Tuesday, March 30, 2010

FRIST Robotics Competition











I arrived home this morning after 9 days in Hawaii with our Robotics Team for a competition. We saw the sites and played with the robot, finishing 19th overall. We were in 9th going into our final qualifying match only to make a fatal mistake that got us disqualified in that match dropping us to our final standing of 19th.

We were chosen to participate in an alliance in the finals. We were knocked out in the quarter finals, but we had a good time.

I did arrive home to almost an addition hour of daylight. Sunset tonight was around 9:00p. Can't wait to see daylight in the morning before going to work.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Spring Break


Bruno - showing off the newly plowed track in the backyard.
Snow was still falling so may have to be out there again tomorrow morning.


The "moot" I had to shovel today. We got so much snow last night it was all the way up the retaining wall. We don't trust our boys not to go visit the local moose.


The plowed area in the backyard for the boys - without the plowed (or shoveled) area Nikan and Bruno would have to tunnel to the places they choose to do their business.


Moose taking her daily walk on the trail behind our house. Nikan was going crazy while I took this pictures. We relish the days that she walks by without the dogs knowing.


Walking the trail!!!


Spring Break has gotten off to a cold and snowy start. Monday found me with a friend in my ice fishing hut hoping to catch a big one. While we caught lots of little rainbow trout (6-8 inches) the big one escaped us. My friend did have a whopper on her line at one point...I am sorry to say it ran off with our best lure (the Swedish pimple). I am thinking it was a good 30 inches - at least that is what we are telling everyone.

It has been snowing for a couple of days but the bulk of it dropped over night. I spent about 1 1/2 this morning with the snow blower clearing our driveway, the neighbor's driveway and our yard.

We are seeing an abundance of moose these days. I say two by the highway today just chomping away. It is great to see these beautiful animals up close, unfortunately it is these brave (hungry) ones who venture too close to the highway and/or on/off ramps that tend to end up getting hit.

I was hoping to visit Seward later in the week but the recent volume of snow has also brought avalances. Two avalanches today in the Girdwood area closed the road for several hours. We will have to see how the weather shapes up tomorrow before making a final decision about a road trip.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures.