Enjoying the 2nd Amendment

Well, every once in a long while I, Marcus, have the chance to participate in the blog. This particular post is in regards to something I am particularly proud and excited about, to put it politely. My distinguished coworker Scott and his dad met us up at the Provo gun range in the canyon so that Erica could learn how to use a handgun. Scott was great and tutored Erica as she took her first few shots--you'll see him in the pictures below.

The following is the work of Erica using a .22 caliber Browning pistol:


You'll notice the overall tightness of her grouping, as well as the near dead center hole that was the product of her second shot. She is a dead eye and didn't even know it--for a beginner, she did amazing! Here are a few more pictures:


This is Erica firing the .22 for the first time


The first shot took a while--but after she realized that the little .22 is as gentle as can be, she was loading up full clips herself and having some fun with something she didn't realize she was so good at.


This is Erica's first shot with a Springfield XD Subcompact in 9mm--she didn't like it as much because it does have quite a bit of kick to it and the much shorter barrel means it is harder to aim accurately--still, she did just fine with it. Originally this is the model I wanted, but I'm not so sure now since Erica seemed to have more fun with a larger one...

These are all the pictures I have! Hopefully we'll have more of us having fun doing this soon! Maybe with our own firearm even! ;)

Sea World

We have been planning our trip to Sea World for a long time, and the day finally came. We were so excited! My mom, Trevor, Jake, and Alyssa came with us, and we enjoyed a great day in the sun watching all the shows. Of course, the first thing Marcus wanted to do was see the rays...

We got to pet them and eventually feed them.

And one stuck it's little fin thing out at us

This one just sat in front of Jake and let him pet him

I fed one too and jumped when it sucked the fish from my hand.

Marcus loved his rays :)

Then we started going to all the shows. First we saw the Shamu show, which had two adult orcas and a baby orca.



We also went on the rafting ride.






We got a little soaked, especially my mom :)

We saw the new dolphin show... it's pretty dramatic. But the dolphins are incredible.


This was getting to the point where my camera died, which was sad. But I did get a couple pictures of seals. I love the seal shows the most-- they're awesome and hilarious!



One of the coolest parts of the day was that I got to go touch, help train, and feed a dolphin named Dotty. It was pretty amazing!





I HEART SEA WORLD!

Oceanside

We caravaned to Oceanside with my grandparents and Brad's family, meeting for lunch at Cracker Barrel-- yum. Ada enjoyed her lunch.


And Mimi and Grandpa both tried her food. They said it was pretty good :)


We stayed at a new house this time, and it was ginormous! There's a picture of it farther down in the post. It's always a wonderful trip, and I have tons of pictures of everyone-- all 16 people: Mimi, Grandpa, my mom & dad, Trevor, Marcus, me, Jeff & Debbie, Gage, Kade, Jake, Jake's girlfriend Alyssa, Brad & Jessica, and Ada. I posted some below of scenic views, Ada's naps (and reading), Kade's black eye, Trevor surfing, people reading/tanning, and volleyball. There are so many more I could've added, but you have to stop somewhere :)

























I love Oceanside! And so does Marcus! The countdown is on until next year ;)