Year: 2011

Mt Willard

This past Saturday, Dad and I took his boys for a hike with us up Mt Willard. Walking from the parking area to the trailhead, we had serious second thoughts. The wind was brutal - the muscles in my face froze up almost right away, Bailey was shivering like crazy, and Dugan got some salt in his pad and was hopping on three legs. But once we got within the trees, it was a very nice hike. We had the trail to ourselves. On the way up, we were the first footprints in the new snow. On the way down, when we were almost done, we passed one other group on their way up. Definitely, a great day.

Origami – Misc. Models

Here are a few one-off models made from modules that probably wouldn't work for any other shapes that these. From left to right, they are a dodecahedron, an icosahedron, and another dodecahedron.

Snowbanks

It's unbelievable how much snow we have been getting this year. This is the snowbank next to the driveway. The kids have been climbing it lately, and it almost looks like a mountaineering excursion watching them try to get up there. More than once, I've had to get over the snowbank onto the yard behind it to save someone who broke through the crust and sunk to their waist. We've already abandoned more than one toy in the yard, to be recovered in the spring. It's getting to the point where our plow guy has nowhere left to push the snow. I can't wait until everything starts to melt - I'm ready for spring.

Spongebob

Carter has been trying to draw Spongebob Squarepants lately on her doodleboard. I think it actually looks pretty good - she even got his long nose.

Origami – Inside-Out Sonobes

Here are a pair of models made with Sonobe units, but with a twist. They are assembled "inside out", with all the tabs and pockets on the inside. That completely changes the look of the model. Actually, I usually prefer the inside-out look of these models - the colors break up along cleaner lines. But they are a bear to assemble - especially the last couple of modules. On the left is a 30-unit isocahedron, and on the right is a 120-unit icosidodecahedron. For the icosidodecahedron, I used the pink and green to try to make it look like pink flowers on a field of green grass. It stands out more in person - in the photo, you really only get to see one face, and can't move it around in your hands to get the full effect.

Visit From Grammy

Grammy came over for dinner one night last week. After dinner, we all played a little "Go Fish". The first round went pretty well, but by the second round Sean and Carter quickly resorted to rampant cheating. The attempts to peak at other peoples' cards weren't even subtle, at one point. But the adults were all cracking up. After cards, Everyone gathered in the living room for a cuddle and "goodnight show", before the kids headed off to bed.

Sean’s 6th Birthday

We celebrated Sean's 6th birthday a couple of weeks ago - A little late, but he didn't seem to mind. Between the cool-as-heck Yoda cake and all the DS games he got, he'd count it as a good one, I think.