Robotics festival

We had fun at the robotics festival noted in the local paper...
Several of our students had parts of their projects out including part of a fleet of water based autonomous vehicles; a robotic aquatic plant collection device; and a flying tricopter noted in the article below.  
http://theadvocate.com/news/5828653-123/robotics-teams-compete-at-statewide
Enjoy!

Animals by D

Spring in the Yard

 We've been enjoying the yard as things green up or color up, as the amaryllis (thanks Nato) and aloe blooms above are doing.

 G's garden above and Bs flowers below are beautiful and tasty (no don't eat the flowers!)

 The Sterns Rose (below) makes a beautiful bloom, almost an orange-red.  Thanks to K and N for the gift - lovely.   Enjoy your spring!

Yard activities

Well, we are being a bit domestic.  Lots of activities in the house and yard.  In fact, we have some extras, 9 at our house for the weekend.  Lots of fun to share... this should include tennis, AgMagic, Robotics week, Senior Design projects, and lots of play in the yard, swinging, jumping, books, and more...

Snacks and more... (A frog in your shoe?!)

 OK, first, the strangest thing of the day... this little frog had apparently crawled into the toe of my tennis shoe...  I put them on and did not even notice (he's a pretty small frog...)  However, after trimming the bushes, I was standing still and felt some funny feeling on my toes.  When I took them off, out he hopped, apparently none the worse for wear...  Amazing!  Probably a bad sign about the level of moisture in my shoes!

 J was having fun with the camera and captured this "flower level" view of the roses...

 We are working up to snacktime...  Bible Quest is an activity the two oldest have been enjoying, memorizing verses, finding chapters quickly in the Bible, so you can practice while having...
A snack!  Popcorn is one favorite that is tasty and fairly healthy...

 You decide, but I think most of them are having fun (and the rest have something in their mouth!) 

Earthday

Happy Earthday.
In Baton Rouge, we have fun on the downtown boulevard near our church.  They close off the street, have bands, food, and lots of activities from many different nonprofits, companies, educational organizations and more.  We went right after church to enjoy...

 This was a display about interactive play.  Ironically, the blocks are an artificial foam, but the play was real and we had it to ourselves for a bit...

 Great to see the whole group involved; and each child also had an opportunity to work on individual projects.

 D got some help constructing a birdhouse and practicing his hammering... this display was linked with habitat for humanity...

 They were fascinated to learn about runoff and pollution...

 The girls also got involved in building their own birdhouse, H and F each helped... (do I see a tongue sticking out to help focus?)

 Artificial gators were fun and a bit scary for the little ones... but the real live oaks (Quercus virginiana) are always beautiful.

 The shade from the trees was welcome and the whole group got involved in more activities later.  We got tired and headed home but enjoyed information on endangered species, outdoor activities, pollution, education, recycling, and many other themes...  a day to celebrate God's good Creation.

Quiet Time

We try to get some quiet time every day.  Some get to sleep very well, others read or do some quiet activities...

 A little quiet sewing on our "new" rug...  We did a bit of cleaning and fixing and it si now a lovely rug....

 Well, these games may not be totally "quiet", but the activity below was very quiet, H and her "baby" taking a nap...

 Some sleep and others read or knit...  It is good to rest...  may you have a restful Sabbath

Bluebonnet swamp

We took a trip to the library to get books (and tax forms, yes, we are still using the old fashioned paper...)  and got more than we bargained for... the 20th anniversary of the library involved a party, dulcimers, music, talk, food, and a hike in the adjacent Bluebonnet Swamp... Lovely day!

 J got going "on his own" as per 2 year old activity...  but as I said, it all started at the library, which is enjoyed by a wide variety of patrons as suggested below.  It is actually one of the more diverse places in town...  Free food levels the playing field... 

 On the other hand, these creatures made a rather "unlevel" field (crawfish burrow in swamp)

 And these people took a little break after their walking adventures. It was a lovely day and many people enjoyed the swamp

 Note the fluted bases of these trees.  Gums and cypress are adapted to live in the swamp, with the wide bases helping enhance stability and perhaps regulate oxygen uptake...  J was just having fun, more of a run than a walk...  Well, we enjoyed the swamp!

Plants in the spring...

We love plants at our house...

 Aloe and mint and oxalis are all growing, and it seems a fair fight... The aloe is tough and spiky, the mint grows fast in the cool weather but then dies back later in the summer and the oxalis (with edible flowers) grows in between and is hard to kill but beautiful in its own way.  Below, we see one of the figs coming on nicely...

 Here at the edge of the lawn, cilantro has self seeded, with more oxalis growing through the monkey grass.  Go ahead and eat the lawn... (I actually pulled one whole cilantro plant and chopped it into a nice salsa...)  Below we see some "construction" (or destruction?)  which we hope solves some drainage issues without destroying the live oak or other plants across the street...

 And here is what you can make with what you grow... Some lovely homegrown lettuce and greens and some eggs from the chickens.  The kiwi are imported...  but maybe this year?  and below we have some lovely roses growing from our friend's grandmother's container.  Thanks!  Enjoy.

Flying

You have seen a bit of our professional work, always involving some kind of engineering (a device, structure or process...) and some kind of biology (human, plants, animals, microbes...) put together to help solve some problem or make life better.  Here is another angle... a stable, lightweight helicopter with multiple rotors.  Just a glimpse of how this flies, adn lots of testing and ideas moving forward...  Enjoy

The life of J

 Well, sometimes we have a theme that surrounds a particular person. This week we are featuring this artistic, lively boy, whom we will call J.

 He loves Richard Scarry, much as we did as children.  Some of these books are as old as I am, but they have a somewhat timeless quality and are always fun to share.  We are also enjoying the little "plaza" we constructed, and the plants growing nearby include mint, aloe, roses, oxalis, lettuce, peas, wisteria and camellia...  I love the color of the mint in early spring...

 Hard to catch everyone at the same moment, but here is an attempt:  lunch on the patio/plaza is just lovely...  we also had fun at the Bluebonnet Swamp, walking the boardwalk.  Amazingly enough, this is adjacent to the library, so tune in later for more...  who knew books and swamps went together?  Keep smiling, and keep exploring!

Walking after the rain

Lots of fun walking in the rain after a massive downpour last night.  We have not yet found any lightning-spiked trees but we think there must be something that got hit last night as it was a tremendous storm...  still, this morning, it was pleasant, cool, damp and the birds were singing...

 ... and the children were having fun and enjoying the company.  It is nice to be cool enough to want to hold hands or hug each other...

 Walking on the brick at the neighbor's house is always a fun diversion... but it is nice to get home to our own place.  There is no place like home and it sure is green right now!

Out back, the plants are enjoying the rain, but we have to dry a few things...  The plants are happy and the air is clear...