Shark

Yesterday was the kids gift exchange on our street. Pete was pleased to get a hand buzzer, whoopie cushion, and same other gags. Sam got a Shark Webkinz from Pickle.

If you know Sam, you can probably guess what he named the shark:

(a) Huckleberry Fins

(b) Sheldon

(c) Sharky

When he walked out the door this morning for the school bus, he yelled out "Good bye, Sharky! Don't go on the internet!"

S Punches A

Sam made a little hat last week at the Pavillion. It's one of those hats where you decorate it with markers. This particular hat had a windmill and no brim (aka beanie). Sam goes to the Pavillion every day after Kindergarten for about 5 hours of playing games, crafts, and watching TV. He also wore this hat to "Donuts With Dad" at school on the morning of 11/20/09.

One of the things you may notice on the hat is something that Pete has pointed out. When Sam writes his name in cursive, it usually looks like the S is trying to punch the A.

Thanksgiving Hike 2009

The family had a fun hike on the Goose Creek trail that runs from Keep Loudoun Beautiful Parkto the Potomac River neer Leesburg, VA. It was nice to continue the Thanksgiving tradition.

Along the Northerly walk, Pete and Sam found a geocache that was in a squirrel container. They proceeded to the old stone house. Then Pete and Dad scaled a steep hill to get a second geocache. Sam and Mom played on the rocks and beach on the walk back.

The container of the first geocache:

On the path:

Pete climbed in to the old stone house:

Pete and Sam looking at the waterfall from inside the old stone house:

Pete and Sam in the waterfall area:

Pete next to the second geocache:

Pete sitting in "chair rock" that Sam and Mom found on their hike back:

Crossing the bridge heading back to the car, with Goose Creek golf course just ahead to the left:

Sam Invitations 2009

Below are the invitations for Sam's party, which is coming up on Saturday, December 5.

Helping Bob

In July, the family volunteered for a community outreach project to assist disabled or elderly neighbors in the community. So everyone headed out to Leesburg on Saturday at 9:00am to help Bob.

Bob had difficulty walking, so he needed some help with cleaning the house, and getting some groceries. The cleaning was limited, since Bob didn't want anyone to mess with his piles of papers.

Pete and Sam arrived a little early, so had to come back about 30 minutes later.

Here is the entry to Bob's apartment complex:

Sam helping clean behind the TV:

Pete and Sam went with Dad to the grocery store, looking for the things on Bob's list. They got almost everything right, but had to go back to the store a second time since they got the wrong kind of Gatorade.

Bob had an impressive collection of antique model cars in glass cases. There were about 10 cases. Here is one of them:

Maybe Pete and Sam will visit Bob again the next time they are in Leesburg, or sign up next time to help someone else.

Dulles Family Fun Fest

In August, Pete and Dad went to the Dulles Family Fun Fest at Dulles Golf Center. It was a little pricey ($20), but included pizza dinner and about 3 hours of unlimited mini-golf, batting cages, driving range, and a few water slides. The best part, as you can see below, is that there was hardly anybody there, so no waiting in any lines.

Note, this is the same event mentioned in the previous blog post about the face painter with no sense of humor.

Sam Eating Dinner

The knowledgeable reader will be able to select the correct caption below for the photo:

a) Sam has finished all of his dinner and is washing it down with a drink.

b) Sam did not want anything that was served for dinner and is pretending to drink like a dog. The drink will be his only nourishment until whatever night is pizza night. After dinner, his clean plate can go right back into the cabinet.

Spongebob Birthday at Borders

Sam, Pete, Mom, and Dad went to Borders Books in July for their celebration of Spongebob's 10th anniversary. They did some crafts and heard a dramatic book reading.

Sam actually knew one of the workers at Borders (woman in red shirt in the picture above). She was once his pre-school substitute teacher the year before.

VBS Concert

On a Friday in July, Pete and Sam sang in the outdoor concert on the last day of Vacation Bible School (VBS). Mom was one of the volunteers at the school, so she got to be in the concert too.

As you can see, like most events at this church it was a bit of a garbled mass of humanity.

