Kik's Kreative Krafts

Finished duct tape wallet

Robotics competition

Who knew?

Yesterday I got an email from my friend autumn alerting us to the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Robotics Competition at the Anaheim convention center. Our soccer games were cancelled for rain so we went.

And we saw the craziness that is a robotics competition with entries from 28 countries! Who knew?!

We watched the final round robin for the high school division.

I was thankful to the young men in front of us for giving a bit of explanation. Otherwise we would have been clueless. 

Apparently, a new challenge is presented annually and robots are built to meet the challenge. And these particular teams had each "battled" over 215 matches to prepare for this championship event. Whew!

There were so many people in atrendance! "Thankfully" they put the matches up in the giant screens so we could see all the robotic action! It was pretty intense and made more so by the announcers who were really playing it up for the LIVE webcast!

What an event!

Easter weekend, part 3

Happy Easter! They're not hunting eggs... they're watching a mole come in an out of its hole!

Eventually though we did find some eggs. Thankfully Kik remembered to bring some along. So it was sparse, but each one received A candy and $2 to spend on a treat. All were happy. (Perhaps we should do 20 eggs instead of 100 every year!) less is more.

hunting...

hunting...

hunting...

We hunted so long, we missed the Easter mass at the Santa Barbara Mission. and the museum was closed for Easter. oops.

Kayaking at Santa Barbara Harbor - this place had an advantage of no age limits so our whole family could go out! (this was a great blessing to find. at the lake we would have had to get one kayak and have scott or I each take one kid at a time except sy who was not allowed to go at all. ): boo.)

They loved it!

This is the only pic of Ky because she was on the front of my kayak.

If you can zoom, you see a super-happy little guy with his daddy.

Scott & Sy rounded the sea lion relaxation area. Jo & Kik actually ran into it - tossed by a wave, of course. Ky & I just got close and took photos. :)

Cachuma Lake, part 2

So beautiful with an eagle flying over! We saw several young bald eagles - whose heads were not yet white.

This may be the only photo that proves I went on the trip!

The kids did the Junior Ranger program. Kik found a poster with the details near the restrooms and got everybody up to speed on what was required and where and when. It was fun to see him lead.

Research in the Nature Center

Ranger Gaspar and the youngers with their completion badges.

No Grubb nature experience is complete without a lizard!

Skipping rocks on the "no body contact" lake with new found friends.

Father-son skipping (rocks, of course!)

Campfires at night

Hot Cocoa, stories, and astronomy - wow! the stars we could see!

Camping in Santa Barbara

Last minute camping trip!

Ky's Saturday game was cancelled, so her Thursday practice was cancelled, so we had THREE FREE DAYS!!!   with NOTHING on the calendar!  woohoo! (It was a little non-traditional to celebrate Easter camping - in fact, I'd already bought a large ham as we were planning to invite a few single neighbors over. but twas not to be.)

Instead... We took off and arrived at camp in Grubb style at a late hour and set up our tent by the light of our car's headlamps.

Kaden woke up in the morning and said, I was just thinking I need to find my math book, but then I realized, WE'RE CAMPING!!!

Our beautiful campsite with the lake just steps away made for much fun.

Scrub jays abounded and were not shy about sitting down at the table with us or flying into our car if the door was open!

We did this fun 2.5 mile hike (one-way) to the dam at the end of the lake. Then I hitchhiked with a gal who came to the lookout point a mile (by road) back to camp and picked up the rest of the family in the car. We immediately at dinner (at 3:40) because everyone was starving after the hike!

The evening ended with stories & s'mores & running off all that sugar at the nearby playground - playing hide and seek in the dark wearing glow bracelets and necklaces. (Actually, the kids found it was more fun to take off your glow things and place them nearby to trick whoever was "it".)

Parkday at the island

"Spring Event"

(fine print) Although we hunted eggs, these were "spring eggs" having nothing to do with the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So nobody need be offended here. (end fine print)

These events at our apartments are to encourage community and we go and always meet new people - establishing relationships, the beginning of discipleship. 

 

This girl (with ky & sy) and her 4 older siblings (2 are on the right) live in the next building and frequent the playground. Their mom is unable to reenter the country with their youngest brother. Their dad is always at work. We try to love on this family.
The mom to the left has become a good friend though my Spanish sometimes can't keep up. She and her 2 daughters also attend the Bible study here in the community. Her oldest daughter wants to be a teacher so I have been able to encourage her and recently helped her choose her classes for next year.
The boy furthest right has joined us for meals at the pool. He's super polite and kind and gets along with Jo well because they both love math.

the egg hunt was mass chaos - aren't they all!

Blood moon

My pic through the telescope during the bloodiest part.

The littles are currently in the middle of Astronomy

and have been keeping a moon chart for the entire month of April,

so this "rare occurrence" (that will only happen 3 more times this year) was perfect timing to coordinate with our studies.

How to Enjoy the Blood Moon by me
Step 1: When the children start to fall asleep, give them ice cream and play a lively card game like Nertz to keep everyone awake (while hopefully not waking the children sleeping downstairs who have to get up early for school!)

Step 2: Bundle up and head outside. Notice the "regular looking" full moon. This is the "before" pic.

Step 3: Have daddy set up the telescope grandpa let you borrow and figure out how to use it (even though mommy's been trying to figure it out for 2 weeks to no avail).

Step 4: Fall asleep during the 2 hours of waiting for the moon to be completely eclipsed.

Step 5: Wake everyone up with the flash of your camera just after midnight when the bloodiness is visible.

Step 6: Enjoy for a couple minutes then head back inside to get some sleep.

Easter Choir performs on Palm Sunday

See if you can find our 4!

Parkour

Fun with many friends at a parkour class -

Silly kids

These 2 bless me with their constant giggles!

First Eastside Christian Schools soccer game

As if we didn't play enough soccer...

Scott is coaching for a local private school - actually the one I attended! - and the kids were invited to play on the team! Even ky was included because they would have no subs without her. She played so well - hoping this carries over to her other playing opportunities.