Night at the Museum

Sam's Stockade group had its third (and our second) overnight of the year, along with the 4th graders. This was short, busy and fun: an overnight at the Rochester science museum. We arrived at 6, had a show with two large Tesla coils, a pizza dinner, a motion simulator ride, a planetarium show, half an hour of constructing a simple circuit with conducting play dough, batteries and LED lights, an "egg drop" contest, and bedtime. We were up at 6:45 the next morning and out by 8. 

We slept in sleeping bags in the first floor exhibit area. Sam and I were right under a looping video of flowing magma (which happily got shut off at 11). There was a tiny bit of free time to wander the museum. It was bitterly cold outside, and our chaperones were two young women and an occasionally glimpsed security guard. I was amazed at how much they managed to pack in to the evening. They kept us busy almost right up until lights out at 11. Aside from an air-mattress loss of pressure which only affected me, the whole thing was a rollicking success.

The obligatory mastadon photo

In between two large Tesla coils was a Faraday cage in which were packed about 8 boys

Faraday was right! No one was harmed

Hard to get a good shot of a planetarium. They did a general night sky survey along with some more in-depth presentation of the star forming region in Orion. Nicely done. Turns out we have a pretty large planetarium for the size of our city: the ceiling's about 40' high

"Squishy circuits" with a younger boy

The egg drop was done off the mezzanine. The boys, in teams of 2, were given ten tokens they could use to buy materials like cups, bags, packing peanuts, rubber bands, etc., to try to construct something to protect the raw egg from breaking upon landing. Sam and Elijah decided to make a parachute out of a grocery sack and were one of three teams (our of 7 or 8?) to succeed :-)

Here are the boys horsing around at bedtime

All in all a very good time. Fun just getting to sleep out on the exhibit floor. Dad reminded me of COSI overnights when I was a boy. I recall sleeping inside a huge model of an eyeball up on the top floor of old COSI. Memories...

That recent snowstorm

In February we got a snow storm which broke a record, with maybe 14". It was enough that before the plow arrived it was simply impossible to drive the van. One neighbor got stuck and had to park in our driveway awaiting the plow. It was a reasonably warm day, and fine for playing outside. Until mid afternoon the snow just kept coming and coming. I cleared the driveway three times before I was done. The U of R actually sent folks home at 2 PM, which it never does. I was glad to have been trapped at home and not have to deal with the commute.

Below are some photos from that memory day:

Josh playing with his dump truck near while I snow blew

This gives a pretty good feel for how deep it was

The big bush outside become a snow slide for the boys

The stream, partially frozen

This was a few days later. The boys asked to climb on the huge snow pile in the Wegmans parking lot. Easily 20' high. Also a very good time. I am sure there will be snow there until June.

Stockade "Camp"-out

Cadets and Stockade both have a winter "campout." For Cadets it was, last year, a lockin at the church, and was a delightful time. Stockade met with groups from other churches in the area at a summer-campy kind of place called Hickory Hill down in the Finger Lakes region (though not actually on a lake). It was a delightful place with a big main hall used for meals and devotions and worship. We (about ten boys and the same number of dads) stayed in a separate building, in a big room with bunk beds (made from 2x4s) and a bunch of old couches and foosball and ping-pong tables, and a long table for something called "rug ball". Rug ball turned out to be the big hit for Sam. Two players compete, rolling a cue ball down the table trying to knock the opponents' balls off the table. 

We learned another new game a home-spun dexterity-based Canadian table-top game called crokinole. This is a table-top game in which you slide little pucks around with your finger trying to knock opponents' pucks off. 

There was plenty of snow on the ground for sledding, and they also had capture the flag and a contest where you use a three-man slingshot to shoot snow balls at a target 100' feet away. (Actually, I made up that distance, but it seems about right.) Sam went down the sledding slope twice before deciding the indoor activities were more interesting. I think it was 10 deg when we got up Sat morning, with a little breeze and some pretty snow falling during the morning worship and devotions.

The devotions were on fear. The speaker (older than I, and from nearby Hamburg, NY) recounted how when he was in his teens, before he came to the Lord, he used to lie in bed terrified at the prospect of going to hell. Around 16 years old his family moved to a new neighborhood. As he was walking near his home one day a kid he didn't know came up on his bike and asked him in a somewhat confrontational tone if he was new around here. He thought to himself, "here we go--guess this is when I have to fight this guy cause I am new." So he replied with a little attitude that yes, he was new. The boy replied, "Do you know about Jesus, and how to get to heaven?" 

And thus began a life-long friendship. The speaker became a Christian a year later.

Anyway, he had some good things to say, and he provoked some good thought in Sam.

Got there around 7:30 Friday evening, left 3 PM Sat afternoon, so it was blessedly not a long trip. The boys went to sleep before midnight, and didn't stir til 7:30 AM, so the dads really had nothing to complain about. All in all a good trip.

The boys playing crokinole.

Sam playing rug ball. He and I played quite a number of rounds of this.

Worship

The sledding slopes. No idea who this is, but it gives you the idea.

No idea why I was frowning for this selfie.

Inuit Day

First, here are some pics from Sam's 5th-grade class' Inuit presentation on Friday. Other students and parents were invited to walk through the classroom, which was decorated to evoke the snowy world of the Inuit, complete with howling wind, paper igloo, kayak, and small fires (made of fans with colored paper). At several stations were text the students had prepared describing the life and culture of the Inuit. The students, dressed for the occasion, were posted wax-museum style. Turned out to be very interesting, with lots of atmosphere! Susan and Josh and I toured the room.

Connor's fishing down in front.

The kayak. Sophia, sitting in back, is at least as big a Harry Potter fan as Sam, and that's saying something.

Here you can see the paper-and-fan fire.

