Back to School (Again)

Summer is officially over, at least that's what the school district says.  Our kids are off to learn new things.  The house is much quieter with 4 of them gone.  Alyssa keeps things lively, but with no one to play with in the afternoons, it's much easier for her to take naps again each day. 

 Jon

 Rebecca

 Ethan

 Kirsten

Alyssa

Everyone with Keith

Happy school days everyone! 

Oh, What Do You Do in the Summertime?

Do you pick some blueberries?



Or make oragami?
Or garden a lot, outside?



Is that what you do? So do I . . . .(CS 245, adapted)
I also made a cake.

And the kids built airplanes with Daddy.

Enjoy your summer!

No Rules Pinewood Derby

We had a little Philmont training recently and one of the activities included a No Rules Pinewood Derby. The only rule was no fire. So Mike thought a compressed air propulsion system would be pretty good. It took a couple weeks to build and figure out. A 20 oz. soda pop bottle provided the pressure vessel, a 1/8-inch ball valve, a schrader valve, and some mouse trap parts did the job. The release mechanism was the trickiest part. The ball valve was spring loaded to flip to the open position and held with a mouse trap latch that was tied to the front bumper, which was spring loaded with ball point pen springs. As soon as the gate dropped, the mouse trap lever sprung open and the bottle released air at 120 to 150 psi in about 2 seconds.

There was only one real contender, an ordinary car that got fired from the gate with a heavy duty spring. It had a faster initial velocity, but the air rocket car had continuous thrust and passed it just before the finish line. Mike had a lot of fun making the car and was pleasantly surprised that he won. Picture and video provided for your viewing pleasure.

New Teeth

Keith is getting some new teeth. We caught him with his hat on backwards and his finger in his mouth, checking out his new pearly whites. Sooooo Cute!

What are Little Boys Made Of?

Frogs and snails
And puppy-dogs' tails,

That's what little boys are made of.

Our baby boy is growing! He weighed in at 15.5 lbs and was 26 inches long. This last week Keith got his latest shots. When he saw the doctor he could sit up for only a second by himself. Mommy told her that we would work on it. Keith can now sit for several minutes by himself! Way to go baby boy!!!

The bottom two front teeth are making their way into his mouth. And, fyi, peas with oatmeal cereal and milk doesn't taste very good. At least according to Keith. Mike thought that sounded pretty gross too. But carrots, rice, butternut squash, applesauce and pears are pretty good eats.

Just so you know, having something to hold on to and put in your mouth, is way more interesting than just sitting there and having only fingers and toes to stick in your mouth.