Robotics

Josh is lucky enough to be at a brand-new middle school this year.  A brand-new middle school with brand-new robotics and applied tech tools.  Josh ended up in both classes this semester and I think they are his favorite.  So, he was very excited when the school started a Robotics Club with his current robotics teacher and former STEM teacher coaching.  The Robotics Club is based around preparing for the First Lego League competition.  The competition consisted of two parts: creating a robot designed to complete a set of tasks and (this year) develop an improvement on a product used with animals.  Josh's team did something with a bird feeder.

The robot competition happened yesterday at a middle school in Olympia.  After an internal struggle between attending church and participating in the competition (we let him decide), he worked out a solution of going to the competition and having his personal chauffeur pick him up and take him to sacrament meeting and then back.  This meant wearing his church clothes all day.  And that meant wearing his bow tie all day.  But that didn't bother Josh.  Bow ties are cool. 

The robot competed three times, but Josh missed the first two since he was at church.  He made it back in time for the final round, however, so we were there to do a group photo.

I don't know what the tasks were exactly or the rules, but I could tell they were having some technical difficulties.  Josh ran the last task and it was the only successful one of the round.

They ended up placing 9th out of 26, which I thought was fabulous for a new school with a new team with new coaches that started a month after all of the other teams.  But the top 8 move on to the semi-finals, so they were all a bit bummed.  Especially since there were some technical difficulties with the table in the second round that were not their fault.  So that is a little upsetting, but sometimes that happens.

We are very proud of him and his hard work.  Hopefully he'll get on the team again next year and will get a chance to do this again.

Decorating

After a very, very soggy hike (when in the Pacific Northwest,....), we pulled out the Christmas boxes and decided to make our house more jolly.  

We do have a toddler though, so not too jolly.

Opening up the Christmas stuff is almost like Christmas morning or a reunion.  All the stuff that you would think the boys have outgrown keeps them enthralled for hours.

Of course, the whole thing is pretty new for Isaac.

Next up: assembling the tree.

While Jason finished up with the parts that the kids didn't want to help with, the kids continued rummaging through the Christmas goodies and found the Polar Express bell.

Ben was hopeful that it would ring for him.

Alas, the Santa story was debunked in our house years ago.

It's all still magical for Isaac, though.

It was a fun family evening.  The only sad part was that, as a concession to having a destructive toddler, we decided against putting decorations on the tree.  But, all in all, a fun start to the Christmas season.

Soggy Saturday

Some day when we've lived here for ages and are completely hardened to the weather, we won't even think twice about hiking in the rain.  

We're not there yet.

This last Saturday was the first time we went hiking in the rain intentionally.  Sure, we've been caught unawares (you'd think we would've learned by now), but then we usually have made a mad dash for the car or cover.  This time we got out everyone's gear (a hodgepodge still) and went looking for salmon relentlessly swimming upstream in a strenuous process that left a stench along the trail from the unsuccessful.  

And the rain came down and down and down.  

It was only a mile walk that gave us a good idea of who needs what for future soggy adventures.  For example, the new framed backpack carrier with rain cover worked brilliantly.  Especially when combined with the raincoat for all the times Isaac needed to closer look to one side or another.  Win. However, my Colorado-qualified waterproof jacket lasted all of 5 minutes before water was streaming down the inside of the sleeves.  Fail. 

The middles are really getting into the spirit of things here.  Michael and Ben happily splashed in the puddles and generally got themselves soaked.  I couldn't tell if Josh is too old to splash in puddles or the fact that he was wearing hiking boots rather than rain boots was slowing him down.  Guess we'll have to work on his shoe situation and try this again.

We finished the hike soggy and relatively happy.  And hopefully better prepared for future wet adventures during the rainy Pacific Northwest winter.

