Brennan's Party

Sam went to Brennan's party at Panther Laser Tag.  Dad got a few photos, and also scored a free game of Laser Tag with the boys.

Brennan, Sam, Sean:

Andrew, John, Sam:

Everyone in the hurricane machine:

During the party, Dad went off with Pete to find a few nearby geocaches.

Red Cedar Cache:

Leave No Stone Unturned:

They also found "TICO (Trash In Cache Out)" (not pictured).

Sunflowers

Pete and Sam both got sunflowers in their Easter baskets this year.  After growing them inside for a few weeks, it was time to plant them in the front of Dad's pumpkin garden.  We'll have to check in later to see how they progress over the course of the summer.  There were some major rainstorms this spring, and a late frost, but so far they seem to be surviving.

If you can see the little flag in the middle of the group of flowers on the left, it says "Pete's Sunflowers".

Crazy Hair Day 2013

No, that is not a green tarantula on Sam's forehead - just Sam and Pete getting ready for "Crazy Hair Day" at school.  Or as Dad likes to call it: "Scrub Spray Paint Off The Bathroom Wall Day".

Sketch Book

Sam has recently been back into sketching again.  Today he pulled out one of his old sketch books and was leafing through it while Dad was eating his pancakes.

Dad: You really have a lot of nice drawings in that sketch book
Sam: Yeah, it's mostly people on roller coasters

Mastispell 2013

Sam did a great job this year at the Mastispell spelling bee.  He qualified easily for the final (stage) round and did not have any reservations this year about going up on stage.  Unfortunately, they had him sitting next to a severely hyperactive boy (#184), who mercifully was removed from stage after spelling his word wrong in the 2nd round.

Sam correctly spelled "fatherly" and "rotund", but went out in the 3rd round on "tyrannosaurus".

It was too late in the day to make his Lacrosse game, so Sam enjoyed staying to the end with Dad to watch the winners determined, and see the awards ceremony.  Mom and Pete went off in the early afternoon to his flag football game.

Funny moments from the bee:

• Boy who could not pronounce "anonymous", going back and forth with the pronouncer with "anonymous" / "anomous"
• Indian girl who could not pronounce "effervescent"

By Any Other Name

Now that Memorial Day weekend has passed, the pool is open every evening after school.  On Thursday, just as Dad was arriving home from work, Pete and Sam independently decided that they wanted to go to the pool.  So Pete went to the pool with Corey, Sam went with Dad, and Mom went to Anthony's for a leisurely gourmet dinner with Nana and Poppy.

Sam, Dad, Pete, and Corey got the Manhattan Pizza "pool special", which is a large cheese pizza and 2 cans of soda delivered to the pool for $9.99.

Toward the end of the evening, about 1/2 hour before the 8:30 closing time, the remaining kids at the pool decided to play one of their traditional games in the deep end of the pool, over by the diving board.

Several of them shouted out: "Let's play Sharks and Minnows!"

But the lifeguard quickly came over and announced that there is a new rule this year and Sharks and Minnows is no longer permitted.  There was about a 10 second pause of complete silence, after which Pete triumphantly yelled out:

"Let's play Whales and Plankton!"

Number Cubes

Pete and Dad had this conversation one morning.

Pete: Did you know that our teacher is not allowed to use the term "dice" at school.  That is a gambling term.  She needs to call them number cubes.

Dad: So what word does she use for "Roulette"?

Pete's Meal Project

For Pete's FACS class, he had to cook an entire family meal.  This included buying the groceries, setting the table, etc.

So on May 13th, everyone enjoyed a nice steak and rice dinner, followed by a homemade cake.

Below are some pictures of the process.

Formal Dance

Mom and Sam got dressed up for the "Formal Dance" at Dominion Trail.  They look great.

Sam showed everyone there how to do the Harlem Shake.  For which he had plenty of opportunity, since they played it about every 40 minutes.

DC Field Trip

Sam had his 3rd grade field trip to Washington, DC.  He was in Jackson's group (see above), chaperoned by Jackson's mom.  Dad was not selected in the lottery to go on the trip this year.

We'll need to check with the seat belt manufacturer to verify if the above usage complies with their safety policies.

Sam didn't provide a lot of details about the trip.  We know that he rode on the bus for a while and then went to the Capitol, ate lunch, and then went someplace else, and rode the bus again.

Candy Buckets

April 30th marks the half-way point to Halloween.  So let's check the status of Pete's candy buckets:

Bucket 1: The last 17 pieces of candy that remain after their brethren have been selected and eaten over the past 182 days.  It is a sad assortment:

Bucket 2: A fresh assortment of goodness, untouched since it was placed in the back of the cabinet on November 1.

I'm not sure when Pete will officially switch over to bucket 2.  But hopefully soon, since anything he doesn't finish by October 31 will get tossed.

Sam SOL Breakfast

Sam has been taking his annual "S.O.L." tests at school.  I guess they told him that to pass these tests, he needs to have a breakfast of champions.  This despite the fact that a passing score is 400 and he has been averaging about 599/600 on his practice tests.

So Sam's SOL morning routine is:

• Wake up at 6:45am
• Shower
• 2 slices of buttered toast
• Fruit
• Juice
• Bowl of cereal
• Socks/Shoes
• Brush Teeth
• Walk to bus at 7:33

Calculator Pokemon

Above is Pete "using" his new TI-84 calculator as he gets ready for school one morning.  This is not your standard calculator.  It has some amazing capabilities, including an upload/download cable.

Pete has spent several hours enabling the following functions on his calculator:
1. Pokemon Red game

Dad is not familiar with this feature being required for class, but apparently it is very important.

Hopefully as soon as Pete is done with this important work, he will go out back and put away those sleds and snowboard that have been sitting on the deck since January.

Harry Balls

Above is Sam's ball that he recently got from Five Below.  The only problem is that the name he gave to the ball is "Hairy Balls".

Well, Dad decided that, as far as he is concerned, the name is "Harry Balls".  Sam has been spending several weeks explaining the proper pronunciation to Dad.

One evening right before bed, they had the following exchange:

Sam: What is the name of my ball?
Dad: Harry Balls
Sam: That's not quite right
Dad: I know what you're after, and I'm not going to say it
Sam: Ok, what would you call someone with a lot of hair?
Dad: Hairy
Sam: What do you play tennis with?
Dad: Balls
Sam: What is the name of my ball?
Dad: Harry Balls
Sam: What would you call a single ball with hair on it?
Dad: Hairy Ball
Sam: "...s"

Sentences

Sam does "Word Study" homework.  Each week he gets a new list of 24 words.  One night he does rhyming, one night alphabetizing, etc.  Tonight it was sentences.  Sam was a bit lacking in inspiration after the Cub Scout meeting, so Dad offered to give him some sentence ideas, which led to the following conversation:



Sam:  Can you give me a sentence for 'transport'

Dad:  My spaceship will transport me to Uranus.

Sam:  Ooh, can I spell Uranus like--

Dad:  No.

That Expression Seems Familiar

Dad was taking two pictures of Pete for some comics he was preparing on Instagram.  After snapping the first picture, he noticed that the expression seemed oddly familiar...

* Note: Pete was not trying to imitate that painting, that is just the expression he came up with randomly when trying to portray someone pretending to be worried about something

Hedbanz

Sam won a $15 gift card from Target.  It was from the "Box Tops" promotion raffle at school.  Mom claimed that she should get the prize, but that is an argument for another day.

At Target, after some mini-pizzas, Sam and Dad picked out "Hedbanz" while Pete and Mom were trying on shorts, cleats, and socks for his first Flag Football game.  By the way, it turns out that the gift card was only for $5.  Oh well, Target, you win this time.

They played the game that night.  Here are the cards that each person had the most trouble with:
Sam - "Pizza"
Dad - "Dice"
Mom - "Camel"
Pete - "Paintbrush"

Sam was having a devilish time trying to figure out a food that is partly red, partly yellow, with sauce and cheese.
Pete was all over the map trying to come up with paintbrush.
Dad couldn't figure out what is white, bigger than rice, smaller than his hand, too boring to make a movie about, and possibly somewhere in the family room.
Mom couldn't get camel until Pete said it was angry and Dad said it was bemused.

