Underestimation

Sam was getting ready to brush his teeth Friday night, at which time he raised the following concern:

Sam: My teachers at school underestimate my abilities.

Dad: How so?

Sam: They said that I can't be talking and listening at the same time. They discount my ability to multi-task.

Etch a Sketch

Above is a quick drawing Pete did on the mini Etch a Sketch. Somehow I think next time I should crop out the Spongebob decorations so it can come across with more depth and substance.

Pete's 11th Birthday Party - Dad/Sam Edition

Sam was not tall enough to go on most of the rides at Six Flags, and he had basketball camp, so while Pete was at his birthday party Dad worked from home and took Sam to/from camp. After camp, Sam played some Call of Duty with Pete's new headset until Dad was finished with work. Then they made a list of things to do:

• Bowling (with free game passes for Sam)
• Sal's for dinner
• Rubber playground
• Pavilion (for basketball)
• Make 'n Break
• Watch Futurama

They also managed to clean Sam's room in the process.

Pete's 11th Birthday Party

For Pete's 11th birthday, he went to Six Flags Maryland with Mom, Corey, Nick, and Mason. It was not too crowded on a Tuesday, so everyone had a great time.

They started right off with the Superman ride, and also rode a bunch of other coasters throughout the day.

Pete had some birthday candles on his funnel cake:

The summer day was also conducive to enjoying the water park and water rides:

Pete's new friends that he brought home were Darryl (snake from hammer slam), Jake (lion from water guns), and Trey (consolation prize from the wobbly ladder):

Dad and Sam stayed home and did some other things (a post for another day).

For Pete's birthday dinner, the family went out on the 17th to Nagoya (Japanese steak house where the guy cooks on the hibachi at the table).

First Day Clothes

Sam and Pete did some shopping on Friday with Mom and Nana. They met Dad for dinner at the food Court. Sam told Dad about his new South Pole "Cap 'n Tee Combo".

Sam and Pete have both been spotted wearing their first day clothes around the house:

These pictures were taken so we have pictures of the clean clothing to Photoshop on to the first day of school photos.

Monuments With Steve and Eric

After going to the American History Museum, and the lunch museum, Sam/Pete/Dad/Steve/Eric walked up to the Washington Monument.

First, everyone got into the action for the obligatory pictures of Squeezie Guy:

Dad and Sam tried a few trick photos. See if you can figure out this little bit of trickery (hint: Lincoln Monument in crotch):

They considered walking down to the WWII Memorial and Lincoln Memorial, but the reflecting pool was being completely renovated and more importantly they didn't want to.

They did spot Barack Obama on their walk to the White House (see picture below):

If you didn't see him, here's another shot of him:

Eric wanted to stay longer, but they bid adieu for 2 weeks until Deep Creek.

Smithsonian With Steve and Eric

Steve and Eric came to visit one weekend from Pittsburgh. It was raining there, so they hopped in the car and came down to visit Washington DC. On Saturday they went with Dad to the Udvar-Hazy Museum. On Sunday, they went with Dad, Pete, and Sam to the Smithsonian and to walk around downtown.

After breakfast with Tom/Jackson/Reagan, the gang headed off to DC. Since Eric had seen enough airplanes, they started off at the Museum of American History.

They enjoyed the special "Inventors at Play" and "Spark Lab" exhibits. Below, Pete and Eric try to figure a way to prevent "boy in blue shirt" from destroying their contraption (again):

As you can see, the walls had lots of instructional slogans such as "Think It", "Sketch It", etc:

Some steps were missing, however, such as "Patent It", "Have Microsoft Reverse Engineer It", and "Die Alone With It".

Sam and Eric discovered that they had Snap Circuits:

Sam did some inventing at the "Gun Table", also known by the other kids as the "Lego Table":

Sam is using sign language through the window to tell Pete and Eric that he apparently made something called a "H-E-L-I-G-O-F-T-E-R".

For lunch, the boys got hot dogs from the local street cart. The cart also sold 91 varieties of ice cream, but upon closer inspection it was actually about 4 kinds of ice cream with the pictures repeated over and over again.

In the spirit of President Obama, to spread the wealth around they got hot dogs from one cart and ice cream from the other (unaffiliated) cart.

They played some tag, and then (after retrieving Squeezie Guy from the Museum) it was time to head over to the Washington Monument.

Old Rag - Year 3

Pete's birthday fell on a Tuesday this year, so he and Dad climbed Old Rag on Saturday, August 13. Jonathan was climbing Sugarloaf that day, so Pete and Dad went by themselves this time.

This year it rained several times on the ascent, pretty hard at times. They had to pause a few times to find dry spots, to prevent getting their feet drenched:

But they persevered and finally made it to the top:

At the top, it seems that they were above the clouds and there was no more rain until they got back down the mountain. Pete sprained his ankle near the top, but was able to finish the climb (not much choice).

