This week
It’s been a full week for Ronan and Austin.
Ronan’s class has been preparing to launch a balloon with a camera into the stratosphere. They’ve used a great deal of math and physics to figure out the necessary amount of helium to lift their payload into space. And the team has worked hard to design the appropriate infrastructure to carry the gear safely back to earth.
Thursday was the big day. The kids drove over to the Lawrence Hall of Science to launch the balloon:
Five hours later, the balloon touched down in Merced. Cars took the kids on the three hour journey out to the boonies. After a long hike, they found their payload! The container holding the camera and gear had not been damaged at all during the 80,000 foot fall back to earth.
The class returned home after 10pm from this “epic” field trip. Here’s a shot of Ronan cruising into school the next morning, ready to see all the video footage of the camera’s journey into space.
Austin has been busy with friends, gymnastics, art and all the social happenings of school. She continues to love writing stories and drawing. Here’s a recent story (that I love) of her dream house. It tells so much about what is close to her heart:
(In case you can’t decipher it, it reads: I wish I had a dancing room with a ballroom fifty feet off the ground and with a million people dancing. And if you look up, there will be an opening for birds to sing and dance too).
She has been fortunate to find a dance teacher in Lianda. The two meet up regularly to learn dance from one another (note the matching outfits). It’s a beautiful thing to watch them smile and move freely. Dance is such a place of grace and freedom for Austin and what a gift to share it with an encouraging teacher.