Then there was "the mushroom incident":

Mom: Am I alive?
All: Yes
Mom: Am I an animal?
All: No
Mom: Am I a plant?
Sam: Yes
Pete: No
Dad: Not really
Mom: I give up [looks at card]

Thunder

Pete played on a lot of basketball teams during his career in FSBL. But by far the best and most entertaining was when he played for the Thunder during the 2012-13 season. Talent-wise, they were certainly one of the top two teams in the league. Coach Zurbach's squad included Pete, Daniel, Easton, Safillah and Esmatullah, Tom Himler, Corey, Chris Rochon, Alexander, and one other player. They were greatly hindered by the fact that they had 10 players (all of the other teams had 9 - a huge advantage because you can play your best player for 3 quarters), they played 5 of the top 6 teams during the season, and they were in the same playoff division as the other top team (Lakers) and the Championship team who had the player who was the league MVP should have already been playing in the NBA.

If nothing else, it was a joy to watch their games.

Pictured below (l-r) are Easton, Tom, Safillah, Pete, Alexander, Corey, and Coach Zurbach:

Massanutten Vacation - Day 3

Day 3 was the last of the brief Massanutten vacation.  Everyone got packed up early and got to the water park by 9:45am.  They were about 10th in line for when the park opened.  Pete went right to the Flow Rider and got several successful rides in before any line started to form.



Then everyone got in a bunch of tube slides, and some laps around the lazy river, before the crowds started to show up.  At 1:30, it was time to pack up and play a few games in the game room before heading home.

Massanutten Vacation - Day 2

On day 2, Dad did a quick geocache along the icy trails by the Arboretum, and then everyone headed over to the water park for a day of play (and lunch).



Sam started out with the Country Cooler slide, then worked up to doing the Melting Moguls and Peak Splash.  He also did the non-tube slides, Skyline Falls and Avalanche.  Pete did all of the slides as well.  He did a triple-tube with Dad and Pickle on Peak Splash, even though Dad kept asking Pete to go get another tube to replace the one they had  that was over-inflated, smelly, haunted, racist, and full of three holes.

Back at the condo, dinner was hot dogs, mac and cheese, and fruit, followed by ice cream dessert from the Village Market.

Then everyone played some Famous Name Us, watched Hop, and went to bed.

Once again, there was an empty bedroom with two perfectly good beds in it.

Massanutten Vacation - Day 1

The family headed down for their first-ever trip to Massanutten, VA on Monday of Spring Break.  The boys brought their friend Pickle with them too.

The first day brought a lovely and rare March 25 snowfall, which fortunately did not dampen anyone's spirits or affect the 2-hour drive to the resort.

Sam was pleased with the spacious 3-room suite that greeted everyone upon check-in.  After some relaxation time, they headed over to the recreation center.

The rec center was a mass of humanity, so they played a few games of pool and a few minutes of basketball.    The ping pong was not going to happen.

On the way home, they stopped at the "scenic overlook".  Dad told the boys to see what was at the top of the steps.  He did not realize that at the top of the steps was a snowy trail heading off into the snowy woods. The boys took off down the path, never to be heard from again. and it took Dad quite a while to track them down and get them corraled back down the slick steps and into the car.  After a brief lecture on death by frostbite, they headed back to the condo.

Dinner was pork chops, corn, rice, and rolls, followed by some Klondike bars and popcorn.  After some time in the jacuzzi and a game of Apples To Apples, it was time for bed.

Balls Bluff Spring Hike

It was a pleasant day in early March that Dad led the Pack on a hike in Balls Bluff Park. Sam is pictured in the front row. He headed back to the car once they made it about a half mile to the cemetary. Dad continued with the Pack on another 2 miles, and then went back to the car to see if Sam might still be there.

