Kids in the Hood

Above is a picture of all the Merrywood kids taken at the latest holiday gift exchange in December.

Front Row: Jacob Grimm, Mary Sergi, Maya Grimm, Addison Grimm, Emma Markowitz

Second Row: Madison Rook, Sam, Nicolete Kinney, Taylor Hastings, Morgan Adams, Makayla Adams, Jessica Duncan, Ashley Duncan, , Danielle Kinney

Back Row: Sarah Jakubowski, Pete, Nicholas Fisher, Ethan Markowitz , Mason Sergi, Ellie Markowitz , Corey Berry, Sasha Thompson

Jackson Sleepover

Sam's friend Jackson came for a sleepover on Saturday night.

Jackson is a bit of a Catch-22. It seems like he will only play a game if he has played it before. The family played Clue. Just before they started, Jackson decided that he would rather watch. Hopefully this counts as playing, so he can play next time.

Jackson also may only watch things with an age-appropriate level of violence. So Pete and Sam had to pretend to be normal for a few hours. They watched some iCarly. They played puff basketball and other fun games. After Jackson went home on Sunday, the boys watched the inappropriately violent "Cowboys and Aliens", and later that week the viciously savage "No Country For Old Men". In this regard, Jackson is a good influence; hopefully he can sleep over some more in the future.

Pinewood Weigh-in 2012

Tonight was the weigh-in for Pinewood Derby. Dad will be in charge of assembling the track next year, but this year was more relaxing. Pete entered a car in the sibling race, since he is not in Cub Scouts anymore. Sam entered his car in the main race. They were both pretty close to the 5 ounce limit, so no major repairs were needed. Pete just glued a few pennies to the bottom of his car.

Pete passed the time with some one handed handstands:

Sooner than they knew it, 2 hours had passed and it was time to head home and fight about the Xbox to start off the 3-day weekend.

Black Socks

Pete was in music class.

Teacher: "Everyone needs to wear black socks in the concert"

Pete (raises hand): "What if we don't have black socks?"

Guy next to Pete (leaning over): "Dude, you're wearing black socks RIGHT NOW"

Pete: "I'm asking on behalf of those who don't have any black socks"

The Mom Face

No one (including Mom) can seem to replicate the face Mom always makes when she finds something to be questionable.

One day at lunch, everyone was taking a stab at it - unsuccessfully.

Here is one such attempt from Pete:

Update: Pete decided to use this photo as is Facebook profile pic.

Farmwell Station Spelling Bee 2012

Congratulations to Pete for winning the 6th grade Farmwell Station Spelling Bee on Tuesday 1/10/12. Mom, Dad, Nana, and Sam were in attendance at the event. Sam got pulled out of school to come, for which he was overjoyed since he got to miss most of Spanish class.

Pete won by correctly spelling, in succession: murmur, sequel, intercept, syringe, parody, systematic, simulcast, and annotate. Pete did not spell any words incorrectly. He was the only speller to enter Round 8, the Championship round, during which he correctly spelled annotate to win.

For those who lament all of the time Pete wastes on the computer, he would like to point out that he learned the words "parody" and "annotate" from Youtube.

Later that evening, everyone returned to the school for the awards presentation and pizza party.

At bedtime, Dad and Pete had the following conversation:

Dad: "Sam said he was very excited and proud of you for winning the Spelling Bee"

Pete: "Did he really say that?"

Dad: "Well, essentially"

Pete: "What really happened?"

Dad: "Well, when we got back to the car, I said to Sam that I was excited and very proud of Pete for winning the Spelling Bee, and he said 'Me Too' "

Update 1/19:

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Apparently, Pete also gets a $50 Savings Bond for winning the Spelling Bee

Lancaster Trip - Museum

Upon arriving in Lancaster, everyone headed straight over to the Lancaster Science Factory. And they all got in for free for being Cub Scouts and Cub Scouts Leaders (due to a grant donated to the museum). They thought they had 3 hours until closing a 5pm, but then they learned that the museum would be open that night until late into the night!

It was a pretty awesome museum, with lots of fun exhibits.

Sam, Pete, and Dad competed to see who could build a structure to withstand the Earthquake Machine:

Mom and Pete (finally) built an arch that would remain standing:

Sam utilized his expertise in the paper airplane hoop target zone:

The ball air blast tubes:

The dam builder, with a mystery saboteur:

Cool designs in the sand spinner:

Dad's nut built from magnetic nuts:

Mom and Pete finally figured out the Volkswagen power cranks:

Sam mastering the gear wall:

Other fun exhibits included the optical illusions, K'nex car building race track, whisper dish, ball mountain rollers, mind puzzles, ball machine, marble vortex, bowling ball tennis ball shooter, and circuit building.

