Family

May 1, 2022 ∞

Tyler did the MEL Science “Tin Hedgehog” project this morning. It was great to see him learning and having fun with it. I had fun too.🧑‍🔬

Apr 7, 2022 ∞

These flippers are huge! Tyler’s head provided for scale.

Mar 20, 2022 ∞

We’re in Nashville so of course we should go to the Wildhorse Saloon and learn how to do the Boot Scoot ’n Shuffle! We all took their complimentary class together and were scootin’ and shufflin’ with the best of them. Mazie was a natural!

Mar 20, 2022 ∞

Space Camp

We had a fun weekend at Family Space Camp! 🚀 Our program included runs in the Multi Axis Trainer, the 5D weightlessness trainer. We ran an entire simulation of a Space Shuttle mission where Tyler was EECOM, Mazie PAYCOM, Tammy CAPCOM, and I was FDO. I got to do the countdown to launch. 🤩 We got to see an incredibly impressive planetarium showing as well as a great IMAX experience on the International Space Station. We also learned a bunch about NASA’s Artemis program. And the whole time we got to see a real Saturn V and Saturn IB rocket, as well as a capsule that went into space and a moon rock. And we got great astronaut suits.

Mar 19, 2022 ∞

Mazie did the Multi-Axis Trainer at Space Camp today. She reported it was fun and did not feel dizzy at the end.

Feb 28, 2022 ∞

Imagine Dragons Mercury Tour

We all went to see Imagine Dragons Mercury Tour at the Target Center. Imagine Dragons is Mazie’s favorite band, and she is a particularly big fan of Dan Reynolds. We got her tickets for the show and let her pick who she wanted to take. Lucky for us, she picked us! The show was great. They played for over two hours and hit a wide array of songs. It was also the most normal event we’ve been to since COVID.

Feb 21, 2022 ∞

Two minutes on the dogsled trails out with Wintergreen Dogsled Lodge today. We had to stop and start the sled so you hear the “woah” and “hike” commands. Willow and Acorn are the two lead dogs. Tammy and Mazie are in the sled in front of me, and Tyler was on their sled.

Feb 13, 2022 ∞

Introduction to MrBeast

Tyler is a pretty big fan of a handful of “YouTubers”, and usually at the top of his list is MrBeast. I’ve been more pessimistic about MrBeast and frankly I’m not sure what to think of the whole YouTuber thing. Tyler decided since it was his birthday we would all get a proper introduction to MrBeast.

We started with Curiosity Beyond the Spotlight: MrBeast. I signed up for the free 1-week trial so we could watch the video. Overall, both Tammy and I left with a more positive view of MrBeast than when we started. Jimmy, MrBeast’s actual name, seems like a reasonable person trying to have a positive impact in the world.

We then watched three additional videos from different “channels” of his.

Unbelievable Street Magic! on MrBeast Reacts.

10 vs 1000 Player Manhunt! on MrBeast Gaming.

Hit The Target, Win $300,000 on MrBeast.

After it was all done, we were even inspired to make donations and become part of #TeamTrees and #TeamSeas!

I have to admit, we were actually a bit inspired by his random acts of kindness.

Feb 12, 2022 ∞

We had Tyler’s birthday dinner at his favorite restaurant, Lion’s Tap! It was our first time dining inside there since the pandemic started. The burgers were extra good tonight. Tammy was really excited! 🍔

Feb 12, 2022 ∞

We returned to Mess Hall Art Experiences to have some fun with paint! Tyler wanted to go as part of his birthday. We had a great time as always. Tyler got into the the messy part! I did an interpretation of the FC Bayern logo.

Feb 6, 2022 ∞

The Winter 2022 issue of Reading Things, our family newsletter on books and reading, is out now! 📚

In this issue: My Brigadista Year, We Are Not From Here, Minecraft: The Mountain, Caste, To Shake the Sleeping Self, and Four Thousand Weeks.

My Brigadista Year: This libro really struck home for me because of the overarching themes of family, love, teaching, and farming. Like, literally all of my favorite things. It is a grounding, heartwarming read. — Mazie

We Are Not From Here: It’s not a lighthearted read, but it is a devastatingly honest look at the journey many kids make trying to come to this country from Central America because of the impossibility of where they were born. — Tammy

Minecraft: The Mountain: Will Summer survive? Will Guy come back to the Nether to save Summer? Now come and read this adventure packed book and see what happens to them and their relationship. — Tyler

Caste: But perhaps there is also a fundamental framework, a super-structure, that was created with absolute intent and clarity, that is then justified and allowed to exist on the poison of racism. — Jamie

To Shake the Sleeping Self: I thought it was a great read; a travelogue of a 30 year old guy trying to find himself while on an epic bike journey that spanned two continents and a year and a half. — Tammy

Four Thousand Weeks: We have what we get. It disappears at the same linear rate for all of us. Four Thousand Weeks is filled with ways to contemplate that limited time and what we want to do with it. — Jamie

Dec 31, 2021 ∞

Blokus is another New Years Eve tradition. Tyler (Blue) won this year with just 4 points left. Tammy (Green) with 8, Jamie (Red) with 11, and Mazie (Yellow) at 21.

Dec 29, 2021 ∞

Today is Lucky’s 2nd birthday! She is officially no longer a puppy. Mazie and I took her on a nice, cold, snowy walk and she loved it. She got a lot of treats, and much extra attention today.

Dec 29, 2021 ∞

Today’s board game was Settlers of Catan! We messed up the rules more than a few times, and the game took a long time to wrap up, but still liked it. Tyler’s pick. Mazie won.

Dec 28, 2021 ∞

Tonight’s board game was Photosynthesis. Mazie’s pick, and she won with a good lead! 🌳

Dec 28, 2021 ∞

Angry Bunny Club Jigsaw Puzzle

We make a custom jigsaw puzzle each Christmas. This year I also took my collection of Angry Bunny Club NFT’s and created a custom puzzle from it. I created a collage of the various images and ordered both of the puzzles.

I love how it came out! The Bunny images are all 3,000 x 3,000 pixels so there was plenty of resolution to work with. I wasn’t sure how difficult the puzzle would be but it turned out relatively quick to solve. All four of us did it together and finished in about 90 minutes.

I decided to make this puzzle with no specific up or down. This was partially due to the design of the Bunnies, which are all clipped at the chest. By having them go all the way around I could more easily align them all on the outer edge of the puzzle, and then have some in the middle behind the bigger ones.