Sam missed out on finding these mystery bones:

Chess with Uncle Victor

Sam enjoyed the rare opportunity to get in a game of chess with Uncle Victor, who was visiting to see Pete in his musical at school.

Based on how Sam describes most of his games at school, this game most likely ended in Sam delivering the "Scholar's Mate".

Little Mermaid Jr.

Pete participated in the Farmwell Station Middle School Spring Musical again this year.  Last year he was Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol.  This year he auditioned for a leading role - Sebastian in Little Mermaid Jr.  He won the part, so after many long days of rehearsal it was time for the show.

There were a lot of visitors that weekend.  Pete had family and friends watching each of the three weekend performances.  Nana and Poppy went to the Friday show.  Mom, Dad, Sam, Victor, Grandma, Grandpa, Steve, Stacey, Sarah, Ashleigh, and Erin went to the Saturday show.  Megan, Scott, Robbie, Katie, and Michael went to the Sunday show.

Here is a video of Pete stealing the show in "Under The Sea":



After the cast party at Fuddruckers, another year's play was a wrap.

Funeral Crunch

Sam had a fun time on Sunday at Nick's 10th birthday party.  It was at the Sportsplex.  They played Dodgeball and basketball.  Sam gave Nick a Wizards lunch tin and a Nerf basketball set that Dad ordered on ebay.  Of course, most of the other gifts were gift cards and it didn't matter since Sam's parties are the only ones where the gifts are opened anyhow.

During breakfast on Tuesday morning, Dad and Pete were looking at the candy left over from Sam's goody bag.  There was Laffy Taffy, Fun Dip, maybe some Starburst.  This led to a conversation:

"Did you ever notice how candy always has fun names like Laffy Taffy and Fun Dip?"
"Yeah, we should invent some candy that has depressing names"
"I think a good name would be "Sad Times" "
"Yeah, or "Funeral Crunch" "

Wizards Game

Dad got 3 tickets from his co-worker Colin and took the boys to the Wizards-Suns game on Saturday 3/16/13.  They got a ticket for Mom too.  The section with their seats was pretty open, so they all got to sit together.

They arrived around 6pm, leaving an hour for dinner and some Kids Night festivities.  Sam and Pete each won the cool foam light wand on the spinning wheel.  Sam also got sunglasses, stickers, and Pete picked up a free poster with the 6 visiting mascots.  Plus the free lunchboxes (plus one for Nick's birthday party the next day) and mini-cupcakes.

G-Man did a nice front-flip dunk during the trampoline dunking exhibition.

The Wizards won big, with a career best 34 points from Martell Webster, 12 assists from John Wall, and some good play from Nene and rookie Bradley Beal.

Oh yeah, and then there was the Mascot competition at halftime.  There were 6 mascots there to celebrate G-Wiz's birthday.  At halftime, they did a skills competition with dribbling around cones, layup, tricycle ride, backwards half-court shot, and then "human" bowling catapult.  Screech made the night memorable with this little swish action:



Not a cheap night ($155, including dinner), but a good time was had by all.

Thomas Jefferson

Sam looks very sharp in his jodhpurs, dressed as Thomas Jefferson for his presentation at school.

Thin Mint Sundae

You can tell that this sundae is probably Sam's. He patented the technique of applying the perpendicular Thin Mints as the coup de grace topping.

(Also, he is the one who likes chocolate ice cream.)

In his defense, that is a far more reasonable serving of whipped cream than what you would see on Pete's dessert. Perhaps Dad was monitoring the assembly of this

Hair Gel

Early 2013 was Sam's hair gel period. About a third of his getting ready time in the morning was typically dedicated to applying some sort of hair product.

It did lead to some creative styles.

Bicycling Den Meeting

Mom arranged for a fun den meeting where the boys got to bring their bikes inside of the cafeteria at Dominion Trail. Mr. Myers showed them how to change a flat tire, mom talked about inspecting the bike and bike safety, and Dad set up a rather treacherous obstacle course outside in the rainy parking lot. Of course a good time was had by all.

Pictures above are Jackson, Alex, Dominik, Ethan, William, Jalen, and (seated in the background) Sam.