DI/BB/PWD

Okay, it's been forever since I've blogged last and Carson has been a busy boy!

::DI::

Carson participated in Destination Imagination again this year. I decided not to be the team manager though. While I enjoyed it last year, it was extremely time-consuming and decided that it would be better if someone else took that on. Fortunately, a teacher from Carson's school stepped up and the boys were able to participate.

The boys participated in the structure challenge again and this year the theme was called, "Verses, Foiled Again!"

In a nutshell, they had to:

• Design and build a Structure made only of Aluminum Foil, Wood and Glue
• Test how much weight the Structure will hold
• Present a Story about a character that is Foiled
• Integrate team-written Verse and published Verse into your Story

The boys had a great learning experience with the whole process. They had a fun time working on their structures, writing the skit, and also writing their own verses. They used the song, "Dynamite" by Taio Cruz as their published verse and then made their own verses to the tune of the song. Hilarious--I tell you. On the downside though, I had that song in my head for like 3 weeks after!

When they performed at Regionals, unfortunately their structure broke very early. The same structure during practices held at least 250 lbs without even breaking. The kids were confident it would hold even more since it consistently never broke. During the skit, the structure broke at 90 lbs. The kids were pretty disappointed, since they had done so well last year. It was a great learning experience for them and they could take solace in the fact that their skit took first, they got tons of points for their side trips, and they rocked the instant challenges.

Here they are, ready to perform:

During the skit:



After the performance--the whole team--

Oh, yeah. There was drama the day of the performance. When we got to Spokane, we found out that Wyatt, one of the kids on the team, was sick with the flu. The boys had to hurry, cut Wyatt's lines out of the skit and redo the skit without Wyatt in it. They had less than an hour to do it before they had to perform. The kids were stressed, but they were awesome and pulled it off!

And here's a video of their performance:




::BASKETBALL::

Last weekend was extremely busy for Carson. He participated in the Irish Games--a 3-on-3 basketball tournament. One of his best buddies, Cameron, decided to form a team with some of the kids from their class. Everyday they would practice during recess. How cute is that?! They not only practiced during recess, they also came up with their team name and made a logo and everything!

During the tournament, they played 4 games. They won 2 and they lost 2. Carson loved it and is excited to do it again next year with his friends.

Here's me trying to take some action shots--I know, I'm terrible at taking pictures:



Their team:


::PINEWOOD DERBY::

Finally, we had the Pinewood Derby last night. {Yes, folks...that would be the last year for this family....woo hoo!!!} The derby was pretty much the same as it is every year. Carson won his one race and then it went pretty much downhill from that point. Luckily, this was not his first pinewood derby, so the kid has figured out by now that our family does NOT make quality pinewood derby cars. He was totally cool with it and was super happy and excited and loved cheering the cars on.

Oh, and he won 3rd in "Best in Show", AKA "Your car sucks but we want to give you something so you won't cry". I mean really, how many kids can say they've won like "Coolest Car" three years in a row? And how many kids can say they win one race out of like a bazillion each year? Not very many I tell you! That's special! :)

The funniest part of the evening though was when his friend Jacob won 3rd place in the derby. Jacob was so excited, pumped his fist in the air, was like "Yeah!!!" and then Carson and Jacob literally ran into each others arms and gave each other the biggest bear hug and were jumping up and down all excited. IT. WAS. HILARIOUS.

I was so sad that I didn't get it on camera, so Carson and Jacob decided to give me a reenactment:

Here they are again, with their cars:


I was just so proud of Carson during all these activities. Carson is such a driven, determined kid and always loves to be "first", "#1", "best"--you get my drift. During these activities he experienced some disappointment, yet I felt like he really handled himself with grace. The Carson a few years back would have totally cried or been mad or said he was gonna quit and never do it again, but during all those events Carson totally had a great attitude.

I think the DI experience was particularly disappointing for him since they did so well the year before and there is so much time that goes into preparing for those things. I loved how he and his teammates totally rallied after their structure breaking and managed to do so well at instant challenges later in the day. Carson also said that this year was a good experience and that he wanted to do it again next year.

I also loved how during the Pinewood Derby, which can be a notoriously hard thing for kids sometimes, when his car wasn't doing well, he was still totally cheerful and rooting on the other cars and sharing in those kids' excitement. When he was so excited for Jacob and Jacob's win, I thought to myself, "Carson's growing up and I love seeing the person he is becoming."