The First and the Last Pine Wood Derby

This year was Atley's last Pine Wood Derby! (Insert HAPPY Face Emoji)  This year was Nash's first Pine Wood Derby!  (Insert CRYING Face Emoji)  As per tradition the Butler Cars won some races and lost some races and we all continued our love/hate relationship with several overachieving parents in our cub scout troop.  

The Cars

The Weigh-In

What is going through each boy's mind during the race!

The End

Learning the Hard Way

I have a child named Nash that refuses to wear underwear.  That's right, he prefers going Commando, if you know what I mean.  I decided to stop fighting this battle when he started coming home from school each day with his briefs in his backpack.  I figured as long as he is wearing pants, no one needs to know right?  Well, the other day the boys had some friends over.  They were out back climbing trees.  Nash's pants got snagged on a branch and well, they fell off! It looked something like this...

He was panicked.  Apparently, climbing out of a tree naked is extremely frightening.  I can see how the thought of a sliver in your nether regions might be alarming.  He was screaming for me to help him out of the tree. I took pictures instead, to remind him why he should wear briefs! 

D.C. Dudes

When you go to school with the children of Diplomats, when you almost run over a Secret Service Agent walking his Senator while you are riding your bike, when you go to church with Hillary Clinton's personal assistant and Mitt Romney's biggest campaign contributor and when you live 500 yards away from CIA headquarters you might be a little more aware of world events and politics than most kids. Raising a family here is a little different than the way I grew up. In some ways it is fantastic and sometimes not so much.  Let me give you some examples. 

Atley recently decided to make a list of what he would do if he were president of the United States.

 

1. Lower Taxes by $4989

2. Make more taxes go to the poor people, like my family.

3. Make my friends and family's birthdays national holidays.

4. Make the Japanese Maple the National Bush.

 

When I asked him how he planned on getting elected he said,  "I am going to rent a plane and distribute fliers all over the country and I am going to use a really persuasive font."

 

While that seems harmless, the other day I walked in to an all out war going on in my kitchen.

The boys informed me they were dressed up like the allied forces and there mission was to destroy this person.

This picture was taped to the window.  At first I was a little scared that they were shooting at me, what with the caption and all, but then I noticed the flag and realized that they were dethroning non-other than Kim Jung Sun, the North Korean Dictator. 

 

Check Mate

It makes me so excited that the boys are sharpening their smarts by playing chess. They love it which bodes well for them becoming future Harvard Alums but then again I have seen a lot of homeless men near DuPont Circle that play chess.  Okay, I take it back, maybe I am not all that excited that they love to play chess.

Sling Shots

Scott bought the boys sling shots on his most recent work trip.  The night he got home we practiced indoors with cotton balls and then angry bird toys  The boys were in heaven, the cat not so much. Their targets were some stuffed bunnies, Lego men and occasionally the cat, their sister, their mother or each other.

Upgrades

Atley and Harley both got new bikes for their birthday. Atley because he had outgrown his and Harley because she needed a pink one. This means that Nash also got a new bike, because new to him is almost always Atley's hand-me-downs.  Does it suck to be the middle child? Sometimes I feel a little sorry for him. He hardly ever gets something "new."  The odd thing is he is probably my most giving child.  Interesting. The bike upgrades have taken more than a little practice considering the front hand brakes and bigger sizes but they are all finally getting the hang of them. We spent a lot of time riding over Memorial Day weekend. In fact, we only had one bloody knee throughout the whole learning process. Now that Nash can handle a bigger bike he has decided he is ready for the motorcycle this summer in Colorado. We shall see!