Clubhouse

Pete and Sam have regular meetings in the clubhouse. Here are some pictures of the clubhouse:

Here is the order of business for clubhouse meetings:

1. Entry (must have flashlight and know the password) - President (Pete) then Vice President (Sam)

2. Roll Call (all human members plus Webkinz - Littlekinz sit on top, Bigkinz on bottom)

3. Pledge of Allegiance

4. Star Spangled Banner

5. Discuss the importance of the meeting

6. New Business

7. Pledge of Allegiance

8. Close the Meeting

Rock, Paper, Scissors Plus

While enjoying dinner, Pete and Sam asked Dad if he would like to play some Rock, Paper, Scissors. Dad figured "sure, why not" and decided to go with trusty Rock. Meanwhile, Pete and Sam made some odd gestures that did not look familiar.

Pete: Ok - gun beats rock, and God beats gun.
Dad: Say what, now?
Pete: Sam beat you with gun, and I beat him with God. God beats everything.
Sam: Do you want to play again?
Dad: I guess so.

This time Dad tried gun, but apparently he lost to "rainbow", which lost to "mother nature".

Pete: Ready to try again?
Dad: No, my brain is starting to hurt.

Legos

Pete and Sam got into a bit of a Lego frenzy a few weeks ago. They wanted to build all the time for a few days.

Sam built the rocket he is holding in the photo. Pete also saw in the Lego magazine that they were having a contest to build Spongebob out of Legos. Here is what they built:

Not too shabby.

Band Aid

The other day Dad was minding his own business when Sam appeared with the following request:

Sam: I... NEED... A... FREAKIN.... BANDAID!

Dad: Sam, where did you learn that language?

Sam: FROM... MOMMY!

E. I. E. I. Oops

Pete appeared last week in the 2nd grade musical known as "E-I-E-I-Oops".

Here he is in his costume:

Just after the above picture was taken, Pete said "I look like an idiot" as our neighbor was walking by. To which Dad told the neighbor "don't worry, that's just one of his lines".

Of course, Mom volunteered for some set decoration, so that large cow and hay bale were in our living room for about 2 weeks. (Pete is the one with the hat and red suspenders)

Notable moments from the play:

1. Pete's hat fell off several times. Fortunately he had rehearsed several deft maneuvers for caching/restoring the hat with a modicum of disruption.

2. During the free-dance section in Act 3, Pete did a break dance.

We also have some video, which we will not be uploading because it does not meet the baseline uniqueness requirement of this blog.

Sal's Pizza

Pete had his first baseball practice on Sunday. It was pretty chilly, so Sam suggested that he go with Dad to Sal's Pizza for some pizza and root beer. Dad and Sam had some good conversation at Sal's.

Dad: Do you know how to spell Sal's?
Sam: Of course, it's S - A - L - catastrophe - S

[Later]
Sam: Sometimes I say Spanich instead of Spanish. It's because of the word "spinach".

Nice Day For a Hike

We had a nice geocache and hike on the W&OD Trail last weekend.

In the above picture, you may observe a horse water dish. Yes, Pete somehow managed to step into this dish. Fortunately, this was at the end of the hike.

New Shorts

Dad was trying on a new pair of cargo shorts last night.

Dad: "Sam, do you like my new shorts?"

Sam: "Why are they pants?"

Sam's Friends

Most of Sam's friends are older than Sam. This is because they are Pete's friends. Here is a picture with Brandon. We were out Geocaching after a Saturday sleepover. By the way, there is a geocache hidden in the picture.

Sam also went last weekend to a Laser Tag party for Pete's friend Nick. And last night to Pete's Cub Scout meeting. Despite several stern warnings to Sam for him to be quiet, of course during the cross-over ceremony he yelled out "Why is that guy's head so clean?". Sigh. At least we were in the back of the roon.

Cold Cache

On a cold Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago, we decided to do a quick geocache near the baseball field by Christian Fellowship church.

We ended up looking for 20-30 minutes for the cache, but couldn't find it. It was getting cold, so we started heading back to the car. Pete did not want to give up. He was the last one searching in the cold.

Sam wanted to go to the nearby playground, despite the snow on the ground. So he and Dad went there for a little while. Pete and Mom waited in the car. The snow on the ground is noteworthy. This is probably the first Winter since we moved to Virginia in 1999 that there has not been a single significant snowstorm. We just had 2-3 small storms, each with about 1-2 inches.

Notice the airplane in the background. The playground is about 3 miles from Dulles Airport.

Webkinz Family Portrait

A few weeks ago Pete and Sam did a Webkinz family portrait.

Bottom Row: Brownie, Sarah, Frogger, Antlers, Golden, Climby
Middle Row: Libre, Mike, Nacho, Whiskers, Burgle, Blizzard, Blackout, Blackie
Top Row: Nonamer, (Pete), (Sam), Pandy, Stripey, Pogo, Shadow, Bully
Not pictured: Clappers, Lover

Note, the seating order for the photo is not random and very complicated.

Pete and Sam also worked hard on labeling the Webkinz on a paper map of the photo:

I Think I Got Off Easy

We all went to "Reading Night" at Pete's school Friday night. This was our third year attending this event. Sam and Dad headed home early, and Pete stayed with Mom.

Pete and Mom were in a room where there was some discussion about Abraham Lincoln. Somehow Pete mentioned that he could name all of the presidents. The reader (Mr. Johnson) said "I'd be willing to put up a dollar to see that". So Pete rattled off the presidents in front of the assembled group.



After Pete thanked him for the dollar, Mr. Johnson said:

"With pleasure. I think I got off easy."