24.8.10

Closing of Adventure 2010

So Ms. A really gave it her best this summer. She ensured that the kids did something adventurous nearly every day of the summer. Some time around the 2nd week of summer break, she decided that TV watching and video game playing were over and that G-man and LMA were going to be active and adventurous.

What we ended up with is a couple tan, healthy, happy kids. TV watching was limited to times when there was really nothing else to do - a last resort. If there was only one parent there and that parent was sick, TV watching was okay. I picked some family movies to watch over dinner on occasion but for the most part the TV was off. Ironically, the kids wanted to watch pretty much one show; Phineas & Ferb, a cartoon about two boys who do something new every day over the summer.

It started with swim lessons. They both took two sessions of swim lessons in late June. Then they took gymnastics at the rec center. After that it was "let's find every creek, pond, swimming hole, lake and river we can" time. With their new found abilities, they took to rocky swimming holes with gusto and even Lil G-man was seen fearlessly diving from outcroppings.

Even if the adventures were small, it was more about doing things. They went to baseball games, saw the President's motorcade, visited the local air force base, swam in the lake dozens of times and explored a dinosaur trail. I tried getting in on the action on the weekends, but most of my efforts were movies. We did however visit the Lego store grand opening and the un-related Lego Games tour as well as an ice-cream festival and a trip to Colorado to see family. There was no Derby Brats over the summer, but we did try to get to a couple TXRD bouts.

To quote a Calvin and Hobbes title, "The Days Are Just Packed."

Gregory even got a girlfriend.

We also hung out with a lot of new people, made monsters after Ms. A got a sewing machine and built a lot of Lego. Surprisingly I still go a lot of drawing done and was able to PASS my summer classes. I'm not taking any fall classes as I need more time to focus on work, drawing, lego, the kids and what exactly I'm going to do with this "education."

So now the 2010 Adventure Season is closed. G-man started 1st grade today, LMA is in 4th. Ms. A started classes today as well. Her census job is over so this is good timing. TG's UT Lego group starts soon and I hope that's a fun group for her. Everyone in our immediate vicinity and group of friends is fairly healthy and at least happy on the surface. Some times it's hard to tell.

The next update may be about TG and attending the Intergalactic Nemesis show on Sept. 3rd. We're utterly geeking out about it and I think the creators might be thinking we're stalking them. More about that later. Right now I'm going to the Lego store and then draw.

Carry on.

2.8.10

Finished


Finished
Originally uploaded by xadrian.
On May 16th I posted the first pictures of my first big Lego build. 77 days later it was finished.

To answer the next question, no we're not putting a sniper in it.

I don't have exact measurements, but at the roof it stands just over a meter, with the antenna is roughly 1.25m. I don't know how many pieces we used so don't ask. The structure is fairly hollow to allow the lighting, we used a rope light coiled up tightly and a bunch of trans clear bits to make the "1" effect.

The clocks aren't done, but my mom's husband fashioned and painted some gold/brass metal rings to serve as the outside and we'll probably put a sticker inside it. We haven't been able to find anything small enough kit wise to make our own time telling piece.

We're both extremely proud of this building. We worked very hard on it and spent a lot of money getting the needed parts. Between us we had a good amount but neither of us had that much white. I spent $175 getting brick and I know TG spent easily that much as well. We fought and argued about how to build certain parts, but we always came back together and agreed and I'm very happy to say this was a true collaboration.

I don't know how long we'll keep it together. There are a handful of parts left to buy to replace ones we used to fill in for color reasons, but the main part is done. Now we can go back to building spaceships and dragons.