Rube Goldberg Throwback

We went to "girl-day" at UT this weekend and, among other things, saw the still-under-construction Rube Goldberg machine. Astonishingly, they still had one of the trophies and a few pieces of scrap from the machines Daddy built nearly 20 years ago.

Ladybug bicycle warrior

Learning about Water

Mami had a volunteer event with work this weekend as part of "Girl Day" at UT, where approximately 10,000 kids (girls and boys alike) are introduced to a plethora of STEM related activities and exhibits. Carollo had a three-station activity in which kids learned about coagulation and flocculation, then built their own filters in plastic cups, and finally helped "build" a distribution system to get the clean water from the "treatment plant" to the "home."

How I feel about electrical work

It is pretty much illustrated by this photo. Seems like the feeling is mutual.

Happy Birthday Wiley!

Wiley was *so* excited to turn 6 yesterday! We started off the day right with a "birthday muffin" for breakfast. After school, we opened presents from friends and family near and far, and had a quick chat with all four grandparents plus a video message from Tante N and a few email messages, too! Graydon gifted him $20 along with a promise to take him to the local toy store (a treat for both of them!). They capped off the day with stories read by big brother.

Graydon scores!

Another parent actually caught Graydon's goal on camera!

First real soccer “travel”

We stayed overnight in San Antonio this weekend so Graydon could play in a tournament. The Saturday evening with take-out pizza in the hotel lobby with most of his team was definitely a highlight of the weekend. The other highlight was that Graydon actually scored a goal! (They were about 7:0 ahead so the coach swapped him for the striker!) Graydon played really well on defense as well, but of course that isn't as "showy." Last and perhaps in this case not even quite as important was that the team ended up winning the whole thing in their age group. There was a gigantic trophy involved, which hilariously broke when the wind blew it over... :)

Good end to a first basketball season

Turns out we last night was the final game in Graydon's first basketball season. They played very hard against a stronger team and almost got the better of them. In the end, they came home with the runner's up trophy. Neal and his fellow soccer-and-now-basketball parent Ben had a fun time as coaches. They, plus a third dad on the team who helped coach when Neal and Ben were both prevented have already committed to a basketball coaching trio for next winter!