Houston, we have a problem.

This last week, Keith, Corrine and myself went to the Worlds Robotics Competition in Houston Texas.  We got on the plane, taxied out and then sat on the runway for a while while Denver decided they couldn't deal with the.... wind. This happy picture was before the news of wind.

So, we had to go back to the airport and wait a while. Just as we got off the plane, my cousins daughter grabbed me and was so happy to see us and our robotics team.  She was also flying to Texas for her robotics competition.  The change in flight plans had made her a little nervous. We were happy to have her be an honorary member of our team.

We finally got in the air and on our way to Texas.  It ended up being 2 am before we got to the hotel room with our rental car.  What a crazy night.  We got our passes and we were ready for a crazy robots weekend!

Oh, so.... I got to sit on these bleachers for 3 days straight. No back.  Not very wide.  And the only padding was my behind.... thankfully I had that taken care of.

Im too old for such fun.  I did have fun hanging out with Keith and Corrine and some of their friends. Our robots people are good, good people.

So, just a few things to note.  The Houston Rockets are in the NBA playoffs and their stadium was right next to the convention center we were at. So, Friday evening there were so many people in the area.  I've never seen so many black SUV limmos in my all life.  I doubt they were all there for the robots. No, I didn't get inside because I didn't have $1,000 to spend on nose bleed tickets. This is off the TV... which was mostly free at the hotel.

The day we flew out, Mrs Bush passed away. She lived in Houston and her funeral was there.  So, the local news people could talk of NOTHING else.  No, I didn't get an invite to the funeral.  Rude.

Another interesting thing to note.  ALL of the restaurants downtown closed.... at 7!!  It was so hard to find places to eat by the time we got done with robots for the day.  One evening we found a McDonalds just a few minutes before 7.  As we were walking back to the hotel we got stuck at a light and had a homeless guy and his girl friend begged for the bag of food we were carrying.  Corrine was terrifed. There were just so many homeless.  It was sad to see.  Another evening we found a BBQ place open later than 7!  We did have to walk further though.  We took most of the team, so we had quite the parade going through the city!  After we stood in line for a while, we got a smart idea!  Order on our phones, then just go to the pick up counter.  Genius.

As far as actual robot competitions go, we had a series of unfortunate events.  I could share all of the bad things that happened.... but I won't. Lets just say, politics and really bad luck were involved.  The team got a lot of good practice in patience, fixing the robot, gracious professionalism, and disappointment.

Despite all that happened, these kids worked well together.  They became closer friends.  They are all great examples to me.  I love being around them. I love their humor.  I love to listen to them interact with one another.

 Yes, Keith is taking a saw to the robot.

I enjoyed the week even with the lack of sleep. 

I have decided that I might be too old for such fun. I need a vacation from my vacation!  Keith and the kids are already talking about what to do bigger and better next year!

It's What We Do

We are into full spring and starting to hit the craziness that is the end of the school year.  I decided to post some of the random pictures from the last couple of weeks.  Corrine is working on a project she has been hired to do for a wedding.  Her work is beautiful and it is fun to watch her improve on her talents.

Hayden is sad that we are getting to end of Tinker Crates for the school year. I will order some again next school year.  They are fun and have been great for Hayden and Kate.  In this one, he made a water pump and a water wheel.  It's pretty cool!

Corrine has been spending TONS and TONS of hours studying for the ACT test. It will be a while before we get the grades back. She hopes she did well enough to get some scholarships and this will be the last time she takes the ACT.

Kate is looking cool, as usual.  I never look that good at Lowes.

My washing machine broke.  In a family of our size, that is a very bad thing.  We can not go without a washing machine for very long, so I improvised a fix. Its working.... temporarily.

Safety first.  I love magformers. I also love the fact that Kate is serious about being safe while building.

Love, drama, boyfriends...... Having daughters means we will be busy with these things. Well, at least the 5 year old girl will.  Peter brought some flowers to Kate.  Eh, humm... its been a while since I got flowers.  Anyway, while she appreciated the flowers, she likes Peters older brother, George. Love is a crazy thing.

As a family we were able to go to the Jordan River Temple open house. I am so excited to have this temple back open. I don't have any plans to attend the super busy Jordan River Temple. Im so excited for my quiet little Oquirrh temple to go back to being a little slower and quieter.

Im thankful for temples. I get to keep these people with me forever!

Boise!

Most of us went to Boise for another robotics competition. Jakob stayed home to sing in General Conference.

I love Boise. I really do. Im not so fond of the drive, but we made it!

On Thursday, we had the entire day to burn while Keith and Corrine were at robots. We decided to go to the zoo. I didn't realize at the time, but it was spring break in Boise. It was also discount day at the zoo. So, we went to the zoo with the entire city of Boise. It was still fun to get outside and walk around though!

The Boise zoo is ok. The zoo in SLC is better. The only elephants they had were fake.

Kate said her favorite part was the carousel. Well, that was an extra $1 well spent.

Kate and Sariah both agreed it was cruel and unusual punishment to make them sit in the "egg" for a picture. Hayden wouldn't even get in.

Note the same gesture in every picture from Kate.

Hayden just wanted to get back to the hotel to go swimming. He wasn't very excited about the zoo. But, he did admit he had fun hanging out with friends and "seeing some animals".

I did take the kids swimming (or walking around the water). We don't really swim. I have spent millions of dollars and hours for swimming lessons and they still can't swim. Im pretty sure Im a bad parent. Oh well.  We also spent Friday and Saturday watching robots. I LOVE it. I really do. Kate LOVES it.

Hayden loves to play electronics for hours on end while in the stadium. This time I cut him back (to about 6 hours of electronics) and made him read a book. He wasn't happy.  Bad mom? Still don't care.

Here is the "drive team" of the robotics team. We don't see much of them on robots weekends. The run from strategy meeting to compete and back to another strategy meeting.

Here is our robot hanging from a 7 foot bar.  Its cool, you know it is! We are #3230.

The Fox family are VERY good friends of ours.  They don't have a kid on the team, but drove up to watch us anyway!  Abe and Keith are good friends. These are such great guys!

They have adopted Zach (a team member as their son) and Corrine as their daughter. Im cool with it as long as it gets them to the competitions. It just wouldn't be the same without them. Fun seems to follow them every where they go.  Here are 3 of the Fox Girls. (the blond was adopted)

Kate loves George. Peter loves Kate. George doesn't know Kate exists. Gretta is just cute.

I love watching Keith work with the team. He is so very good at what he does.

On the "Smurf Turff" in Idaho.

 Im looking forward to the World Competition in Houston!