Back at the the first part of Feb. Collin brought home an assignment from his third grade class. A Science Project type of assignment that was required for all third graders. The assignment: Build a catapult that will launch a small load "like that of a mini candy bar, like a Snickers" - Yes, those were the actual words on the paper.. Catapult due on Thurs, 19th of Feb. so as to be ready for Competition on Friday the 20th... hmm. "Competition?" Apparently the goal was to launch said candy bar the farthest or the highest and places were to be awarded for each. That put a whole new twist on the project...
Collin and I finish his catapult the weekend prior to due date and test it a few times... It's launching fairly well, and I'm feeling quite proud of my amateur carpentry skills... Then, at one point Collin informs me that his buddy, Boston and his dad built a catapult that is as tall as Boston... "Hmm, well ours is only about 3ft long and 1 foot and a half tall" as i just kinda looked at Collin, wide-eyed and slightly dejected... "uhhh..." Then he says to me "Thats ok Dad, mine will probably still look the coolest.. I don't care if I don't win" and again I look at him wide-eyed, "thanks kiddo, but let's see what else we can do with thing to make it launch better" as my heart grew 3 sizes right then... A couple of extra pieces of wood, some more paint and an extra bungee cord later and we have come the end of our modifications. "Well, that's the best we can do with what we've got"...
Thursday rolls around and Collin is extremely proud of his black and orange machine as he walks up to the school... The only black catapult in the entire third grade!
Then.... FRIDAY! and as Collin tells it "DAD, DAD I got third place OUT OF THE WHOLE THIRD GRADE!!!" (thats probably 70-80 kids at least)... "I Beat everybody in just my class to go on the finals, with the best of the whole third grade!!" as he grins from ear to ear...
...me, i'm smiling and thinking...
...hmm.. Must've been the carpentry skills my Grand-dad taught me, back during that summer I spent in Virginia when I was just 10 or 11...
You are incredible Men and I am proud to be your Grandson!
I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH!
-brandon
A very good friend of ours, Mrs. Amber Milton, gave the kids an incredible gift this past December for Christmas... Being of bubbly, always uplifting, and outright loud (fun) personality, what better gift could she to give than a 500 piece lenticular (3D) jigsaw puzzle featuring hundreds of brightly colored ladybugs with all sorts of random dot patterns... The puzzle had been sitting a card table in the middle of our family room since Christmas. Well after many short sessions (gives you an enourmous headache if you sit and stare at it for too long) the kids have finally put the final pieces together... Enjoy this craziness... I love how the puzzle refracts the flash from the camera and explodes with color...
Sunday the 18th day of January in the year of 2009... A day that will live in infamy.. well maybe not "infamy" but it's one that most Arizona natives will remember for many many years. A day that decided the best NFL teams to send to the Big Game in Tampa on the first of February.
The family, minus one (Caution went ice fishing) headed up to Roy, Utah to enjoy the last NFL playoff games of the year with the other family. A great day it was.. The underestimated Arizona Cardianls (my home state) beat the Philly Eagles.. and the Pittsburp Stealers beat the Ravens to advance to the SUPERBOWL. Let's go underdogs. I've always had a special place in my heart for the underdog in any situation. Hell, I root for the Saints too. Anyway, here's to whats shapin up to be an interesting Superbowl.. and what was that statistic I read .. "The team in red wins more often than the team that's not" ...
Workin for a TV station definitely has its perks. We tend to have a steady stream of free tickets to big events coming through this place on a regular basis. And every so often, I’m privileged enough to be on the receiving end of these fine gifts. Last night was one of those lucky nights. A few nights back a gracious co-worker said she scored a bunch of tickets to the Walking With Dinosaurs event and that she would like to give me four of them… Yup. Walking With Dinosaurs!! 4 tickets!! If ya haven’t heard of this show, you better check it out cause it’s incredible. Huge, true-to-life sized dinos walking around the Arena floor. I still can’t get my head around how they pulled it off. The way they moved and the sounds they made were so life-like. Collin and Sara were completely entranced the entire time… Five minutes into the show Sara moves to my lap ‘cuz she cant see around the big-head adult in front of her. 2 minutes after that, as she’s watching a little meat-asaurus try to eat some dino eggs, she turns her head and whispers to me, “Dad, are they gonna have a brontosaurus?” Me, “I don’t know little one, but I hope so”
Ten minutes later… Sara whispers, “Dad, where’s the Brontosaurus?” Me, “I dunno, keep watching”
Another ten minutes go by and the back curtain opens up to reveal a long necked dino… Sara, “Dad, Dad, look! The Brontosaurus!” as she proceeds to flash the biggest smile of the night so far…
The narrator then goes on the say that this is actually just a baby Brachiosaurus, (sorry Sara, no such thing as a Brontosaurus, but she doesn’t need to know that just yet) one of the biggest dinos ever. And it was HUUUGE. Just a baby, but still enourmous. Then another smaller meat-a-saurus, I think it was a Stegosaurus or something, starts threatening the baby Brachiosaurus… This goes on for a few minutes until the back curtain opens again and out rumbles baby Brachio’s GINORMOUS Dad charging right at the tiny Raptor… And as Sara eyes grew to the size of baseballs she shouts, “Dad, It’s the Daddy Brontosaurus!!!” It was Awesome! Truly a night to remember...
Like I said before, If it comes your way, I highly recommend it…
I'll be updating very soon .. I promise!!
Collin and his 2nd grade class went on a field trip to the Kennecott Copper Mine. And like the sponge that he is Collin was full of info when he came home. Some of the more amazing facts he filled me in on were; 1- Kennecott is the largest copper mine on the planet; 2-You could stack two Sears Towers on top of each other and still not reach the top of the mine; 3-The Mine can be seen by the space shuttle astronauts as they pass over the United States...
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