DK Books and Other Stuff

Characters

noreply@blogger.com (oicned) — Thu, 10 May 2012 00:33:00 +0000

Here are a couple of Daryl's drawings with different characters.

On this first one, you can see a Nyan Cat and some Mario Kart racers. At the middle is Mario and it seems like he's carrying a Bob-omb. Following him is Luigi and some other characters.

On this drawing, you can see Mario, Luigi, Pickachu, Sonic, Knuckles. He wrote that they all found an X-box (green X with a circle). This X-box was also on the 1st drawing.

Another set of Mario Kart pictures

noreply@blogger.com (oicned) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 01:11:00 +0000

Here are other Mario Kart pictures made by Daryl. The first one is just a picture of Mario driving his car.

This one may be the current standings during the race where Mario is 1st and Daryl is 2nd.

Here's Mario's Standard Kart M (SKM) car.

Extreme Crunch!!!

noreply@blogger.com (oicned) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:54:00 +0000

This was Daniel's folder cover last year. We were just cleaning out some of the school items and I found this. I been only noticing the Popcorn picture last school year. I just happen to read the text now... so be very careful when eating this kind of Popcorn as it will get you kicked out of the movies! Ha ha ha.

Daryl's Mario Kart

noreply@blogger.com (oicned) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 22:30:00 +0000

Daryl had a Mario Standard Kart M and a Luigi Standard Kart M and one Standard Kart L for Mii outfit A and B.

2011 Philadelphia Phillies Scout Night

noreply@blogger.com (oicned) — Sat, 21 May 2011 04:25:00 +0000

Daniel's Cub Scout pack attended the Philadelphia Phillies Scout Night. The Scouts were allowed to walk around Citizen's Bank Park and Daniel and his friend, Franz, was on the new HD video screen. This was the day the Phillies unveiled this HD video screen.

Here's the video where Daniel can be seen at 0:04-0:07 with his friend Franz.

Even though it was a pre-season game, Roy Oswalt pitched in the game and they were playing against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The wind was blowing hard and it was so cold. We didn't finish the game because when we went down to the concourse area, I told Daniel that the temperature is too cold and we forgot to bring thick jackets. We left early and didn't finish the game. I was still able to watch the remainder of the game at home and the Phillies won.

2011 Pinewood Derby Videos

noreply@blogger.com (oicned) — Fri, 20 May 2011 04:06:00 +0000

I was not able to take a lot of videos of Daniel and Daryl's Pinewood Derby heats as Daniel had a school competition going on. We were actually driving back and forth since the other competition is also important. I'll be posting the details of that later. For now, here are a few of the videos.

This is Daryl's first heat. His car is the 3rd one from the right on this view. On 0:14 seconds, you will see that Daryl's car started to skid. I told him that his car Drifted (referring to the Tokyo drift on one of the Fast and the Furious movies). His car finished 3rd but jumped a bit after hitting the end of the track.

On this heat, Daryl's car is the 2nd one from the right. It appears that his car finished 2nd on this race.

This is Daniel's 1st heat of the competition. His car is on the 3rd lane from the right. If I remember correctly, he probably finished 6th on this one. I can't tell from the video because it looks like his car ended the same time as the other car.

Another heat with Daniel's car. His car is on the 4th lane from the right. It was obvious on this video that his car finished 4th.

I saw Daniel was a little bit frustrated because his car is way behind the other cars. But as I posted earlier, he won the Most Unique car and that wiped away the frustration.

I just hope next year's schedule wouldn't be as hectic as this year so I can take more videos and pictures.

2011 Pinewood Derby - Daniel's Car

noreply@blogger.com (oicned) — Fri, 20 May 2011 03:34:00 +0000

Now for Daniel's Pinewood Derby car. This car is actually 1 year in the making since Daniel didn't win anything on the last year's Pinewood Derby. After last year's awarding, I told Daniel that it will be difficult for him to win because there will always be a faster car than yours. I told him that we should just target the special awards on the next race. So, read on....

This year, Daniel's car has the easiest cut. We just had to make remove the marked piece shown below.

As you can see, the wood will still have the rectangular shape.

