⚾️ Take me out to the ball game! ⚾️

A perfect night for it. The Dragon's 🐉 gave us a few bonus innings from last night. Currently ninth inning. They're behind 0-10. Hopefully, tonight's game goes a little better. Woah, now it's 1-10. Put on your rally caps!

We safely navigated he maze to seating.

Fitting day to shoot my dad’s shotgun

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A shooting heritage

Johnny is shooting the shotgun my dad bought, when he got his first job, out of school.  It's funny that Johnny's doing this on the same weekend that he got his first paycheck.  

He loved it.  Now he thinks it should be his.  First you have to be 18, son! ;)

Just the random texture of a piece of rotting timber

I'm weird, I know it. You all have suspected it for years... ;)

For those of you who thought I spent a lot of Memorial Day weekend shooting things with my family...

You were right ;), but I also managed to spend a couple solid days reclaiming our property from mother nature, once again. ;-) It's crazy how fast everything grows back, year after year. I finished by clearing the area around the pond, late Monday, and was rewarded by the pleasantness of the evening, after two days of work.

Manly yard work...

Yeah, those are thorns, still stuck in my arm. I spent the weekend catching up on some yardwork including clearing pathways, in the woods.

Who says a snubby “Derringer” isn’t accurate…?

At 20 feet, Julie and I were both breaking clays with a micro .22 magnum revolver.

This one managed to survive, somewhat. ;-)

Some slo-mo of our various range rentals

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Johnny ate his paycheck!

Well, not the whole thing. But this is the first thing he bought with his first paycheck. Congrats for being a contributing member of society mister!

Way to go!

The boys and I shared some big bore fun, this weekend...

They were impressive with their enjoyment and accuracy. We shot a suppressed 9mm, .50 Desert Eagle, and a S&W .500...!  The .500 was fun, our favorite. The Desert Eagle was just ridiculous. 

You can see all the fun, if you follow this link: 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dwbarton/albums/72157696697518294/

We weren’t imagining things...

While shooting the Desert Eagle, we felt like the target was obscured by the muzzle flash... After reviewing the footage, we realized it was. What a gigantic fireball that engulfed the gun, as it went off!

Isaac has been at it again... Creating another picture I really like.

He got the camera at an antique show. To get the lighting he used his phone light and a glass with blue water in it. Then he used his mom's phone light and orange water for the other side.

For comparison: 9mm, S&W .500 Magnum, and .50 AE Desert Eagle

Obviously listed from the bottom up. Guns are Desert Eagle on the left, S&W .500 Magnum on the right. What a blast! :)

The results of our big bore shooting.

I didn't think we did too bad considering the calibers we were dealing with...
These were are groupings, at 20 feet.

Burning ring of fire...!

You might get tired of seeing pictures of us shooting stuff... If you do, you might be following the wrong blog. Haha

The boys and I went to the range and rented some big bore handguns... This was one of our favorite pics... More to follow. ;)

This is an awesome composition!

Isaac took it, while hanging around the fire, with his cousins.

We got to watch Joslyn’s graduation, this weekend.

She's moving up, in levels, towards her black belt in To Shin Do.

I always enjoy this view coming down into Miamisburg

A little sample of our rifle fun

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Shadow is VERY intense when it comes to watching Julie’s fish...!

Another year of hitting the books, is in the books. ;)

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This is what happens when my friends and Co-workers suggest we gather some of our hardware and go blow off some steam.

Beautiful day at the range, this week.

Julie’s adorable little crayfish :)

On the way home, from breakfast with my boys, this week.

A cute little shed, in Waynesville.

Action shots from Johnny’s team’s winning state match

I've been having fun, working with the youth, on their skills. Truth be told, they're making me practice a lot, just so I can keep up with them!

Ice cream topping leftovers.

I see a sugar crash in their future...!

The clouds split and we could have the youth group finale.

The storm went either side of us, and we were left with the sunny skies in the middle. :)

It sure turned out to be a beautiful evening for the fun.

9-Square in the air, slippy slide, tug of war, ultimate frisbee, soccer, hotdogs, and ICE CREAM. Pretty good night!

Spotted this nice looking Lambo, while on a Sunday drive.

This is what happens when a lefty identifies as a righty...

There are many benefits to being left handed.

But when it comes to shooting a rifle, you better be prepared to be peppered with brass from some guns. This was the result of a quick trip, to the range, where I rented a new style.

