Golf-o-Rama

GREEN SCENE:  Today, the U.S. Open competition rounds began down at Chambers Bay, about an hour south of Seattle. We were lucky to be on the course on Monday, during practice rounds, and have been looking forward to watching the competition on television.

However, there is another option for those in or near Seattle - you can head on down to South Lake Union Park for the U.S. Open Championship "Open for All™" Fan Experience.  It's less than 10 minutes from our house, so we decided to check it out. 

We said 'hello' to our old friend, the US Open championship trophy, which we also saw at Chambers Bay on Monday.

I think they've shined it up since Monday!

Famous names grace its base.

The 'experience' was mostly a handful of vendors' tents and an overpriced beer garden, but there was one neat attraction all about the science of golf. We flocked to it like moths to a porch light.

Fortunately, the crowd was sparse and we were able to work our way through each of the science-y stations at our leisure. 

At the entrance, we had to guess how many golf balls were in this tank.  

What do you think?

Spoiler alert below the photo ... 

The kids started guessing around the 350 mark, but the answer is 505. Fooled me!

From there it was on to agronomy!

We learned about the turf (and what's below) at Chambers Bay. 

That same station had this informative infographic (you know you can click on it to make it bigger, right?)

Next up was a station about aerodynamics.

The kids tried the funnel experiment and played with the hanging ping-pong balls. 

I was especially interested in the volume and displacement display. 

So interesting to learn about the USGA's test for limiting club head size.

Angles are a big part of golf. This display really demonstrated that. ... 

There was an angle measurement device right where the golf club was, and so the kids could retract the club to X degree and see how far the ball went.

Fifteen degrees' retraction seemed like about the sweet spot.

Following this, there was a display with some of the greatest putts in US Open history.

There was one station that involved a video game about golfing in space (yes!!) Here's a link to a PDF about it: 

http://www.usga.org/resources/stemfiles/DRVG68/driving_activity_space_golf_MS.pdf

Of course, Alan Shepard was the first human to play golf in space. 

The final station was attempting to sink a putt from various markers along a fake green (the white USGA blocks along the right side in the photo). 

We need to work on our putting. :)

MAJOR DISTRACTION: While we went down to South Lake Union to see the USGA attractions, on our way into the site, we noticed sailboats racing across the pool in front of the Museum of History and Industray (MOHAI). 

We also noticed a cart renting said sailboats for a suggested donation of $5. Count us in!

 First came a quick lesson about how to trim one's sails and  sail perpendicular to the wind to get the most speed going (on our rudderless, unpiloted boats). 

The kids had lots of fun trying to figure out how to make their boat go. 

There was a lot of trial and error - and learning - involved. 

Sometimes the boat took on water and had to be emptied. 

The scenery wasn't so bad whilst they were learning. 

Other kids had boats, too. A race was inevitable. :)

 MPA's boat (#2), unfortunately, didn't fare too well today.

ON THIS DAY:  It was June 18 of 1983 that Sally Ride rocketed into space, America's first female astronaut. Can't you just picture her, in the nose of this craft, zooming toward the stars? Ride, Sally Ride!

Amazing!

Fruity Fun

COWABUNGA, DUDE!:  We've been busy this month with some big baking projects. Mercifully, those are over, but we still like to play with our food.

Yesterday, I decided I wanted to make some healthier, no-bake snacks, and thought some cute Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle inspired apples were in order.

It was simply a matter of pasting a couple of candy eyes on Granny Smith apples (I used melted almond bark as 'glue,' and wrapping a fruit leather masks around 'em.

The kids happily had "turtle" for breakfast. 

Today's fun-with-fruit project involved giving some cherries a bit of bling. 

We broke out the almond bark again, and went with blue sparkling sprinkles for a patriotic look.

We melted the almond bark in the microwave, and started dipping cherries in it.

We let them set up for about a half a minute and then dunked them in the blue.

Super easy, super cute snack that you could use on multiple holidays (pink sprinkles for Valentine's day, red ones on Dr. Seuss' birthday). You could also give strawberries or little 'schoolboy' red apples the same treatment.

ROCKET REBUILD: We've had a bigish old box sitting around in our cupboard for years, a kit for a baking soda and vinegar powered rocket called "The Meteor."  We used it years ago and today, for whatever reason, decided to see if it had one more flight left in it before we sent it to the rocket recycling station (a/k/a the transfer station). 

The kids and I refurbished it, retaping fins and the fuselage, and carefully read the directions about how to launch it. 

This evening, after dinner, we took it to a deserted part of Discovery Park, by abandoned old government buildings, and launched it in the parking lot.

The first attempt was a complete FAIL - the plug came out while the rocket was on the launchpad, spilling rocket fuel (just vinegar and baking powder, thankfully) all over the parking lot.

The second go-round it went airborne!

MAKING MUSIC: The kids dusted off their guitars today and tried to tackle a song that's in heavy rotation on the radio right now, 's "Cecelia and the Satellite."

Fortunately, we found a pretty easy to follow tutorial for the song on YouTube: 
https://youtu.be/F_p3YaQHxUk


We'll keep practicing it and maybe post a video of them performing it in the next few days.

