Hobby Flight

Sundays are days that my family hold dear. For one, we enjoy singing in the church choir and attending our church meetings. Angel and I work with the nursery child (ages 18 months to 3 years). I say child because at the moment there is only one kid that age. We get three more in May and we are really excited about it.

Religious services aside for almost a year Sundays were the only days that we could spend as a family as Angel worked on Saturdays and got Mondays off. As such, we try to enjoy activities together as a family. We play games, read books together, and enjoying playing outside. We have since started another Sunday afternoon tradition. Watching me bounce Skippy around the living room. "Who" you may ask, "is Skippy?"

This is.

Skippy is the gyropter, not the phone. I named him after MHI's Helicopter pilot. That and he "skips" across the floor on a regular basis. He's indoor only, if there is a draft it plays havoc with him, but he's a fun little birt to fly. Our twelve foot ceiling in our living room is great - as long as I avoid the ceiling fan. He's pretty well built, but I've had to do some patching. Unfortunately, I broke a rather important part not long ago and had to order in a replacement. I got them and was able to fix Skippy up. We made his usual Sunday afternoon flight with minimal problems and the fewest crashes yet. The kids really enjoy watching the helicopter and constantly tell him not to crash. I don't have the heart to tell them that I'm the one driving. I'm pretty sure they know thought.

You have to be pretty silly...

Yesterday I had an opportunity to go and play airsoft. For those not familiar with airsoft, think paintball with plastic bbs. Unlike paintball it is possible to stabilize the projectile a little more. They only weigh about a quarter of a gram so the force behind the hit may not be as potent as a paintball but it can still leaves a mark. I got into it about six months ago, joining my brother-in-law and playing with the groups he's introduced me to. I've got a decent set of equipment and enjoy getting out and enjoying a challenge.

As I was bringing all of my stuff out of the bedroom and getting ready to take it down to the car, Tigger asked me, "Daddy, what are you doing?" "I'm going to play airsoft." "I want to come!" "No, Tigger. You're not silly enough." I wanted to say "You're not stupid enough" but a 3 year-old doesn't need to know that word. At that point Kanga spoke up and asked, "Why do you need to be silly?" "Because," I replied, "People shoot you with little balls and it hurts. That's why you have to be silly to play this game."

The game was a lot of fun, although I got home much later than I planned. But yes, you have to be a little silly (or stupid) to play airsoft. I could barely move my legs last night and this morning. Even driving home, it was a little trying to drive a stick shift as it made my legs feel sensitive. Today at various points I walked with a limp. I don't know how visible it was, but I knew I was limping. And that was just from the running, jumping, crouching, and crawling. I've got a number of welts on my arms and inner thigh as well as getting hit in the face and head on a number of occasions. I wear a steel face guard and impact goggles for just that reason. People have lost teeth to airsoft, but I am not among those.

It was a fun time and I look forward to the next game I can make it to. However, until then, I'll be recovering from my wounds and trying to build up my endurance so I don't hurt for days afterwards.