Double Derby

The year has come. Two cub scouts. Two shirts.  Two books. TWO PINEWOOD DERBY CARS! Actually we had three cars since there was a race for parents and siblings after the real race.  Mark likes the pinewood derby.  He and the boys are in the garage often during pinewood derby season.  I like that they all get father son time so I stay out of the garage for that reason and also because I don't want to be held accountable for knowledge about just how much Dad does to the car and how much the boys do to the car.  Ignorance is bliss.

This year, Mark discovered colored wheels at the scout shop. Awesome! Each boy designed what they wanted their car to look like and Mark did his best to make their dreams come true.

 The beginning of the race holds high hopes for all.

 There are only seven scouts in our troop so the races went rather quickly before we had a winner. 

 It came down to two cars: D.J.'s and Spencer's cars battle to win!

 D.J.'s car is the fastest in 2011!

 With Spencer in second place!

Mark took the overall round where ANY car could race.  He used his car from last year - a legal 5 ounces! He is the BEST OF THE BEST!

A BIG CHANGE at the Astling Home

I have never taken the boys to a hair cutting establishment. I have always been a penny-pincher that way and overly optimistic of my abilities.  So, I cut their hair, for better or worse.  All three boys have had a "bowl cut" type hair cut in their younger years and eventually they move to shorter hair cuts.  D.J. wanted his hair shaved like Dad's when he was in kindergarten.  I don't remember why the bowl cut ended with Spencer, I don't think his lasted long because he couldn't hold still long enough.  James has had his bowl cut the longest, partially because he doesn't care about hair and partially because we feel it is irresistibly cute.  His reason for wanting to rid himself of the bowl cut: he wants to look like Calvin (of Calvin and Hobbes).  So here are before and after pictures:

James' look for the last four years (a little more shaggy than usual):

The short cut (he was upset it didn't look just like Calvin's yet, which is true because he looks exactly like D.J. in this picture):

The Calvin cut:

Snowshoeing!

I have always wanted to try snowshoeing, so when Spencer's class wanted parent volunteers for such a trip, I signed up immediately!  I wasn't the only excited parent because there were 20 other snowshoe-starved parents along too!  It was mostly a nature tour, with not much hiking, but it was still really fun and it was so great to be outside! We traveled to Little Cottonwood Canyon, where a college student majoring in outdoor kind of stuff informed us of things like watershed, habits of winter animals and trees.

 Much of the time listening to the nature guide was spent while making mini snow caves. It's a good thing 4th graders can multi-task at some things.

 We made snowballs and threw them into the river. They did not melt, but floated in the water! Brrrrr!

 The class was asked to choose to be one of the animals we talked about and have a race with their snow shoes on. I'm not sure what Spencer chose but it was a good activity to do right before boarding the bus home!