The two pieces after cutting the top part.

Tada!!! Daniel's car is actually a spaghetti box. I told him about this design a year ago and that he should not tell anyone and he should keep it a secret. He actually did.

I helped him scan one of the Spaghetti boxes and made a little bit of changes and here's how it would look like. I suggested to cut an area on the label just like a regular spaghetti box.

The wood was painted white to match the label.

Waiting for it to dry.

The label was cut in the center because I also suggested to put real spaghetti on the Pinewood Derby. I had to help him do this because we used super glue to attach the spaghetti. I didn't want him to glue his fingers.

We were able to salvage a clear plastic from the real spaghetti box.

It's time to add the weights. We also used the 1/2 ounces weights just like what we did on Daryl's Pinewood Derby car.

The weights fit nicely as well.

The block that Daniel received is a bit heavy, the block already weighed 4.8 ounces. After the cut piece, the weight went down a bit and we only added 1 ounce of weight.

At the registration table, Daniel's car is near Daryl's.

The parents liked Daniel's design because it's unique.

A picture of the car after the race.

We had to put a 'FRONT' sign on one side so the scouts putting the cars on the track will know which side is the front.

And just like what I told Daniel, we'll just target the special awards. He was sooooo happy when he received the 'Most Unique' car.

He even received a trophy with it.

The Most Unique car for the 2011 Pinewood Derby race for his Pack.

While at the car, I already told Daniel that I already have a couple of designs that I'm thinking of for next year. Now he's been thinking about it as well. Until next year then....

2011 Pinewood Derby - Daryl's Car

noreply@blogger.com (oicned) — Fri, 20 May 2011 03:08:00 +0000

It's time for me to post the Pinewood Derby Cars of Daryl and Daniel. Let me start with Daryl's car this time since he's not a Cub Scout yet and he requested this design for his car. Last year, I just used a pre-cut car for him but this year was a little bit tough because of the different cuts.

This is the wooden block and we're starting with Daryl's design.

He wanted his car to look like this and I'll you know why later.

The rear of the car has an outline of the boosters of the car.

I have shaded the area that needs to be cut.

The block has been cut and as you can see, the wood is still rough.

Here's a different look.

The block looks nicer after sanding.

Back view

Made a hole at the back of the car for the weights.

We used 1/2 ounces weights. I got these from Harbour Freight store.

They fit nicely and will be adding wood putty to cover it up.

Daryl draw on the car and wanted a Mario logo.

Here's another look.

I had to add one more weight at the bottom because it's still light.

Added wood putty on the bottom to cover the weights.

Here's the top view with the wood putty.

Now for the boosters. We used a Dremel tool to shape this.

We replaced the wood putty because it's taking long to dry.

Here's the bottom part.

Here's what it looks like after painting and adding Daryl's accessories.

He said that this guy is Mario and this is his Kart. I had to cut some more wood on the front of the car because it was over the weigh limit when we measured it.

Added a white circle.

Painted a red 'M' to signify that this is Mario's Kart. Daryl calls it Standard Kart M.

Ready to Race.

Vrrooomm....

Here's Daryl's car at the table after registration.

Now that those pictures are done, I mentioned earlier that there's a reason why he wanted this design. If you click on this link, you'll probably guess the reason.

Thanks for reading. I'll be posting Daniel's Pinewood Derby car in a bit.

2011 Family Picture

noreply@blogger.com (oicned) — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 03:29:00 +0000

This is this year's (2011) edition of Daniel's Family Picture sketch. As you can see below, he created a house with the family members in it.

On the body of the house (square part) is me and my wife. On the roof area, the kids have their on places.

The left side of the roof has Daryl on it with a car. This is so because Daryl really likes cars and he has a lot of drawings about cars as well. I will be posting his car drawings soon but don't expect it to be different from the one I posted on January 2nd. The car drawings look pretty much the same, I don't know how he does it but they really do.

In the middle part of the roof is Daniel. He's into video games, he thinks about it everyday and dreams about it, and talks a lot about it, too.