Thanksgiving/Black Friday

This was our first Thanksgiving in a looooong time (maybe ever?) that we didn't have family nearby to celebrate with us.  Well, to clarify, we do have family living nearby, but she got on a plane and went to Boston to celebrate with other fun people.  So we were left to our own devices.  Luckily, our friends moved out here this summer so it was almost like having family here.  

The kids had a blast and I only managed to thoroughly ruin one of the dishes, so I counted the evening as a success.  We did discover that 7 kids in 1450 sq ft for 4 hours when it is raining and we can't throw them outside is a bit much as far as the noise level in concerned.  Also, even if we have three yummy and relatively normal pies as dessert options, the kids will strangely all love the dairy-free chocolate cream pie with the bizarre aftertaste.  

I don't have any other pictures, because I was trying to keep the food going and get games started for the kids, but I did get some pictures of all the kids together.  Every single picture was crazy, but I love this one because Isaac is so happy to be sitting with the big kids.

After all the food and rain on Thursday, we headed north to visit the temple and spend time with my cousin Becky and her family.

At the temple, I tried to get some nice pictures of all the boys.  The older Isaac gets, the harder this gets.  Also, the older boys lose interest while we wrangle Isaac and the whole thing falls apart.

Until Jason busts out an apple sauce pouch and everyone looks at the camera.

But then Isaac ate the pouch and we were back at square one.

We loaded up and headed further north to visit Becky, Jeff, Malorie and company.  Shortly after we got there, we loaded up in the van again and went to the park for a Turkey Bowl (or would that be a Black Friday Bowl?).  Becky and I chatted and chased toddlers around the playground while everyone else slid around in the mud with a football.  Fun times!

Me and Becky!

Malorie has a birthday coming up soon so we sang and had cupcakes.  Isaac managed to demolish his with such gusto that we may have to have those for his birthday, too.  We wanted get a picture of the two crazies together, but this was the best we could get.  Malorie's grandma was playing kids' songs on her phone and, like a moth to a flame, Isaac came over to check it out.

A fun start to our four-day weekend.

Blooper Reel

Since the Costco coupon for holiday cards expires tomorrow, I spent some time yesterday trying to get some nice pictures of the boys.  (In case you were wondering, Costco sales have a disproportionate impact on my life.)  With four kids, I ended up with far more crazy pictures than nice.  Some year I may just use those in our card, but this year I will just record the bloopers here.

Another Soccer Season Ends

Running behind schedule on posting here, but last weekend was the last game for the Beast Mode Blue Jays.  It was a very soggy end to a great season.

On a sunnier day this season, the team took this great picture.  Sadly, I wasn't there (sick Baby Rage), but Coach Regan posted this great pic of the team.  These kids are great and they have wonderful coaches!

Due to a game cancelled because of a projected storm system, the season extended into November on a day that put the storm day to shame.  Jason went to the game and said the field was waterlogged and there were mud pits forming in front of the goals.  The rain just kept coming down.  The kids were soaked.  So of course when we asked him about the game, Ben just lit up and said "It was a really fun game!" with a huge smile on his face.  I love that kid.

Coach Regan posted some pictures of our sopping wet, but still dedicated, team.

These Blue Jays don't let a silly thing like weather get them down!

Then it was off for pizza to celebrate.

Ben had a great season with Coach Regan and Coach Cari.  He made a ton of progress and loved every minute of it.  We can't wait for the next season!

Yellow Stripe

We are so proud of this kid. He started taking Tae Kwon Do in July and last night he earned his first promotion: yellow stripe.  He's been working hard and his masters have nothing but glowing praise for him.  We stick to our divide and conquer school of parenting and Jason went to the promotion while I watched Baby Rage at home.

It was a multiple part process.  First he answered some questions from his masters and then sparred with another student of similar level.

Then a black belt student added the yellow stripe to his belt.

And then the highlight of the evening (from Michael's prospective) he broke his first board!

We are really so, so proud of him.

And it turns out this is all just the beginning of his life's dream: being a scientist who owns his own karate school.  :)