Boots on the Ground: US Open at Chambers Bay

GREENERY: Not gonna lie, we're not huge golf fans. Or even big golf fans. We might even be less-than-average golf fans. That said, when the "Super Bowl" of golf comes to your neighborhood, we thought it worth checking out. Boy are we glad we did.

Monday morning, we arose at 5 a.m. to get our show on the road southbound, destination Chambers Bay, a picturesque golf course in University Place, Wa., just west of Tacoma.

Turns out the US Open is a Big Darn Deal, and so access is gained via school bus from lots around the area. We parked in the lot a Tacoma Community College lot a tad before 7 a.m., along with people from all over (we parked next to a Tesla from Pennsylvania), and were en route to Chambers Bay shortly after. 

We honestly had no idea what to expect, other than a potential nightmare given the crush of people at a not-that-urban location up against the shoreline. Fortunately, the site seemed ready for their big close up!

I was very impressed with how organized it was overall - and I'll admit, I'm usually the first to complain about how awful organization is. 

We'd never been to a golf tournament before, so we had to learn as we went. We quickly figured out you want to check the player locator board to see who's where.

The gate we entered was close to the 13th hole, and the readerboard said Tiger Woods was on 10. We could have stayed where we were, but we decided (perhaps foolishly) to go chasing.

We caught up with his teeing off on 14.

 Tiger's int he striped teal shirt.

 Never in my life did I think I'd see Tiger Woods walking the green at a US Open tournament, but there we were. Wild. 

Here's what CJ has to say about the US Open ...

On June 15th, 2015, I went to see part of the first day of the U.S. Open golf tournament, then being held in Chambers Bay, University Place, which is southwest of Tacoma. The U.S. Open is an annual event, held in different golf courses across the United States. The U.S. Open is named so because anyone is able to participate in the tournament.

Chambers Bay, where the U.S. Open championship is, was very hilly, and throughout the course, there were several paths that led from and to different holes. Across Chambers Bay, there were multiple grandstands, which, according to Wikipedia, are large and normally permanent structures for seating spectators of certain events, in this case, golf.

Throughout Chambers Bay, there were several different white tents that were "Corporate Hospitality" tents, or, in other words, places that you could go and hang out if you were a businessperson who paid a lot of money to go there. Other white tents that were present throughout Chambers Bay had services such as a concessions stand, a shop, and even a Starbucks(!). At one point, there was a tent where we were given the opportunity to take a picture with the trophy that would be given to the winner of the U.S. Open championship. The line was long, but it was worth the wait. After taking our picture with the trophy, a cameraman started recording us and we were interviewed by a lady. When she asked Annabelle, my sister, what her first impression of Chambers Bay, she said "There were a lot of hills". After that, my mom said that Annabelle's quote would probably be aired on the news about the U.S. Open.

Overall, I enjoyed my experience at the U.S. Open this year.

Annabelle had a couple of observations, too ...

On June 15, I went to the U.S. Open at the Chambers Bay golf course, in University Place. The U.S. Open is the United States Golf Association’s golf championship. The winner of the championship is given the trophy. 

When I went to the course, the actual competition hadn’t started yet; the golfers were getting used to the course. Every year the competition is in a different location, and this was the first time it’s ever been in the Pacific Northwest. The course, Chambers Bay, is covered in hills and sand traps. The course was also very big, and I got the chance to walk around it and see almost every hole. There was seating almost everywhere because of the tournament. 

When I was there I also got to see many different golfers, including Ryan Moore, who is a golfer from Puyallup, and Tiger Woods, a famous golfer! The trip was fun and I enjoyed seeing the sights and watching the players. If I could, I would like to go back and play on the course myself!

 The big grandstand below is at the end of the 18th hole. 

So. Many. Sand traps!

 Below is a Tiger trail - people pursuing Woods making his way through the course.

We saw golfers from all around the world. 

Oliver Farr (blue shirt, to the left below) is from Wales, while Cameron Smith (red shirt) is from Australia.

 I think we scared Mr. Smith. ;) 

We saw Jered Becher, from Reno.  

 And Rich Berberian Jr, the New England PGA champ.

 Blue shirts - the men and women minding the tees, fairways, and greens, were everywhere. 

 Had to get the obligatory 'we were here' shot. :)

 There were signs everywhere, some better than others. 

 For instance, with the sign below ... so where's Gate 5? Is it to the left, like the arrow beneath it, or to the SW, like the arrow to the right of it? This type of sign is why you needed to keep a map in hand.

We went to visit the US Open trophy. So did all of the media on site. A local TV crew interviewed CJ and Annabelle. 

 But back to golf.  We briefly saw Morgan Hoffmann,a 25-year-old from New Jersey.

And we saw Shiv Kapur, of India.

 We ran into the Japanese contingent around hole 17.

 Have I mentioned the course was hilly. Very, VERY hilly. All uphill, it seemed like. ;)

And have I mentioned it was hot? Very, VERY hot.

We were absolutely wiped out after about five hours. Seriously sweat through. 

All in all, it was a remarkable experience. We are *so* happy we made the trip down south to attend and are looking forward to watching the US Open this weekend.