-standing, and sunburn. But it was well worth it. We visited four Disney parks -- Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios -- and cruised to the Bahamas. Check out the three photo galleries for the highlights:

Animal Kingdom Lodge and Park

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Epcot and Magic Kingdom

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Onboard the Disney Wonder and in the Bahamas

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Zack's Created a Monster

2008-08-09T19:53:00.004-04:00

A few months ago, we stopped by a local toy store, Doodlehopper, which was having a "design a monster" contest for kids. Zack drew a creation he called "Triceratentacles," a sort of three headed octopus-like thing with different colors for all the different body parts.

A few days later we got a call saying he'd won! A toy company would be making a stuffed animal out of Zack's design, and might even be selling it to other kids some day!

Just the other day, Zack said to Kelly in the car, "you know, Doodlehopper should be calling soon about my stuffed animal." Sure enough, they had a message on the answering machine when they got home, so they went and picked it up. (A bit eerie, huh?).

Here are some pictures of Triceratentacles, complete with a "designed by Zack tag." The video is Zack reading the tag, which is the description he wrote when he created the monster.

A Mysterious Delivery

2008-06-11T21:46:00.007-04:00

Zack got a package in the mail today. He waited patiently until Jim got home to open it. By the time we were all ready, it was past his normal bedtime.

He opened the big box to find a smaller box within, wrapped with a gold ribbon. A letter informed him it was a wand from Ollivander's shop in Diagon Alley, London.

As you can see, he was blown away, and still wants to know how "they" knew his name and how to send it to him.

Of course, he had to get his Potter glasses and try out a couple of spells. No adults were turned into newts.

A special thanks to the wizard who made this happen. And if you don't know the Harry Potter books, just trust us -- this is cool.

He Shoots, He Scores!

2008-04-20T18:19:00.004-04:00

Zack scored his first goal of the soccer season Saturday -- only the 3rd game of the year! Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of that because I was too excited watching him score. Here are some other shots of #3 of the Blue Storm in action! Check out the videos at the bottom.

Zack Climbs the Rock Wall

2008-04-20T18:14:00.003-04:00

Zack tried climbing the rock wall again at this year's Earth Day celebration. He was still a little to spooked to go all the way up, but he made it a lot higher than last year. Next year, maybe he'll make it to the top.

Green Knights at Earth Day

2008-04-20T18:09:00.002-04:00

The Green Knights, the school group Kelly helped create and sponsors won an award from the county at an Earth Day event on Saturday. The kids got to get up and talk about their project, which is picking up litter around the school, among other things.

When it was Zack's time to speak, he sort of forgot that you don't have to scream to be heard on a microphone. He got right up on the mic and talked really loud, which cracked everyone up, including him. It sort of turned into a "blooper" and Zack couldn't stop laughing.

Zack's 7th Birthday

2008-04-07T22:17:00.004-04:00

As you can see, Zack had a Harry Potter birthday party. We had a magic show and some special wizard-themed treats (right), including dragon's blood (punch), troll boogers (cranberries), monster flesh (mango), mug worms (cheese sticks) and three-headed dog treats (cheese puffs).

The Harry Potter cake:

Luckily, he was off school for his birthday, so we took him bowling and toy shopping. As you can see, he was pretty happy with everything.

The Seacocks Rock the Waterfront

2008-04-07T21:56:00.010-04:00

On Saturday, April 5, The Seacocks were part of the Cherry Blossom Festival's "Musical Prelude to the Fireworks." It was a big event, with several bands including the Army and Navy bands. We closed out the night and there were a ton of people there. A few photos and videos are below, but you can see a lot more photos at http://puffoflogic.net/photography/seacocks/

______

Zack enjoyed the day, too. He got to build and sail a little sailboat and see the fireboats come by.

Easter 2008

2008-04-07T21:55:00.006-04:00

Zack takes in the annual haul from the Easter Bunny.

Cool Video

2008-03-14T10:16:00.001-04:00

Click around in the video to change perspective

The Robe

2008-02-13T23:20:00.004-05:00

Zack tries out his soft new bathrobe made by Grandma. He really didn't take it off for a few days and he slept in it, too.

Trip to Baltimore

2008-02-13T23:13:00.009-05:00

We drove up to Baltimore for a day in the Inner Harbor. The USS Constellation is there and there are a lot of museums, restaurants, etc. We spent the whole day at the Maryland Science Center.

Zack catches a hot air balloon launched by a hair dryer in the museum lobby.

After the dino dig.

This one really doesn't need a caption does it?

Arrr!

2008-02-13T23:10:00.005-05:00

Zack's friends down the street had a pirate birthday party and Zack really got into the spirit.

Cooking with the Sun

2008-02-13T23:08:00.003-05:00

Here's Kelly trying out one of her Christmas presents, the solar oven. This was the first try, so we just did toasted cheese sandwiches. We've also cooked chili and and couple of stews in there. Even on a cold day, it gets up to 300 degrees in there within an hour or so of being in the sunlight.

