Family Fun-time!

Tomorrow is Cousin Aaron's wedding

so lots of the family came into town today.

We felt like that called for a get-together.

We had some dinner

and then hit up Main Event

for some bowling and such

We met our Oklahoma cousins

Vincent and Lincoln

and Iowa cousin Logan

Look at this handsome crew

We all got into bowling--

Uncle Steve

and even Grandpa!

 We did some "speed bowling" too--

we lolli-gagged our first game, taking almost 45 minutes

and then put it in overdrive

and got almost halfway through another

game in our final 15 minutes!

We thought that was hilarious.

But the fun didn't end there.

We headed to the shuffleboard tables

where Aunt Patty and Aunt Diane

taught us to plan

We bonded with Aunt Patty pretty quickly

and decided we really like shuffleboard

If we had this much fun tonight,

we can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring!

Broncobots in action

Our week at Robotics Camp has culminated in this...

Let's go Surfing Cyborgs!

Our robot, Wipe-out,

can lift golf balls with a scoop

and gently wiggle them onto the top of a pail,

into a "sandcastle" gap,

or push them through a window 

onto our opponent's side.

Who ever can move the most in 3 minutes, wins.

Let's do this!

Our first round didn't go very well--

our scoop kept hitching

so the balls fell out.

We made a few tweaks

and went 2 more rounds

We were close on our 2nd

and won the 3rd by a landslide!

We didn't win the big award

but we did win best website

(designed by Jack, of course)

It was an awesome week

We'll be back next year!

A family first...Starlight!

Mom got free tickets to Starlight

through work...

including an exclusive dessert buffet

and a meet-and-greet with a cast member.

We couldn't pass that up!

Mom got bit by a dog

while out on a run with Wes

(more on that in another post...)

but we managed to get out of the ER,

throw down some dinner,

and hobble to the theater just in time!

Nice seats, right?

Ready to watch!

We really enjoyed the show

the characters and stage were AMAZING

but Beckett in particular

was NOT a fan of 

the Wicked Witch of the West,

especially when she flew

right over our heads!

 We will DEFINITELY make this a repeat event!

Weston is even asking to go to a theater camp now...

Perfecting our strokes

Let's go Wa-aves, let's go!

I swam free and back again this week.

Check out my block stance.

It's serious

25yd Free: 34.65 (PR by 2.5 seconds!)

25yd Back: 43.44 (not a PR...) 

My favorite event?

Free relay!!!

My team got 4th 

Weston took on butterfly this week

Medley relay took 5th

25yd free 23.94 (not a PR, still on a quest

to break 20 seconds)

25yd fly 34.63...all legal!

 25yd breast...DQ.  Boo. 

Jack had 2 events:

50yd free 43.75 (10th place...not a PR)

50yd back 52.18--5th place and PRD by 1.1 sec!

He was pleased with that

It was a pretty good night

all the way around

Hard work pays off

Our play gym has been in need of repair

for a year or two now.

Mom and Dad challenged us

to save up the money ourselves.

Where are 4 boys going to get that kind of money?

We decided to stop going out to dinner

and if we go out, to be smart about

where and what we got.

After about 6 weeks,

we saved up enough!

(We didn't realize how expensive

eating out has been!)

So we all worked together to tear down the old one

and we all worked hard to put together

the new one...

and after a lot of our (and mostly Dad's)

 sweat and tears,

it came together nicely!

Imagineers in the making

We decided to try a new camp this year--

Robotics camp at LSN

with the Broncobots.

We have been tasked with building a robot

that can pick up golf balls

and place them in specific places

on a sandy field.

We're really excited

about this week!

Lake rats

We just cannot get enough

of the lake!

We're a bit more helpful

and easy going this year

(blowing through naps so the schedule is easier, 

helping with the anchor,

driving the boat)

so that had been pretty awesome

Know what else is awesome?

Having Mema join us!

Ranger loves all this too

After an awesome first day on the lake

followed by an awesome night

of bonfires and s'mores,

the weather was so awesome,

we HAD to go out for one more day

Everybody loves time on Jerry

Videos don't work on the blog

but Mom got some good ones

of our flips, dives, and toothpicks

All Mom's boys

We got to put in at the end of the road again.

We're going to really miss this

once the lake goes back down

to normal pool...

2 days of swimming, jumping,

playing in the tool house and on the new (old) playground,

fire-pitting, and all-around good times?

That sounds like an exhausting, awesome weekend

Love for street fairs

Mom had Resident Graduation tonight

so we passed a few hours 

before we could head to the cabin

at Downtown Days.

We each got to play a game

and ride a ride...

I tried ax throwing

as did Tuck

Jack tried out a Jacob's ladder

We came home with a few swords,

a unicorn,

and, of course, some root beer.

Swimmers make Waves

Guess what?

It's our first meet of the season!

and we are so excited

to welcome Beck to the team!

Our fans are ready

 So let's do this!

I swam back for the medley relay

(we got DQ'd)

I swam freestyle, coming in at 20.41--

a PR by 4 seconds

and first in my heat!

(10th overall)

I swam back at 26.62 (PR by 1.8 seconds), 7th

breast at 35.57 (not a PR), 10th

and my free relay got 3rd.

Jack moved up to 50 yard swims this year.

He swam free at 42.39, 11th place

back at 53.34, 5th

and his free relay got 2nd

The star of the night was Beck.

We were all so excited to see what he could do!

He swam free at 37.22 (19th place for 8 and under)

and back at 41.20, 11th place

We didn't even know he could swim back!

 He was really excited to swim

his first relay

They got 5th.

It was a pretty awesome first meet...

we may have celebrated with ice cream.