I Believe I Can Fly...

Yesterday we went to the Red Bull Flugtag here in Austin.
Flugtag is pronounce floogtog. They said it means something like "flying thing" in German. In English it means 85,000 people gathered to watch groups do a dance/drama and push someone off a 30 foot drop as they try to fly in a themed contraption.
To make sense of the whole concept, you have to remember the Red Bull commercials - Red Bull gives you wings.

It's actually fun to see the creativity of these groups.
This brief video is a compilation of another year here in Austin, but it's the best one out there right now that shows what this event is.



The next one below is about 12 seconds long and shows a "flying machine" (or lack thereof) that we actually saw. Though I have to admit, until I saw this on youtube and read it's a vacuum, I really had no clue what it was. From where we were sitting it looked like one of those little ghost guys in Pacman with a feather.



The last video below is only six seconds long, but I wanted to show you why it's unwise to drink and design things that are supposed to fly.

Please note that this is a theme of "Rock, Paper, Scissors". Clever in thought, but tell me why would you ever volunteer to be the "paper pilot"? What you see in the video is the back of the costume/flyer. On the front, there is a hole cut out for a face. Keep in mind that they all run to the edge of the platform and jump... face first... into the water. The odd thing was that everyone seemed shocked when the paper smacked face down in the water and had trouble getting up.



The drinking stuff isn't our game, but we went with Kat and her family along with a friend from Germany and that's what really made it such a good time.

Brandon is hoping they will come back to Austin so that he can design his own and pilot it off the top... your prayers are appreciated. ;)

Homesick

Today is the anniversary of my mom's death. She died at the very young age of 54. I'm a thousand miles away so I can't take flowers to her grave. Nonetheless, I find myself wanting to do something special for her.

The picture above is of black-eyed susans. They were my mom's favorite. When we lived in Pataskala there were fields full of these throughout the neighborhood. I used to bring them home to her all the time. First, she would completely freak out because of the bugs, but then she seemed to enjoy them.

I could have picked a better picture for her today. Maybe one with a close up that shows the intricate beauty of these bright flowers -- but I wanted a picture of what I see in my memory. Big fields full of plants and weeds with these rays of sunshine littered throughout.

Below is a song by Mercy Me that tugs at the heart of anyone who's lost a loved one.

Mom where ever you are, I know that God has made a big front porch for you with comfortable outdoor chairs for sitting and enjoying the cool breeze. I pray that He also blessed you with a field filled with black-eyed susans in your front yard.
Nana and I talk about you all the time, we miss you so.
I love you...

Homesick
You're in a better place, I've heard a thousand times
And at least a thousand times I've rejoiced for you
But the reason why I'm broken, the reason why I cry
Is how long must I wait to be with you

I close my eyes and I see your face
If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place
Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
I've never been more homesick than now

Help me Lord cause I don't understand your ways
The reason why I wonder if I'll ever know
But, even if you showed me, the hurt would be the same
Cause I'm still here so far away from home

I close my eyes and I see your face
If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place
Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
I've never been more homesick than now

In Christ, there are no goodbyes
And in Christ, there is no end
So I'll hold onto Jesus with all that I have
To see you again
To see you again

And I close my eyes and I see your face
If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place
Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
Won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
Won't you give me strength to make it through somehow

I've never been more homesick than now...

Everything

A good friend of mine found this and sent it to me.
You've got to watch it, but you have to watch the whole thing.
You will miss the whole point if you quit any earlier.

After testing the video on my blog, I realized it's much better if you go to you tube directly here
and make the video larger (click the silver button to the far right under the video itself). It will be a little blurry, but that's ok. Sit back a little and turn up your speakers.



Sadly,
Over 1,500 youths kill themselves every year...
1 in 4 youth use illegal drugs...
40% have self-inflicted wounds...
1/3 of youth have been drunk in the last month...
1 million are pregnant...
1 in 5 have thought about suicide...
8,000 youth get an STD every day...

Rollercoaster - woo - hoo - hoo - hoooo

Tuesday we took a trip to Fiesta Texas compliments of the Coke-a-Cola Company. Finally, drinking copious amounts of Diet Coke has paid off!
I came to the decision that I either needed to invest in their stock, or sign-up for their Rewards Points program. I chose the latter.
Between the points I gathered from home and the points generously given by friends, I've come to the realization that we need a twelve step program for our soda obsession. While this may be true, I guess I have no problem exploiting our addiction as I saved up several thousands of said points to go to Six Flags with the fam.
There's a lot of work that goes into getting the numbers (especially the caps) entered into the website. You get 10 points for 12 packs and 3 points for lids - any lids. It doesn't matter if they're three liters or twenty ounces.

Most moms will longingly look back and recall the days when their kids brought them a precious flower they found. As their child came running through the door, flower in hand, face beaming, you can see the excitement and love in their eyes.
Per usual we are a bit different. I can't tell you how many times Brandon would come to me, smiling from ear to ear, with a red cap that actually kind of looked like a flower because he found it smashed in the middle of the road. Honestly, because of the way I received those lids, they were worth much more then the three points.

The best part about our trip on Tuesday was that we were able to relax and reconnect as a family. It was also a time to remember that we're all sooooo different... and that's ok.
Alex doesn't like to ride rides. He loves the whole scientific part of the rollercoasters. It was a little disappointing at first, but again that's ok, we had an official backpack holder.
Brandon and Ben... their diffences are very apparent all of the time. What was so great about this day is that they rode most of the rides together -- all day AND laughed together! Nobody fought. Well, there were a few minor incidents, to be expected, but that's it.

Matthew and I had a different revelation about ourselves. One that we can no longer deny... we're getting old. We could only take a few of the rollercoasters that we used to love so dearly, because this time instead of running to get back in line we had headaches and needed Tums.