Spring Break in Florida

We enjoyed a week at Grandma and Grandad's in Central Florida.
We got to to see some wildlife while we were there.

We spent some time kayaking with this guy in the bayou off Tampa Bay

AAAAAH!!!

Glass Making

Here is the final product on the top shelf of our study. 

Jen recently took a lesson in glass making.  She got to make a simple objet d'art.

She starts off with a small glob of molten glass to serve as the core and glue for the rest of the project.

She adds bits of colored glass which will be turned into swirls.

Back into the furnace to melt them together

Then some more shaping to press the colored glass into the project.

Then more molten glass on top of that.

Now time to make all the swirls

Keep swirling

This is an idea of what it will look like.  It is still very hot at this point.  Remember there was never any orange in this project, that is just the glow of the super hot glass.

David put it back in for another dip of clear glass.

More shaping of the next layer

Now pulling it into its final shape

Add a big twist at the end

Torch to smooth off the tip and melt away the tool markings

And it's ready to break off the rod.  It'll have to cool slowly over night, so we haven't really seen the final product yet.

TAEKWONDO tournament

I know we are not supposed to count medals, but this was impressive!

Tucson, AZ

Jen's parents came to stay with the kids and we took a trip to Tucson and Pheonix.  Scott participated in the North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Association meeting.

Scott with Matt Young, presenting their work on critical flicker fusion in optic neuropathies.  The poster was well received.

We had an Iowa Reunion at the meeting.

We spent a lot of time exploring the desert and seeing all the different cacti.

We saw a fun wild west stunt show:  Pinnacle Peak Pistoleros

We spent some time at the Musical Instrument Museum

You've heard of a double bass, but how about an Octo-bass?

Jen really liked to bang the gong.

On our final night we visited the Desert Botanical Gardens and listened in on a Blues concert and saw the  lights.

Snowmaggedon 2016

We got snowed in last week and had one of the best weekends in the history of weekends.

Here is some of the snow action.