Pinewood Derby

Celebration Cub Scout Pack 125 held it's annual Pinewood Derby race last weekend at our community center. This is our family's second time participating in the event and Justin's first time winning a trophy! Each scout is given a block of pine wood, 4 plastic wheels and 4 nails to build a "car" with. There are a few guidelines that must be followed (it must weigh no more than 5 ounces and be within certain dimensions to fit the race track), but otherwise the scout can use his imagination. There were about 50 cars racing this year, with 16 of them in Justin's Wolf rank (2nd graders), so the competition for the fastest car was tough. Justin didn't build a race car, but a patriotic "halfpipe" on wheels (complete with an army skateboarder) that won him the "most patriotic" trophy. Congratulations Justin!!!

Celebration School Walk-A-Thon

Both Justin & Chase participated in the Celebration School's Annual "Go Take A Hike" Walk-A-Thon PTA fundraiser last Thursday. All the Kindergarten through 5th grade students walked (or ran) around the soccer fields for 20-30 minutes during their "specials" time (when they would normally be at PE, music or art class) to raise money for the PTA to support programs such as reading rewards, special student assemblies, computer software & hardware, art supplies, music technology, books and more. The boys solicited pledges (with my help) prior to the walk-a-thon and then both walked 22 laps to raise approximately $250 each. We are so proud of them and thank all of our family & friends for contributing to this fundraiser in support of education.

January 2009

So, what have we been up to for the first few weeks of 2009? We kicked the new year off right by attending the Zollinger's annual new years "all day long" party, which is always a blast. Then...

• The boys started school and homework - boo, hiss!
• Roger traveled to Vegas for work for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES)
• I've been finishing up with the school's walk-a-thon fundraiser, which happens to be today!
• We've been working on Justin's pinewood derby. The race is this Saturday and we're going for the "fastest" category as well as the "most patriotic" - pictures to come.
• We've been going to Justin's flag football practices & games and Carly just started her first gymnastics class. She loves it.
• We went to the 4th annual Otronicon (high video gaming exhibit) at the Orlando Science Center.
• We've been "playing" a lot with friends, adult & kid alike, which is always good for the soul.

Unfortunately, even though we've been busy, I haven't taken that many pictures. So, all you get is a few cute ones of Carly...

Carly insisted on brining all her friends to the couch

Carly doing a very concentrated bar hang

Carly with her baby in Spring Park

2 + months?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

To say that I am a little behind on my blogging is an understatment! How did I let the time pass? I'll blame it on Roger and his Ironman. I've been trying to put together a video slideshow, which requires more time than a simple picture post, and that is where I got stuck. But I am resolved to bring you up to speed and will go in reverse this time, starting with this morning's "freeze". We were due to get down into the low 30's overnight last night, so Roger & I set our alarm for 4 am. Why, you ask? To turn on the sprinklers in hopes of creating something as close to snow as possible in Celebration... tiny icicles on our bushes & grass. How excited the boys were! Check out the few photos below...

Post number 1 down, 10 or 20 to go!!!