Sam Sick

Sam has been sick for the past few days.  Or as he puts it, "the sleeves of my shirt are a biohazard".

The only major implication of this so far is that his basketball team only managed to score 14 points without him.

Wait Til Afternoon

Pete and Sam were home from school one day, which was a concern since Dad had to teach an online training class for work.

Dad: Now remember guys, I have a training class today.  What does that mean?

Sam: We can't fight until 12:30

Colonial Day

Sam had Colonial Day at school. Below is the video of him "dancing" with his partner.

Vice Presidential Campaign

Sam ran for class Vice President this year.  Dad helped him take a few pictures to put together his poster.

It seemed like Sam had a great chance to win, since he was running against 3 girls (who would split the girl vote) and since he used the work "ubiquitously" in his campaign speech.

Unfortunately, however, Sam lost the election to Dori.

Cub Scout Campout at Pohick Bay

Sam did not want to go to the Cub Scout Fall Campout, so Dad and Pete headed off to Pohick Bay for a fun day of adventure.  

They went on a hike, did a great version of Calamine Lotion (with Alex) at the bonfire, played some kickball, and had some tasty hot dogs.   Dad was a bit concerned that 90 people showed up for the site that was for 26 people and 4 parking spots, but they worked everything out in the end.

Pete did a great site clearing out the campsite:

Pete also enjoyed the Scavenger Hunt:

Of course Pete and Dad were the last two people to leave, after putting out the fires and taking care of the trash.

Egg Security Capsule

Pete had a Science project to design a capsule that would protect an egg from breaking when dropped from a height of about 6 feet.  He could only use a limited set of materials, including scotch tape, cotton balls, paper, toothpicks, and paper clips.

The first outdoor test was a moment of great sadness captured on the video below.



If you listen carefully, you can hear Pete say "awww" while Mom says "oh yeah".

Dad was pleased that after a while Pete decided to just make something that would qualify him for completing the assignment.  And no, the egg did not survive when it was dropped by Pete's teacher in his capsule.  But Pete got most of the points for the assignment anyhow.

Belvedere Pumpkin Patch

For the first time in many years, the family went down on a Saturday afternoon to the Belvedere Plantation Pumpkin Patch.

It was an unseasonably hot day for October, so no jackets or hot chocolate were needed.

The zip lines were not too good this time, and the rope swings in the barns were pretty crowded.  The pig races were meh.  The corn maze was ok.  The best thing was probably the chicken tenders and root beer.

The family had to leave early before the campfire, since Pete had a previous engagement to meet up with his friends.

Broad Run Homecoming Parade

Dad managed to convince Sam to join him this year and march in the Broad Run Homecoming Parade.  It was a lovely Autumn day, and there was quite a turnout.  Sam enjoyed walking from Lotte Plaza to the High School, and he managed to save his candy much longer than most of the other Scouts, so he could toss it into the crowd along the parade route..

Loom Bracelets

The big craze of the last few weeks has been rainbow loom bracelets.  Sam has made several dozen of them, and Pete has made a few too.  Sam did some with his bare hands, but now they are much easier to make since he got his loom.  It is not uncommon to find little bands lying all about the house.

Sometimes the bracelets Sam generates are "non-standard".  Here is one that you will not find illustrated in the instructional booklet:

Who knows how long the bracelet fad will last?  The answer will clear a few months from now when we see hundreds of rainbow looms selling for 25 cents on ebay.

Wounded Bird

One day, a bird flew into the front window and lay wounded on the porch and unable to fly.  The boys brought the bird to Ethan's house and got a shoebox.  His new home was in the gazebo.  This is where he would eat bird seed and get nursed back to health.

Sadly, the bird seed was not enough and the bird did not survive much longer than Sam and Dad's visit the following morning.  But we will remember him fondly.