Wednesday Wishlist

Just some random wants that have been bouncing around in my head...

1. A "fingers crossed" emoticon. Because I find myself needing one of these on a regular basis. Really. ;)

2. Separate parking lots for those extra long trucks. Because parking and maneuvering my minivan is difficult enough for me already.

3. Storage cases for figures for the Disney Infinity video game dealio. Because if you're going to make something that has a gazillion pieces, you should also make something to hold said pieces so that they're not just strewn across my fireplace.

4. A time machine to let me go back and get better pictures of certain memories. Because obviously.

5. A recording of Noah's voice before it changed three years ago. Because I can't remember what that was like and am definitely thinking I should go record both younger boys before that happens again.

6. A way to bypass previews at the theater. Because Noah and I went to see a movie a week or so ago and realized that previews in October tend toward the rather scary...and that we'd best not let Micah watch any previews this month, lol. (Seriously, though, this is not the first time I've thought this...I've even been known to get seats and have Nathan or Noah save them while I take Micah to the lobby until the show starts. Ugh.)

7. Human mute button. Because, wow, would that come in handy. ;)

Emerald Lake

We headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park yesterday (and took advantage of the awesome program that's granting free passes to fourth graders and their families this year...woohoo! yay for having a kid who can qualify as a fourth grader!). It had been a good while since we'd done any hiking, so we decided to enjoy the fall colors and take a little hike to Emerald Lake. I made people take pictures:

It wasn't a very long or taxing hike at all, and it was a gorgeous day...which ended with fabulous food and ice cream in town. Happy fall!!

Third time...

For the third year in a row, we attended the NoCo Mini Maker Faire. For the third year in a row, it was pretty awesome. :)

We only spent the afternoon...but we played with plenty of fun things...

Micah tried riding a Green Machine thing...Asher & Micah had fun with the Discovery Science Museum's take apart area (Micah maybe moreso than Asher...one of the volunteers did need to explain to Micah that it was "take apart," not "smash," lol)...we got these awesome laser engraved keychains...Micah posed with Pokey (the baby fire-breathing dragon)...and Asher posed with R2-D2...and both younger boys enjoyed some sort of sound sculpture, that lit up differently in reaction to the sounds around it...among other things. ;)

But. Our favorite thing this year was the Nerdy Derby. :) It was fabulous! They had this whole area set up with derby car bodies and 3D printed wheels and a gajillion different things you could use to decorate/hone your car. Then you could register your car and race them (there were also some weight and width/height restrictions). Micah made one first, then the other boys and I got in on the action:

...and then, obviously, Noah challenged Nathan and things got competitive:

This shot was actually Nathan's car beating Micah's. (Pretty cool, eh?) In the end, Nathan's car did actually beat all the rest. But, Asher's car and mine won for best looking...

Don't you think? ;)

Asher named his (complete with the canon and tusks) "Bob." (For what it's worth, Asher's ended up being too heavy to race with all the metal pieces in the box but we put it back together after taking pieces off because it looked cool.)

Noah will tell you that mine was highly inefficient and had high drag and all that. But, I don't care. I think it's pretty. :)

Btw, I named it "Purple Nostrils."  

High red

I'm still here. :) I'll work on catching up soon, really.

In the meantime, let me just take a moment to brag on my youngest...who promoted to high red belt last night. 

Here are the kids who were promoting listening to Mr. Yee drill them on integrity, courtesy, perseverance and indomitable spirit...

Throughout the promotion, both Micah and Asher performed with the demo team also...between demonstrations in combinations, grabs, forms and sparring by those promoting. Then, each kid was called forward to receive his/her new belt:

...and high five everyone...

And before all the pizza and soda consumption, I nabbed this picture of Micah with a couple of his friends who happened to also promote to high red belt last night. They were pretty stoked and deservedly proud.

Yay! 

Another step

Sigh. My boys are growing up. I know this. I do. :) I'm working on embracing this and savoring the moments...to that end, I'll record here that Nathan and I took Noah to the CSU Engineering Exploration Day last Saturday. It was a free day to introduce high school students to the departments and careers of engineering. (Hooray for people in our homeschooling group who alerted me to the opportunity!)

We began with an introduction to the school of engineering in general...with discussion about admissions and internships and housing and such...

This was followed by sessions specific to different departments. Noah chose to go to the overview sessions for chemical & biological engineering, mechanical engineering and electrical & computer engineering. Noah decided he's probably more interested in the latter two on that list but continues to keep all options open (yes, including studies that aren't engineering). 

After that, we were invited to a free lunch by the Diversity Programs in Engineering student group and did a mini walking tour of our own...

(Doesn't Noah look thrilled? lol) Then we sat in on a panel of students discussing the Cooperative Education Program, which was pretty exciting with regard to the possibilities and opportunity.

And then we called it a day and decided that we still have plenty of time to decide on things like college and majors. But. When we do get to that point, we'll be a little better prepared. :)