The dudes have been busy “basementing” up a storm lately, crafting all kinds of Lego maritime misadventures using teams of hapless soldiers, pirates, sharks (real & mechanical), and more. Here’s a little stop-motion film that Finn created last night:
What would a campfire be without some terrifying tales? Check out the boys’ skit from last weekend’s scout camping:
Each year brings a return of the giant (and growing!) Lego brickstravaganza held at the convention center in nearby Santa Clara. Here’s just a glimpse of this year’s gathering, in which the boys scored a few fun little pieces while seeing various friends:
Last night’s pack meeting focused on physical fitness & challenges, including performing various long jumps, push-ups, and jumping jacks. Later the pack split in two to duke it out in a tug-of-war in which Team Micronaxx prevailed! (see below) That was just a warm up prior to all the kids teaming up to beat down the adults, though we suspect that their end of the rope just might have been tied to a pole outside. 😉
Another year at Steve & Kate’s Camp, another round of charming if incomprehensible stop-motion Lego vids from the guys. 😉 Note the “flying stick” effect, of which Finn is very proud:
There are times you say, “Yep, that is definitely my kid”—then look for a stiff drink. 😉 (Click image to play)
[No Finnsters were harmed in the making of this vid]
Yesterday the guys gamely braved the heat & elevation to traverse the slopes of San Jose’s Almaden Quicksilver County Park, home of the country’s first working mercury mine. Being kind of nuts, they & their pals insisted on periodically trying to piggyback one another up the hills. Here’s a 30-second taste of the day:
This year, at Henry’s request, we finally toured one of the old mines that Leadville, CO is famous for. Much to our delight, it was fascinating, and far exceeded our expectations!
We were led by Bob the Miner, who owns the Hopemore mine a few miles out of town. The Hopemore was established over 100 years ago, and produced gold, copper, silver, and iron, in addition to lead. Bob told us the Leadville area is one of the most richly mineralized areas in the world—a literal goldmine for prospectors!
We got to watch Bob demonstrate all sorts of mining equipment and machinery, including drills, a tunnel mucker, the cage that took us down the mineshaft, pulleys, and ore chutes. The boys were absolutely rapt. He pointed out the vein of ore slicing through the granite on either side, and showed us pictures of a huge ore pocket when it was being mined out – it was dozens of feet high and a hundred feet deep!
We all had a great (and very cold – 42 degrees!) time 600 feet below ground. Henry and Finn even got to push around an old ore car on the narrow tracks. On our way back to the shaft, Bob shone his flashlight on the ceiling of the tunnel, where we could see a bright vein of gold gleaming in the light. (“I never show dentists until the end,” Bob chuckled.)
Check out our photo gallery from the adventure.
We could really tell the boys soaked it all in, because once we got back home to San Jose, the boys immediately went downstairs to the basement and built their own Lego mine, including tools for blasting through veins, an entry chute, and a mine car riding on tracks!
Who will play the player? Mom-O, that’s who. Here she makes 6-year-old Henry her tuba…
…in just the way 8-month-old Hen made her his:
Bonus: Even more zerberts from Hen, this time at age 4: 🙂
Summertime, and the livin’s large at Pasitos—once the boys’ preschool, now a tot-fiesta over which they tower as full-on Lego roboticists. 🙂 Check out the fruits of Team Laser Ninjas’ efforts yesterday:
Today the guys whipped up a terrific Father’s Day pancake breakfast, after which we all headed to San Francisco. I’m too bushed to post photos right now, but in the meantime here’s a peek at our visit to the always-fascinating Exploratorium, currently home to the amazing Strandbeests!
We’ve had another rather epic Sunday with the lads. While Mom-O and our friend Jolene toured the de Young Museum, Team KOBI (i.e. King/Kids Of Bad Ideas—newly augmented with our equally mischievous friend Justin) rented a four-man bike & toured Golden Gate Park. We even crashed this year’s Bay to Breakers race, briefly carrying various weird characters who hopped aboard, until a cop kicked us out.
Justin also had the inspired idea of sneaking up “James Bond-style” on a group of unsuspecting musicians who were practicing in the park’s band shell. I love that their music swelled up to provide a dramatic score to our hijinx. 😀
The guys were champs at this year’s Willow Glen 5k, cranking through the 3-mile walk en route to some fun carnival games back in Tiger Park (behind their school). Check out a few little glimpses I grabbed along the way:
Henry Nack, behold the trebuchet. (I’m sure there’s no way this meeting can end in mischief. 😉 )
We enjoyed quite the day out last Sunday. First we hit Marina State Beach near Monterey for some baseball tossing (40 catches in a row with Finn!), sand castling, and taunting of waves (which sometimes won!). On the drive north we pulled a spontaneous pit stop to kayak with sea otters, after which we “cooled off” (as the boys love to say) at Marianne’s Ice Cream in Santa Cruz. Here’s a gallery plus a salty vid from our day out:
What happens when some ladies come over as our goofballs are winding down the evening? Hint: It involves relentless photobombing by Finn. :-pÂ
Happy birthday to the marvelous Mr. F—cha cha cha! 😀
Henry was feeling really entrepreneurial last weekend, so he & Finn set up a little lemonade stand in front of our house. Despite awfully low foot traffic, we got some business, nice visits, and even tips from a bunch of neighbors. Long & his daughter Maddie schooled the boys in the art of haggling; Finn created & distributed some coupons; and both boys lured in small customers with the prospect of test-driving a few Legos as they drank. 🙂 Here’s a quick vid from the day:
The boys had a ball designing their Pinewood Derby racers, having them carved at a woodshop, applying paint & graphite, and then finally letting them rip last Sunday. Though we didn’t set any track records, we enjoyed the 3-second bursts of adrenaline. 🙂 Here’s a little gallery of the event, featuring their cars plus some of our favorites from other scouts.
The boys have long loved weird homemade YouTube videos in which Lego characters get into all kinds of adventures. At last summer’s Steve & Kate’s camp, both boys tried their hands at making similar vids. Here’s one from Finn that I just remembered to share. Fair warning: I have no idea what’s going on here, although it seems to involve periodic decapitations. 🙂