The right side has Daphne on it. She pretty much plays with any toy she can pick up. She even cleans up after her brothers who just leave their toys anywhere around the house. I'll probably just teach her to hide them somewhere the boys won't be able to find them.

Kids Workshop at The Home Depot - Battery Center

noreply@blogger.com (oicned) — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 01:20:00 +0000

Last Saturday, I brought Daniel (or should I say dragged him) to the Kids Workshop at the Home Depot. He was a little tired from a lego-like building contest that he attended that morning. I told him that we should go so he can make a Heart Shelf for his little sister and he agreed.

When we arrived there, he was given an option to do the Heart Shelf or the Battery Center (scheduled last January 1st). Being a boy that he is, he didn't want to do the Heart Shelf because he thinks its for girls so he opted for the Battery Center.

The parts of the Battery Center laid out on the table

Bottom part is already assembled

Attaching the back piece

Finished product

The Battery Center, Certificate, Instructions, Pin and a couple of stickers

The pin and stickers at the upper left

One final look at the Battery Center

I think this product will be used by the kids so they can keep their batteries for their toys. The Battery Center can also be hanged on the wall if needed. I told Daniel to paint it first before using it. It may take a little while though since he has a lot of school and extra-curricular activities.

Daryl's 2010 Family Picture

noreply@blogger.com (oicned) — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 11:23:00 +0000

Here's Daryl's drawing of our family picture. He did this last year when he saw that I posted Daniel's drawing of our family picture. I guess he decided to have his own version.

As seen on the picture, Daryl is on the left-most side with the glasses.Daniel is beside him and my wife and our baby Daphne. I'm on the right-most side.

Happy New Year!!!

noreply@blogger.com (oicned) — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 18:50:00 +0000

Here's a drawing created by Daryl for the New Year. We hope that everybody had a safe New Year celebration and may you have a prosperous 2011.

Lowe's Build and Grow - Train Engine

noreply@blogger.com (oicned) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 14:52:00 +0000

The last piece of the Lowe's Build and Grow Train Set was completed by Daryl on December 18. We left home early on that Saturday and I believe we were at Lowe's around 10 minutes after 10am.

Upon reaching the Build and Grow area, I was surprised that there was no table space left. We had to wait a few minutes until 1 space cleared. I was able to see the box where the wood kits were stored and I saw about 4 pieces left in the box.

When Daryl started creating his Train Engine, I saw a few more kids waiting for their Train Engine kit but the Build and Grow Helper informed the kids' parents that she ran out of kits. I looked at the time and it was only about 10:20am and I was shocked that the no more kits were left and it was still early.

Daryl was lucky that he was able to get one. If we didn't, we had to try another Lowe's which is about 25-30 minutes away.

Daryl is almost done with his engine. Getting ready to put the wheels.

Wheels are installed. Time to put the stickers

Train Engine, Certificate, Instruction Sheet and Patch

Closer look at the Train Engine and Patch

The complete Train Set and Patches

Complete Train Set patches

Daryl was so happy to complete his Train set. He was looking forward to paint all of them using his favorite color (red) and he also can't wait to show Daniel what he has done.

While on the way out of the store, I remembered that our neighbor/friend was also bringing her daughter to complete the train set. I called her up and told her to try the other Lowe's store since they ran out of kits at the store we're in.

This Train set was a nice way to end the year for the Lowe's Build and Grow program. The Lowe's store that we go to already had a schedule for the next 4 kits. Daryl is ready for the next year and is already looking forward to create the Lowe's 'Pull back race car' on February 26, 2011.

Lowe's Build and Grow - Passenger Car

noreply@blogger.com (oicned) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 13:26:00 +0000

I brought Daryl back to Lowe's last December 11 to make the 2nd piece of the Lowe's Build and Grow train set. The area was packed that day. It looked like this train set caught the eyes of the kids and asked their parents to bring them to Lowe's.

Daryl was so excited on the way to Lowe's. You can see on his face that he wanted to create the train. At the parking lot, he was rushing to go to the Build and Grow area.

Daryl opening the Passenger Car kit

Assembling the pieces

Finished product (Passenger Car)

Passenger Car, Certificate, Instruction Sheet and Patch

A closer look at the Passenger Car and the patch

Passenger Car connected to the Caboose. The patches also connects to each other.