Christmas 2008

2008-01-06T18:26:00.000-05:00

Christmas in Virginia
Zachary got his seventh visit from Santa this year. We didn't get any snow, but Nanny and Papa were here with us for the holiday.

One night we went into DC to check out the White House Christmas tree, a first for us. Zack enjoyed it, especially the huge train layouts running around the tree.

Speaking of trains, Nanny and Papa gave Zack his first 'real' model train, an N-Scale. He can't wait to build a full layout with it:

On Christmas Eve we went to Arlington to see the wreaths. Then we came back home for our Christmas dinner.

Finally, it was time for Santa to arrive. After a fire, reading "The Night Before Christmas," and leaving out some milk and cookies and carrot juice, Zack went to bed and waited for the visit.
Here's what happened the next morning:

The big items were the complete set of Harry Potter books (he's already reading the 2nd one), a race track and a motorized marble run:

Christmas in Georgia
The day after Christmas, we loaded up the Prius and headed for Georgia. We arrived in Newnan on the 27th. Zack got a magic kit, and Jimmy and Jim had several jam sessions, including one with John Scott joining in.

On the 30th, we drove up to Danielsville to see the Lurwigs. When we were opening gifts, Zack drew the number to wear a duck hat Kelly's mom made. You can see he was thrilled. We also got a couple of rides on the train around the house. Fun but cold!

All Zack Wants For Christmas ...

2007-11-15T09:13:00.001-05:00

... is his two front teeth.

Zack in the Leaf Pile

2007-11-11T16:21:00.000-05:00

We started the annual ordeal of leaf raking today. As usual, Zack had fun jumping into the leaf piles.

Here's some video too. If you're wondering about the "squares" in the yard, those are our carpet tiles from the basement, drying out after a little leak incident we had this morning.

Why It's Cool to Work for NASA

2007-11-11T12:44:00.000-05:00

Check out this video of Discovery's launch on Oct. 23. Pretty cool views from the cameras mounted on the two solid rocket boosters on the side of the shuttle.

Halloween

2007-10-31T22:25:00.000-04:00

Zack decided this year he wanted to be Frankenstein (well, really Frankenstein's monster, but you know ...) for Halloween. We're not sure where he got the idea, but he seemed to enjoy running around grunting a lot and saying "Fire bad!" and things like that.

After a lot of discussion about how to do it, we finally found some latex "bolts" in a costume store. Here's Kelly attaching the bolts with the "spirit gum" -- this is similar to the makeup routines you see for Hollywood horror movies.

Here is the finished product in all it's gory detail:

Kelly also went all Martha Stewart on the house this year with a bunch of spider webs all over the place. We also did these glowing spiders with glow sticks and styrofoam balls.

Night at the Symphony

2007-10-31T22:11:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, October 27, we had a big night out on the town. We took Zack to the Kennedy Center to see the National Symphony Orchestra play a concert of John Williams movie music.

It was Zack's first real chance to get dressed up for a big event:

Of course, Zack insisted on taking a few of his usual "silly poses." Here's one of our favorites:

The concert was great. The first half was music from Jaws, ET, Superman, Indiana Jones, and some others. Then they took an intermission and came back and did a whole section of Star Wars music, complete with characters staging battles in front of the orchestra. Jim even got to meet "Darth Vader" before the show.

The Local Wildlife

2007-09-14T23:13:00.001-04:00

We've had a lot of activity on the back porch lately. We've got two birdfeeders now, and we get lots of visitors. We also had a strange visitor the other morning at our front door:

This Year's Beach Trip

2007-09-14T23:09:00.001-04:00

We wrapped up the summer at Bethany Beach,Delaware. Zack is getting better about getting into the water, as you can see.

The Seacocks

2007-09-14T22:55:00.000-04:00

Well, our singer is off to become a Coast Guard officer now, so we're officially on "hiatus." But here are a few pics of us playing and recording.

Here we are at the Marina in DC. It's near the Jefferson Memorial and you can see the Washington Monument from where we're standing. It's also right across the Potomac from the airport, and the President's helicopter flies by from time to time -- all making for interesting playing conditions. The wood paneled boat in the background is Sequoia, which used to be the Presidential Yacht. Marilyn and JFK "spent time" there, so they say.

Alan is on the left. He plays a mean harmonica. Jodie's in the bathing suit (it was pool party night.) The guy to the right of me is Jacob; he works with me at NASA and plays the cello and some cool jazz piano.

Here we are recording at my place, and me "acting a fool":

The New Car

2007-09-14T22:43:00.000-04:00

So, after 13 years and probably over 200K miles, Kelly finally gave up her old Saturn for a new Prius. Here's a picture of us with the old and new cars at the dealership -- yeah, it's a little blurry. The salesman apparently couldn't operate a camera.