I think this is the list of songs from the concert:

Leaf Plow

Dad was raking some leaves on Sunday morning. Pete asked if he could help rake to earn a little money. They agreed that if Pete could help rake for an hour, Dad would give him $5. The following is what Dad found when he returned about 5 minutes later:

If you were wondering why it takes Pete 20 minutes to write 3 sentences for his homework, perhaps this will give you some insight.

Pete's hand was hurting, so Dad agreed to give Pete $2.50 after he worked for 30 minutes.

Allergy Testing

Results of Pete's allergy testing (2/18/09):

Airborne Allergens

1. Saline - 0

2. Histamine - 4+

3. Tree Mix - 3+

4. Bermuda - 0

5. Grass Mix - 0

6. RW Mix - 2+

7. Plantain - 0

8. Weed Mix - 0

9. Dock/Sorrel Mix - 0

10. Aspergillus - 1

11. Alternata - 3+

12. Clad. Sphoer. - 2+

13. Fusarium Mix - 1

14. Aspergillus Mix - 4+

15. Penicillum Mix - 2

16. Phoma betae - 1

17. Epicoccum nigrum - 0

18. Mouse - 0

19. Bipolaris sorok - 1

20. Dog - 2

21. Cat - 4++

22. Mite: Farinae - 4+

23. Mike: Pterony - 3+

24. Cockroach - 0

Foods

1. Milk - 0

2. Egg White - 4+

3. Egg Yolk - not tested

4. Wheat - 1

5. Orange - not tested

6. Corn - 2

7. Casein - 0

8. Fish Mix - not tested

9. Shellfish - not tested

10. Rice - not tested

11. Banana - not tested

12. Soybean - 1

13. Beef - 0

14. Chicken - 0

15. Oat - 0

16. Tomato - not tested

17. Potato - 0

18. Pork - 0

19. Carrot - not tested

20. Turkey - not tested

21. Apple - 0

22. Peanut - 1

Monster Ballad

Pete wrote a monster ballad which is actually pretty good and quite catchy. Sam and Dad will sometimes be heard around the house, singing the climactic chorus.

Below are the lyrics to the climactic chorus. One of these days, Pete will need to record a version with the music. One challenge is that the background vocals really need to be a chorus of about 20 people doing harmonies.

In The End, by Pete

In the end, we all are happy again

In the end, none of us are oh so dead

In the end, we all are still alive

And we get reunited with our friends

Skate Camp 2009

Pete and Sam got to go together this year to skate camp. Pete was apparently the first camper to execute a certain type of handplant. Presumably this was followed later in the week by some sort of faceplant.

A List

Here is a scrap of paper found one evening on the kitchen table:

Car Land

Car Land is one of the greatest games ever. It was invented one Saturday by Pete, Sam, and Dad. Here are the instructions for playing car land:

1. Cut out the letter "R" from construction paper

2. Take out the game Candy Land

3. Tape the letter "R" over the letters "ndy" on the game board

4. Get a pile of about 30 matchbox cars

5. Cut out 10 small squares of construction paper in each person's favorite color

6. Conduct a draft in which each person, taking turns, selects 10 of the 30 cars. Cars should be selected for maximum stability.

7. Each player tapes his color square to the top of each car on his team

8. Each player places his 10 cars on the game board (preferably on their colored squares, but not required)

The game board should look similar to this prior to starting the game, except there should be more cars and the cars should just about cover the entire board:

9. Players take turns. On his turn, each player drops or smashes a basketball on to the game board.

10. Remove from the game any cars that did not remain upright (i.e. flipped over)

11. After each round, move all cars back to the center of the game board

12. Last player with a car left wins, or player with the most cars left after 10 rounds

Pickle joined the game and played on Pete's team. Below is a picture taken during the game:

Helper

Meet Helper.

Helper has a blue name tag which says "Helper".

Helper was helpful in running Pete's Random birthday party in August, which featured a lot of children and not so many adults.

Helper was helpful in dismantling the high jump at the end of the obstacle course. Actually, this was somewhat unintentional, but that's ok since it was after everyone else had run the course.