Below, a picture of the millipede before the "incident":

The new game they did on the flat 4 mile walk at the end was improv. They would dream up a scenario and then act it out. These are the scenarios they did:

• Guy needs to buy poles that say "No Fires" and "No Horses"
• Guy applying for job as a firefighter
• Guy goes to pet shop to buy a goldfish
• Guy ordering a pizza
• Guy lost in desert encounters a lemonade stand
• Guy calling up for a tow truck

They really wanted to stop at the Dukes of Hazzard convention in Sperryville to take some pictures of the General Lee cars and meet Daisy and Cooter, but they were on a schedule to be home for dinner with Nana, Aunt Cathy, and Joey. They did see a General Lee car driving on Route 522 in Sperryville. Dad told Pete all about the old Dukes of Hazzard TV show. They decided that he and Pete need to watch a few episodes.

Catherine Stroud

Poppy's Mom Catherine passed away this morning at the age of 96. It was a pleasure to spend so many years with her, and it is great that the boys had many opportunities to spend time with their great-grandmother.

Florida Vacation - Day 12

Day 12 was essentially the final day of the great Florida vacation. Everyone left at 8am to go out sailing on Poppy's boat. Although it was not particularly windy, everyone enjoyed a few hours of sailing. In the afternoon, Dad headed home to get back to work while everyone else stayed in Virginia Beach for a few more days.

Florida Vacation - Day 11

Day 11 of the Florida vacation was a bit rainy. Mom helped Poppy clean out the garage in the morning. After lunch, a trip to Sandbridge was scuttled when the beach was closed due to thunder. So the boys headed home and played with Sarah.

Florida Vacation - Day 10

Day 10 of the vacation was Saturday. Everyone went to the First Tee golf course for a round of golf. Sam did a great job, with an excellent temperament and consistently good shots. After golf and lunch at Sal's Pizza (near Aunt Stacey's office), there was time to swim at the College Park pool until closing at 7pm, followed by a barbecue with Aunt Stacy, Sarah, and Ashleigh.

Florida Vacation - Day 9

Day 9 of the Florida vacation was a sad one. After snapping a few pictures of the deserted hotel, everyone loaded into the car for the 13 hour drive to Virginia Beach, with brief stops at Subway for lunch and a combination of Pizza Inn / KFC /McDonalds for dinner in Dunn, NC.

On the bright side, Mom would no longer have to sleep in a Sam-dominated bed:

Florida Vacation - Day 8

Day 8 of the Florida vacation was Disney Magic Kingdom. Despite waiting a long time for the bus, they made it to the park 5 minutes before rope drop at 8am. Pete ran off to get fastpasses for Buzz Lightyear, while Mom went to meet him at Space Mountain and Dad and Sam had a brief but poorly-timed stop at the bathroom. By the time everyone got there, Pete had already finished riding Space Mountain one time. So he went a second time with Mom, Sam, and Dad.

When Pete/Sam/Dad went to ride Space Mountain again, they had the good fortune that the ride broke down and was closed right before they got on. This got them one free fastpass for any ride, which they were able to use in the afternoon to get on to Splash Mountain.

At lunch, like they did at Animal Kingdom, Pete and Sam ran off to get fastpasses for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad while Mom and Dad finished eating. It took them a while to find the ride and make their way back, but Pete enjoyed figuring out everything on the map.

Throughout the day they enjoyed the following rides/activities:

• Space Mountain (4.5 times)

• Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin (2 times)

• Stitch's Great Escape
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (2 times)

• Mickey's Philharmagic

• Peter Pan's Flight

• It's a Small World

• Haunted Mansion
• The Hall of Presidents
• (lunch) Pinocchio's Village Haus
• Thunder Mountain Railroad
• Splash Mountain:

• Tom Sawyer Island:

• Jungle Cruise
• Pirates of the Caribbean:

• Walt Disney World Railroad
• Monsters Inc Laugh Floor
• (dinner) Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe
• Tomorrowland Transit authority People Mover
• Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress:

It only rained briefly during the Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean rides. Sam bought his little gun at the Pirates gift shop.

They made it back to the hotel at 10:00, so grabbed some snacks and went for one final swim in the pool at the hotel before packing up for the long drive to Virginia Beach.

Inappropriate Door

Pete and Sam grabbed Dad at the "Honey I Shrunk the Kids Set Adventure" playground. They said that they located an inappropriate door. It turns out that the door says different things when the kids pull on it. They said the door said "get away from here, you little a**hole".

Dad checked it out. It turns out that the door actually says "get away from here, you little rascal".

Lawsuit avoided.

Florida Vacation - Caricatures

Pete and Sam were each allowed to get one souvenir from Disney World. They both decided to get a caricature from Mike in the hotel lobby.

Pete went first and requested a drawing of him riding the Expedition Everest roller coaster:

Sam requested a drawing of a dinosaur eating his Mickey ice cream bar on the DINOSAUR ride:

Sam did a bunch of caricatures in his sketch pad on the drive home, so this could be a future occupation for him.