Everyone was getting pretty hungry for some Amish home cooking. And there were still 7 hours until New Years.

Lancaster Trip - Gettysburg

Mom, Dad, Pete, and Sam decided to celebrate New Year's Eve 2012 with an overnight trip to Lancaster.

After playing games Friday night with Bill, Becky, Trent, Meg, and Amanda in Rockville, they piled into the car at 9am for the trip.

The first stop for lunch was in Gettysburg. Friendly's was right next to a train museum:

And very close nearby was the Soldiers National Cemetery:

Hobo

Pete, Dad, and Sam spent a few minutes this evening discussing why it might be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

The discussion ground to a halt when Sam informed everyone of the following:

"I used to think a hobo was a monkey. It sounds like a kind of monkey."

uttocks

The family got a $25 IHOP gift certificate in the mail from Grandma, so of course that night it was IHOP night. Dad suggested a game. Sam picked a poison letter ("B"), and then everyone had to avoid saying any words starting with that letter.

Sam sat perfectly quiet, while Mom, Dad, and Pete struggled their way through some conversation, each accumulating a few points along the way for saying words starting with "B". Official scores were being tallied on the placemat. Everyone was waiting for Sam to say something.

Finally, after a few minutes, Sam opened his mouth and said:

"uttocks"

Sam 2nd Grade Holiday Party

Dad brought in fruit kabobs to Sam's class for their holiday party. Mom was teaching that day at Farmwell. Dad stayed and helped the class with their party activities:

1. Writing a card to Baxter at his new home in Albuquerque

2. Writing a get well card to Mrs. Weltens for her surgery

3. Wrapping up Sam like a snow mummy in toilet paper

4. Decorating an ornament and/or making a snowflake

5. Eating cookies and fruit kabobs

The picture above is Sam getting wrapped up by Jake Bonds and Ashley Cavanaugh. You can tell he is a snowman, and not a mummy, by the black scarf.

Sam's 8th Birthday

Sam decided on a Laser Tag party this year. The party was 12/4/11 at Panther Family Laser Tag in Dulles, VA from 12:00 - 1:45.

Laser Tag Players:

- Sam

- Pete

- Dad

- Sarah

- Pickle

- Carter

- Jaylan

- Dylan G

- Jackson

- Nick L

- Reggie (Dylan's Dad)

- Ashleigh (Game 1)

- Randa (Game 1)

Other Attendees:

- Mom

- Nana

- Poppy

- Aunt Stacey

- Jaylan's Dad

- Jessica

After returning home, Sam opened his gifts including his iTouch.

A Christmas Carol

Pete is in his play at school, "A Christmas Carol". Performances are tonight and tomorrow. He had a strong audition and is pleased to be one of the few 6th graders selected to be in the play. He is playing Tiny Tim. They have been rehearsing for months and the public performances are tonight and tomorrow night.

Mutter Museum Note

The previous post mentioned Pete and Sam going to the Mutter Museum of medical oddities on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Dad's favorite moment at the museum came when he and Sam were examining a case of fetuses at varying stages of gestation, followed by some impressive cases with samples of all 206 bones in the human body.

Amongst a group of people, Sam turned to Dad and said: "When are we going to get to see some eyeballs?"

Thanksgiving 2011

Pete and Sam enjoyed Thanksgiving 2011 in Philadelphia.

They drove up on Thursday, and after arriving at Salem Manor they walked over to the clubhouse. They fed some bread to the big fish, and played some shuffleboard. Next was turkey dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Dessert was Market Day pies. Pete selected Red Velvet Cake and Sam selected Candy Cane Pie (the latter seemed to be the more popular choice). Sam's cake included candles for an early birthday celebration:

While at the house, they examined Grandpa's saxophone. The boys watched some TV in their basement hangout before bed.

Friday was packed with activities. First, everyone trudged the trails around the house where Dad grew up:

Then they went to Dad's elementary school to shoot some hoops:

First they played some 2-on-2 and then some Knockout. After basketball, they had breakfast at IHOP with Grandma/Grandma and then headed downtown. When they walked past Independence Hall, they saw the "Occupy Philly" protesters camped out in front of the building.

Then they were off on a brief walk to the Comcast Center. Thanks to Gabe for recommending this cool free show in the lobby of the building:

The last stop was the Mutter Museum of medical oddities. Pete and Sam learned about all sorts of diseases and body cavities. They had a variety of fun activities, such as seeing who could find the smallest bone in the ear, and learning how the skull of a gunshot victim differs from one smashed in by a brick. Dad believes the Leprosy exhibits also helped reinforce the importance of washing one's hands before dinner.

The museum did not allow photography, so here are Pete and Sam in front of a nearby church:

The boys watched Zookeeper and Arthur (from Redbox) on the pleasant Friday evening ride home with no traffic.