Someone is considering becoming an architect...

...and I'll give you three guesses as to who it is...

...here is a hint...

The instruction book that came with the set contains more than just building instructions.  It also has a history of the building and some information about its construction in real life.

Make Your Own Pokemon

Today we made up some of our own Pokemon during art class.

These two are by Lex. 

I think if you click on them you will be able to zoom in.

These two are by Connor.

The longer that I look at this one, the more I like it.  It's a Donald Trump Narwhal Pokemon.  It's attacks are amazing.  It's No. 71 because that's how old Donald Trump is.  The card art is fantastic.

The last time I asked Connor what he wanted to be when he grew up, he said he wanted to be a comedian.  He already is a comedian.

I made this regular Narwhal Pokemon.

Connor took umbrage with the fact that this basic Pokemon has an HP of 200, but it's my Pokemon, so I'll do what I want.  Even if I don't know what I'm doing and I accidentally destroyed the game mechanics.

CNN Behind the Scenes Studio Tour

Today after church we went to CNN and had lunch in the food court.  Burger Fi for the win! We explored some of the gift shops (Lex liked the Cartoon Network one the best), and then we took a quick one-hour behind the scenes studio tour to see where all the CNN programming is done.

Miscellaneous Mischief

The Lex Edition:



For some reason, Connor said that Lex looked like Uncle Tim when he did this.  Something about the red hair and a mustache.  And a hot dog bun.

Lex told us that when he grows up, he wants to work in a puppy store.  And that he is going to pet each puppy 200 times every day.  Which is an awesome day job, so that he can train at night to be an American Ninja Warrior.  Because I'm pretty sure that is what he really wants to do, even if he doesn't know it yet.

Exhibit 1:



This is where a towel bar used to hang in the boys' bathroom in our home.  I sent the boys into the bathroom to brush their teeth during a commercial break in the American Ninja Warrior season finale episode tonight, because it was running so late and I wanted them to be ready for bed as soon as it ended.  Of course, Lex tried some of the ninja moves that he had just seen on TV in our bathroom, and well, the towel bar became a casualty of American Ninja Warrior monkey-see-monkey-do-ness.

Which is totally a real thing.

Universal Studios Hollywood

Our hotel room had a great view of Universal Studios.  I watched as people got to work over there, bright and early, while I ate my breakfast.  I'm sure I've told you before how much I love room service!



You can see where they are building the new Harry Potter attraction.  It's going to be those snow- and scaffolding-covered peaks.  It's supposed to be open sometime in December.  I really want to go see one of the Harry Potter worlds.  I know that the ones in Florida are done now.  Fortunately, the kids are just now getting into Harry Potter, so they will be ready when we get to see one.

Official Universal Studios Family Photo

The first ride that the kids picked to go on for the day was the Despicable Me Minion Mayhem ride.  Oh goodness, I laughed so hard!  It was seriously fun.

Gru was there.

And some Minions.  We love the Minions.

Sidebar:  I would love it if Lex decided to have a Minion-themed birthday party this year.  I think that would be so much fun to do.  But he'll probably pick something less cute and more tough, like Transformers.  He's gonna be six, after all.  But, there is going to be a new Minion movie this summer...so maybe he'll think it's a good idea, after all.

Then we decided to head down to the lower lot for the rest of the really popular rides, because it was so early in the morning and the wait times were still short.

We were surprised to meet Bumblebee when we got down there!



Then, Lex insisted that we see all the Transformers before heading back up to the upper lot.

Optimus Prime

Megatron.  He was a little bit scary.  Well, at least I thought so.

The Transfomers Ride was so fun.  It might have been my favorite.  Well, except for the Minions.  Those are my favorite.

No, wait, the Jurassic Park ride was my favorite!  I got really wet, even though no one else did.

Okay, okay, so all the rides at Universal are really great.  Well done, Universal guys!

Sidebar:  The kids were well prepared for the Jurassic Park ride, because we bought the trilogy of Jurassic Park movies to watch before the new Jurassic World movie is released this summer.

After conquering the lower lot, we back to the upper lot, and Connor insisted that he get a Krusty Burger for lunch.  (Or was it second lunch?  Maybe a snack?)  Lex's face is pretty much how I felt about eating anything named Krusty.



So, only Connor got a cheeseburger (we had been eating all day, and I don't know how he still had room for more), and he took it with him on the Studio Tour.



Hey look!  It's the Warner Bros. water tower!  I wonder if the Animaniacs are in there?



The Studio Tour was fun!

The King Kong 360 degree 3D experience was amazing!

Sidebar:  I haven't seen the Peter Jackson King Kong movie yet, but apparently there is a T-Rex?



Also great was the bit when we went into the subway and there was an earthquake.  And the bit with the flash flood in the old west.  And the part with Jaws!

Whoville!

