Bapba?

Gemma loves raspberries we discovered tonight.

We had some leftover raspberries from breakfast this morning. They were tart and delicious, but very much on the sour side of the spectrum. I dumped the rest on my salad at dinner time more to get rid of them than because I thought it was going to be delicious.

We sat down to eat when Gemma spied the berries. Immediately, she began pointing and gesturing vigorously towards the berries. Reluctantly, I gave her a berry. I didn't really want to give her one because I knew how tart it was going to be. I was worried she wouldn't want to try them again if they were too sour.

Time and time again, she pointed towards my salad until she had eaten all of the raspberries out of it (in total, about 6). In the end, she was a mess, but very happy.*

I was trying to get a video of her picking up the leftover bits on her tray, when I got something much sweeter. The minute I put my phone up to take video, she thought we were going to call one of her favorite people in the world.

Bapba.

She sure loves that grandpa!


*John swears this is because I ate vast quantities of raspberries while pregnant with Gemma.

Pinewood derby tiebreaker

Here is the tie breaker between William's car and another boys to determine who would advance to the final race! So exciting! William's car is on the left.

Pinewood derby, round 2

William's car was 1 of the 6 that placed to move on the the next round. There were 6 trials in this round as well. Each car would race in each of the 6 different positions. William's car was in the far right position for this race and I believe he came in third for this race.

The top 3 cars from this race went on the compete in the final race with the top cars from all the ages.

There was a tie for third place! So exciting! William and another boy had their cars race one more time to determine the winner.

Pinewood derby, round 1

The Pinewood Derby was this morning!

Before I tell you about it, I have to tell you about what a great guy John is. His specialty is in aerospace. Which means he is rather good at making things aerodynamic. Left to his own devices, I'm sure he could built a wonderful derby car. However, this experience wasn't about John. He made this about the kids. He helped them with designs and made suggestions. When they said, "no", he listened. When they wanted something, he tried his best to make it happen.

William wanted a dinosaur car with spikes. We did that.

Amelia wanted a zigzag design at the back end of her car and nothing else. We did that.

This was NOT a dad project that left the kids out of much. They weren't allowed to use the power tools, but they had a hand in almost everything else.

So, this was one race from the first round. Each car got to race in each lane of the track, so there were 6 races in round 1. In this race, William's car is the second car from the left.

William did really well in his first round and advanced to the next round.

Pinewood derby, test run

The big Boy Scout Pinewood Derby was approaching and there was a test run for the boys at school on Wednesday evening. William and daddy worked very hard on his car over Christmas and more during the last several weeks. Amelia was also given the opportunity to make a car to compete in the "sibling race". she and daddy worked together to create her car as well. This is the only time their two cars were in the same race. William's car is on the far left of the track (it is a green dinosaur car) and Amelia's car is on the far right (hers is a blue, white and yellow car). Who was the winner?

Strong baby

Gemma is strong. Her favorite thing to do in the bathroom is to brace one arm on the tub and the other on the toilet in order to swing her legs so her toes are even with her belly button.

Hurdles

I went out for my first run since Thanksgiving last weekend. It was a great day for a run and from inside our house it appeared that the sidewalks were clear.

The sidewalks were clear where they had been shoveled. However, most people appear to have shoveled the driveway and not the sidewalks. So l, I got to run a few steps and then hurdle small snow banks for almost 3 miles.