We hope that Helper will come to help again next year.

Pete's Random Party - Games

See if you can match the games listed below to the randomly-ordered photos from Pete's Random birthday party:

• Ball Toss
• Candle Blowing
• Mad Libs
• Start of Obstacle Course
• Cake Eating
• Random Tag
• End of Obstacle Course
• Sponge Squeeze
• Water Balloons
• Street Tag

Random Cake

In the spirit of Pete's "random" birthday party back in August, we're reminiscing about it at the end of October.

Below is the cake that Mom and Pete baked and decorated for the party:

Come back Monday to see if you can match the games to the photos.

Ground Zero

Pete and Sam went to Chuck E. Cheese's last night for Spirit Night for Mom's school. This was a dangerous endeavor, since a kids pizza/game parlor is ground zero for the great Swine Flu epidemic of 2009. Statistically, a safer place to be was probably the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles in August of 1965.

Top 10 Most Swine Flu Infested Surfaces at Chuck E. Cheese's

10. Steering wheel - "Mario Kart"

9. Button on ticket muncher

8. Glass window display case at the prize redemption area

7. "No Deal" button on "Deal Or No Deal"

6. Door handle on exit door

5. Button on "Bubble Up"

4. Thumb triggers - "Top Glo 2"

3. Touch screen of "Flamin Finger"

2. Moist palm of guy walking around in a rat suit

1. Hand sanitizer dispenser

Book Bag

Pete had the following items in his backpack today for school:

• large purple binder - assignments archive
• large reading book
• book - Grubstake (reading)
• book - Pendragon (return to library)
• book - can't remember title, something like "Sylvia's Bell Jar" (return to library)
• lunchbox - apple slices, juice, string cheese, muffins, "cold guy"
• container of orange pieces for snack
• can of food for food drive
• house key
• random red pen
• blue homework folder
• pair of shorts to change into for Running Club

Well, that is all I can remember. Note, if you forget anything that should be in there he will be miserable for the day.

A Little Light Reading

Pete still has 20 AR ("Accelerated Reader") points that he needs to accumulate in this quarter at school. Dad was joking around with Pete that if he were to read Ulysses by James Joyce he could probably get about 4000 AR points.

So the next day Pete brought home the following two books from the library:

1. Melvin Beederman, Superhero, by Greg Trine

2. Ulysses, by James Joyce

Hopefully he'll stop reading #2 after the part where Leopold eats a kidney for breakfast.

Garage Band

Sometimes Pete, Sam, and Dad bring their guitars into the garage and write some songs. Here are the titles of some of the songs they they have composed:

• Life, Death, or Death
• Freedom Rocks
• Kill the Sniper
• Crazy Airplane
• Trash Boy
• Demon World
• Bad News Blues
• Sombrero
• I Like Pie
• Heaven's On Fire
• Eight Feet of Snow
• Cat Boxing

Unfortunately, no documented lyrics or chords exist for any of these songs. However, the "Bad News Blues" is very catchy and they can usually remember some of it.

Up Early

We were all a little bit surprised when Pete woke up at 6:30am so he could finish the homework assignment he was working on when time ran out last night.

Discovery Museum

Everyone got in free to the Discovery Museum, thanks to a pass we received in the mail. This is the museum with the golf ball incline room, hospital area, indian reservation, rock wall, craft room, bunk bed / animal room, toy tables room, microscope, apple baskets, optical illusions, spinning chair with bike tire, and funhouse mirror.

Pete and Sam built a house with a new friend, Matthew.

Pete climbed the rock wall.

And everyone built with sticks.

Mom was also pleasantly surprised that her friend Kimberly was coincidentally at the museum with her family on the same day.

The next time we come back, they should be all moved in to their new $10 million building. Hopefully they will have some new exhibits also.

Luray Caverns

Pete and Sam took a final mini-vacation on Labor Day weekend before the first day of school. They went to Al's Pizza in Purcelville, the Discovery Museum in Winchester, Denny's, swimming at the Holiday Inn, Luray Caverns, and the Garden Maze.