Sam wore a genuine Russian bear-skin coat borrow from our friend Juli Elliot. It belonged to her great aunt in Atlanta, GA. 

Visit of the Westerville Collinses!

Josh was so happy all weekend with our visitors. Also always trying to find ways to get the attention of those dwelling several feet above his head. In this case he was out on the sun porch holding up piece of artwork for us to view.

The guys went bowling Saturday. Kevin and Stu won the day, but we all had a good time. Even Josh, who opted not to bowl, enjoyed the new surroundings.

Sam and Emily, surprisingly, bonded Saturday evening over... well, I am not sure what. Vidya games? The new rock and roll music? Just fun to see them hanging out and chatting.

Emily made good use of the new Cabela's slanket we got from Tim and Marlene for Christmas.

Stu drafted a group for a game of Uno; fun was had by all.

Other miscellany

Josh, posing with a carrot which looks like something out of a L'eggs ad.

This is from a trip to Mendon Ponds with Josh last weekend. We went there for a birthday party and stayed to hike some trails.

Mitchell to Rochester

Christmas in South Dakota, Part 2: Mitchell

We next went, with Stephen and Katie, to stay with Ruth and Paul in Mitchell for several days. The trip was interrupted for Ruth and Paul and Susan when the spent the day driving down to Brookings to visit Gene, who was in the hospital for weakness and low K levels. The conclusion of his hospital visit was that he needs to move up to dialysis three times per week. The doctors have long urged this, but dialysis is no picnic, and only now, with loss of energy and weight, the decrease of quality of living is really tipping the balance in favor of three sessions per week. It's not a fun conclusion; please keep Gene in your prayers.

Aside from that, highlights in Mitchell included a playdate with a family from church (while I was watching the boys while the others drove to see Gene), and the traditional visits to Cabela's and to the Corn Palace. And generally just hanging out with the Mansons and Nielsons.

Katie with the boys in a dogpile, the morning we were to leave for Rochester.

Katie and Josh in their Small Chairs. 

The tractor at the Corn Palace. The tractor! Many minutes of fun for Josh.

I think they redid the Corn Palace recently--the onion dome looks new, and the lobby lighting's been redone.

On the way to the airport we visited with Xochitl and Joel in White Bear Lake, which is not far from the airport. They have a lovely house in a charming neighborhood and it was a treat to get to see them. 

Finally, back to Rochester. The Minneapolis-St. Paul airport was a treat, especially due to the tram the kids got to ride from gate to terminal. Left MSP at 7:20, arrived on our doorstep at 11:20. Let Sam stay up and ring in the New Year for his first time. (He got to watch the ball drop; we avoided Pitbull's New Years Skankabration.)  Josh was asleep by 11:45, Sam by 12:15 and the rest of us by 1:45. Starting out the new year with a grouchathon, I think.

Happy New Year!

Rochester to Brookings

Rochester

For our Christmas trip to South Dakota we got up at 4 AM, caught a 6 AM flight to Minneapolis, and drove 4 hours to Brookings, where we stayed for several days in cousins Layne and Jon who outdid themselves with their hospitality.

The night before we had a small family Christmas celebration in Rochester. Here's Sam showing his new optical illusions book to Josh. 

Here we are on the way out. Susan and I were convinced the boys would sleep on the flight, but they were wide awake the whole time.

Christmas games

Layne and Jon's was a social center the whole time: the Colorado Gilberts came, splitting their time with the Knudsons (Marlene's family), and Ruth and Paul came from Mitchell (and stayed in a hotel), and Jon and Katie Nielson drove up from Missouri (where they are in grad school) and stayed at L&J's as well.

They taught us many good games, including the "tooth bag" game, in which you try to lift up a bag with your teeth while standing on one foot. 

While in Rochester the weather was warm and there was only traces of snow, South Dakota had several mornings which began with below-zero temperatures, and there was plenty of snow. In fact, a blizzard moved through while we were there, delaying our transfer over to Mitchell (where we stayed with Ruth and Paul, along with Katie and Stephen). 

Katie and Layne and Sam were all close in this game, but Sam pulled it out. Paul, to his credit, too a crack at it.

Here we are (including Sam!) playing "Game of Things", in which a category is named (e.g. "things you can't do on a golf course"), everyone submits an answer (typically humorous), and then we go around in a circle trying to guess who submitted which. Sam actually came in second in this game; Susan won the game prior. It was, honestly, extremely funny. 

The Children's Museum in Brookings

No trip to Brookings is complete without a trip to the Children's museum (where Layne works, and where she gave us a tour). The boys were happily occupied for almost six hours, not at all ready to leave when it closed at 5 PM. 

There's a little pretend cafe, where Josh served ice cream to other guests.

Notice that the T Rex is wearing a scarf for the winter.

Family

Joe, who just finished his first semester of college, visiting with Grandpa Gene

Katie and Jon with Josh and with L&J's dog Charlie. Charlie is hypoallergenic, but after a day of playing with him, boy boys started to react. We called their doc and she warned that it had to end if we didn't want a Christmas visit to the emergency room for an asthma attack. Josh reacted next, coughing a great deal. L&J were very understanding and sequestered Charlie, and that really did the trick.

Layne and Josh

Here's a closeup of Josh from the above family portrait. He was making a face which Katie showed him just before the picture was taken. Thanks, Katie!

The traditional yule-tide scary sweaters were worn. I think the winner was Stephen (right)'s "hipster santa" sweater. Note now much they look like Uncle Tim Gilbert.

Katie and Stephen (married this past summer)

Tim and Marlene

Tim and Paul, in front of a bottle of "Red Ass Rhubarb", a South Dakota wine which sells very well with the locals. Ruth and Paul got me a bottle of this for Christmas, though several of us pitched in to consume it.