After the tour, we saw a few more shows:  Shrek in 4D and the Special Effects Stage Show.  By this time we had pretty much done everything we wanted to do at Universal, except ride the Minion ride one more time.



Then, Lex won his very own Minion at a carnival game.  His name is Jerry Minion.  It was Tom Minion for a few hours, but then Lex said he had been confused and it was really Jerry.



Family Photo on a motorcycle used in the movie Inglorious Bastards.

Sidebar:  The scene with the milk!  That movie!  Brad Pitt!  Christoph Waltz!



Another movie motorcycle we had to try out.



Lex said that he wants to be a stunt man when he grows up.  I honestly think that might work out for him.  I mean, have you met Lex?  That's just about perfect.



The kids bought Minion slippers as their souvenirs from Universal Studios.  At first, Kevin didn't believe that they really wanted slippers, but I knew that they did.  We had been looking for slippers in stores at home for a while now, and because it's a small town, and it's summer, there were none to be had.  Plus, Minion feet are just awesome.

The end.

Super Bowl C

We did a little Roman Numerals unit study this week.  Because Super Bowl XLIX.  And Connor commented that he will be 58 years old when it is Super Bowl C.  So, he's planning to go.  He figures that when he is 58 he will have enough money to buy himself a nice Super Bowl vacation.  I'm all for it.  In fact, I want to go with him.  He thinks I might be too old for football by then, though.  Stupid math.

If I were a LEGO, I'd look just like this!

All about Connor and Lex, on their first day of school (yesterday):



You can click on the photos to enlarge them so that you can read their responses.  I wrote down exactly what they told me.

"Mom, how do I become famous?"

Today Lex asked me how he could become famous.  Because that's what he wants to be when he grows up.

I tried to think of as many answers as I could that did not involve playing sports or Hollywood.

Then the next day he told me that he wanted to be a spy when he grows up.

I think he would make an excellent spy, actually.  He's really good at getting other people to do whatever he wants.

He'd make a good famous spy, kinda like James Bond.

Things Lex Said Today

Me:  "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Lex:  "A karate person."

Me:  "Karate, huh?  How come?"

Lex:  "Kung Fu is my favorite."

Later

"Mommy, I have zombie eyes."

"What do you mean?"

"My eyes are green.  Hey, Mommy, you have zombie eyes, too!"

Our Friendly Neighborhood Tennis Academy

One of the biggest selling points for our house was the neighborhood.  The neighborhood is so nice.  And there are so many great things within walking distance from our house.

One of those great things is a tennis academy.  And they are serious about tennis.

Connor loved the tennis lessons that he took last summer.  He loved them so much that at one point afterwards when someone asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, he said, "a tennis teacher," which was a momentary diversion from his master plan, which is to go to the Air Force Academy and play football while studying to become a lawyer and fly planes, so that after college he can play for the Seattle Seahawks and then join NASA and be an astronaut, and after he gets back from outer space become the commissioner of the NFL.  (Really, I'm not making that up.  He did.)

Anyways, he also asked to do tennis lessons again this summer, but then we moved to Texas and it was too dang H.O.T. to play tennis in the summer.  Not that it stopped everyone else at the neighborhood tennis academy.  But it did stop us.  We're from Ohio and we knew better.

Now that it is only in the 80s every day, we went and signed Connor up for tennis lessons.  Twice a week, we walk over to the tennis courts and he plays tennis for an hour with other kids his own age.  Some of the lessons have a good five or six kids in them, and other days it's just him and another boy.



He is loving it!  I was worried that two days a week would be too much, but he doesn't think so.  Plus this is counting as his home school physical education right now.

Lex is still too young to do tennis lessons.  So some days we hang out on an empty court, and other days we go over to the playground.  We have even watched the swim team have their practices at the community pool that is right next to the tennis facility.  (There is some serious competition going on in that pool!)

Last time, we brought along his Lightning McQueen remote controlled car and he terrorized the common area between the tennis courts.


My favorite part?  "I'm not doing that.  I'm controlling Lightning McQueen to do it." As he bashes his car into the fence surrounding the courts over and over again.

Connor + Duplo = Hotel

Connor's favorite things to build with Duplo Lego bricks lately are hotels.  We stay in so many hotels, that I guess he has taken to designing his own.   He isn't without great inspiration, either, having stayed in some pretty swanky places, like the Waldorf Astoria in NYC and the Willard in D.C.

I think his designs are pretty good, actually.  Maybe he will be an architect when he grows up.

Here is one recent hotel that he designed and built:




And here it is from the other angle:

This hotel is so popular that there is a line of people waiting outside to check in.  (And I am using the term "people" loosely, as I see at least one alien in that queue.)

Another hotel he built recently was an oceanfront property like the Hilton we stayed at earlier this year in Daytona Beach.  That one didn't get photographed before it was taken apart to become something else (which is the nature of Duplo Legos), but it was so well done that I knew exactly what real-life building he intended it to be before he told me what it was.