This was Sam's first trip to Luray Caverns, and Pete's first trip since they installed the new audio-tour system. You can see from the pictures that the boys enjoyed the audio tour.

First Day of School 2009

Today was the first day of Kindergarten for Sam, and the first day of 4th grade for Pete. Since Mom is teaching 5th grade this Fall in Sterling, Dad helped Pete and Sam wake up, get dressed, have breakfast, and walk to the bus where they saw their friends.

Pete sat with Sam on the bus and walked with him to the cafeteria.

After school, Sam takes a special bus to the Pavillion where he does fun and games until Mom finishes teaching and picks him up. He had a fun day at school and the Pavillion. His teacher is Mrs. Boyd.

At 7am tomorrow morning, the process begins again.

Old Rag

On August 16, 2009, Pete and Dad celebrated Pete's 9th birthday by hiking Old Rag Mountain in Shenandoah National Park with a group of Dad's friends. It was one of the best days ever.

Pete and Dad drove to the lower parking lot in a caravan with Dad's friends Brian and Eric. As they turned the final corner toward the West, and the mountain first came into view, Pete realized that this was not going to be an ordinary hike. The warnings that Dad had given him each day for the previous 2 weeks were now beginning to make sense.

Dad dropped Brian, Eric, and Pete at the upper lot and then drove down to meet Jonathan, Nick, and about 8 others. Dad hiked about .8 miles to the upper lot and then Pete joined for the hike up the mountain.

Pete and Dad hiked with Brian and Eric for the first 2 miles, up to the first vista and the start of the rock scramble. Pete and Brian played some games during this stretch of the hike to help keep their mind off of the grueling steep climb up the mountain. Pete wanted to climb some of the rocks along the trail, but Dad tried to convince him to save his energy for later in the day. Finally, they reached the first scenic overlook.

The rock scramble is the most challenging part of the hike, but was also Pete's favorite. It was about 1 mile of tight passages, hand-over-hand climbing, and rock hopping.

Finally, they had reached the summit and it was time for lunch.

Pete did a little more free-climbing at the summit before they began the long hike down.

On the hike down, Dad had a hard time keeping up with Pete and Jonathan, especially if he stopped to take a picture. Can you see Pete's orange shirt in this picture?

After 2 miles of hiking down the rocky path, when they made it to the bottom of the mountain, they were greeted by a sign that said "Old Rag parking lot: 2.5 miles --->". The last 2.5 miles were mostly flat, but very long, so Dad and Pete tried to find some interesting distractions.

Pete made it all the way to the parking lot, about 15 minutes ahead of Brian and Eric. Brian's GPS showed a total hike distance of a little over 10 miles, with about 2,500 feet of elevation change (not counting the extra free-climbs).

Pete and Dad stopped in Warrenton on the way home to play a little tennis with Dad's friend Tom.

Then it was off to Friendly's to meet Mom and Sam for Pete's birthday dinner.

North End Pizza

This year, Pete and Sam spent one day of their Virginia Beach vacation at the oceanfront. For lunch, they walked over to North End Pizza. They played some football in a vacant lot while waiting for the pizza. Then back there later for some ice cream.

Go With the Flow

An important philosophy when adventuring with Pete and Sam is to go with the flow. For example, if you ask them what they enjoyed most after a day at the zoo, the answer will likely be something that happened in the car, or maybe the bathroom.

Now that we have reviewed this principle, the picture below should come as no surprise. At the local airport Open House, Pete and Sam can walk on the runway and see dozens of planes - climb into the cockpit, ask the pilot questions, etc. Perhaps they will do this, as soon as they are done playing with the grasshopper.

Pilots Everywhere

On their way to the Open House at the Leesburg airport, Pete and Sam noticed something in the parking lot. It seemed as if half of the cars there were Honda Pilots. They decided that this was probably not a coincidence.

They should have done this same experiment last year when they went to the Open House at the new National Weather Service building in Sterling. Perhaps that lot was full of the Chevy Equinox.