Let summer begin!

One80 and Fuse finale, tonight! Food, fun and fellowship.

Emily took this great picture at Carriage Hill

She and Isaac are constantly vying for the best pictures to text me! ;) Lots of talent among my nieces and nephews.

Christopher is exploring the world of 3-D art.

Doing quite well, I'd say!

Julie’s newest monsters

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Nice bonus?

I spoke at a customer forum, this week. They handed us each one of these. Almost pays for the trip to Mason...

"For motion picture use only"...

This is one way to wedge the door open...

I think Shadow thought she could escape the bedtime ritual... haha.

My sister took this blind.

She knew there was a nest up there, but couldn't really see, to take the picture. So she just pointed her camera up there and got this shot. Not too bad! ;-)

Julie’s freshwater tank is looking awesome.

It's fun to watch the various critters going about their routines. I like how the rocks and driftwood are taking on the colors of all the various life forms in the ecosystem.

The tiny little Plecostomus, on the glass in the upper right corner, is so cute!

Johnny’s enjoying working for John at Jimmy John’s.

He's also enjoying his employee discount!

The Steel Challenge season starts again

These are mostly the youth (and their parents) that are on the team, I'm helping coach. Beautiful day for it!

Andy’s 15th birthday activities

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Stretching out the birthday week...

We celebrated Andy's 15th birthday, with friends and family, this weekend.  Laura got him this card, which was perfect. We made him read it aloud, much to his chagrin. She had surgery recently so isn't out and about yet. This was the only card she had left, around the house. Haha! 

His party was a blast, and he has managed to string it along over about a week and a half.  According to Johnny, he stills holds the record for the longest string out, but this one was close.  You can see all the fun if you click on the link below:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dwbarton/albums/72157666472281697/

There is also some state shooting and Andy and I spending the weekend, in Detroit, for a Kendama competition.   

I still have a few tricks up my sleeve!

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So I’ve been trying to find my garden rake for about two months now...

Turns out, the raccoons have been using it the whole time!

Partially true story. I did lose my take, but this raccoon actually helped me find it! Andy spotted this one, in the yard. When he went to investigate, the little devil ran up the tree. Andy hollered for me to come see the critter. When we looked in the tree, I found where one of the boys had left my rake... There was the raccoon, trying to figure out how to get it down for his own uses!

Andy’s orthodontist wanted him to show off his skills, for their followers

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With Andy, everything’s a skill toy!

Happy Mother's Day, Julie!

Andy giving Julie a shout-out ❤️

Andy’s a great teacher.

He's especially good in the waiting room at the orthodontist... ;)

I made a recording of the cat bird Julie and I encountered, on our walk

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The first day of the rest of his life :)

I love this kid! Welcome to gainful employment mister. Good job!

Julie and I like gong for walks and seeing the critters.

This cat bird was singing for us, like crazy. Julie played a recording of one and he got even more interested.

Yeah, right! But you would if you could!

Emily's cat looks like he might have been up to a little mischief...?!

Julie and Andy schemed to have Andy buy me this awesome Kendama for Father’s day.

When I talked about buying one, Andy says, "About that", and pulls one out of his bag! Grain Theory makes some great Kendamas and really focus on beautiful wood/grain with nice finishes. I met the founder/owner over the weekend, too. Talked lathes and engineering over a cup of hand-ground coffee. Jake Wiens is my kind of guy! ;)

Look close, and you can see Andy jamming with the Kendama pros

That's actually one of the neat things about the skill toy community and competitions. Everybody hangs out and jams together. From the winners to the beginners. You get plenty of chances to jam and share new tricks.

We had a couple sessions, in the alley behind Glowfish studios. This was one of them. Glowfish is the turquoise building.

Meet Julie’s snail! I think he looks like Jar Jar Binks, so that’s his name.

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A new view of Lake Erie

I don't normally see it from this side.

Andy and I had a great weekend in Detroit.

The fifth Dama in the D Kendama competition. It was sponsored by these folks.

Turns out, Johnny’s team actually won FIRST place at the state pistol match!

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Andy and I got to spend the weekend together.

It was at a Kendama competition in Detroit. Dama in the D. We got to hang out with all the pros, practice our skills and learn new tricks. A great Time, together.

Andy having some Kendama fun, in the trees.

Andy got to try free skates, this weekend.

Quite a challenge! But of course, he was starting to get the hang of them...