2 pieces done, 1 to go. The train cars look great connected to each other and being able to connect the patches is also an excellent idea.

Kids Workshop at The Home Depot - Picture Frame

noreply@blogger.com (oicned) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 05:45:00 +0000

The Home Depot was also conducting its Kids Workshop the same day (December 4) as Daryl created his Caboose. I had it planned to swing by Home Depot since in my area, Home Depot is less than 100 feet away from Lowe's (stores are basically beside each other).

Since Daryl was going to make a picture frame, he really wasn't into it. I was able to convince him that he will be adding a new pin on his Home Depot apron. It was a good thing that the Picture Frame was easy enough to do and we didn't spend a lot of time at Home Depot.

The Kids Workshop was full though and luckily we were able to find an extra seat. It was also good that the Picture Frame kit has stickers with it and that made Daryl interested in finishing the kit. He was looking forward to have the frame painted so he can put on the stickers.

Picture Frame kit

Picture Frame, Certificate, Instruction sheet and stickers

Back of the Picture Frame

Daryl has 5 pins now.

Close up of the Picture Frame pin

As I mentioned earlier, the Kids Workshop was done in the same day as the Lowe's Build and Grow program. When we were heading out to our car, we saw some kids coming from the Build and Grow program and I'm sure they were heading to the Kids Workshop.

I think this was a good day for the kids since they were able to do two wood kits in a day. It's usually rare that this happened because the Kids Workshop is usually done during the 1st Saturday of the month while the Lowe's Build and Grow program usually happens on the 2nd and 4th Saturday of the the month.

Lowe's Build and Grow - Caboose

noreply@blogger.com (oicned) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 04:57:00 +0000

Last December 4, I brought Daryl to the Lowe's Build and Grow program because he wanted to build a Caboose. Daryl likes trains as seen on previous posts about his Geotrax Trains.

I initially thought that this is the only train piece that we will be making. We found out that there are 2 other train pieces that can be assembled in the next two weeks. When Daryl learned about it, he can't wait to complete his Lowe's train set.

Let me share some pictures of what Daryl assembled.

Here's Daryl opening the Caboose kit

Hammering a nail.

Caboose, Certificate and Instruction Sheet

Closer look and the Caboose patch

Another look at the Caboose/patch

I was able to bring Daryl to the other two Lowe's train building activity. I'll be posting the pictures of them a bit later.

Space Travelers Out of Control 2 - All Pages

noreply@blogger.com (oicned) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 22:55:00 +0000

Space Travelers Out of Control 2

2009 Family Picture

noreply@blogger.com (oicned) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 00:50:00 +0000

As I mentioned on my post a couple of weeks ago, Daniel didn't create a family picture for 2009. I was wrong about it.

While going through some of his stories, I found this picture. He titled it Jet Pack Hoorray! and at the back he written 2nd year. I believe he's referring to the 2nd year of this site.

The year 2009 is depicted at the bottom and he used stickers to represent the two zeroes. On the picture, Daniel is on the left-most side, it appears that he didn't have glasses yet when he drew this. Same thing with Daryl who is beside him, he didn't have glasses yet. I'm beside Daryl and my wife is on the right-most on the picture.

Space Travelers Out of Control 1 - All Pages

noreply@blogger.com (oicned) — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 23:33:00 +0000

Space Travelers Out of Control

Blast! - pp 136-138 (Ending)

noreply@blogger.com (oicned) — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 22:18:00 +0000

Red caught the guy by using his power

Prevented him from falling

Red saved the guy and he's going home.

THE END

Time Capsule

noreply@blogger.com (oicned) — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 23:38:00 +0000

Daniel decided to make a Time Capsule thinking that somebody in the future will be able to get it. He placed a lot of toys and things in it and buried it at our backyard. I told him to take some pictures of his time capsule so I can put it in his site.

Here's the Time Capsule. He wrote "For: Anybody, From: Dan"

Not sure what's going on with the strings around it.

Here's the cover. He wrapped it with paper and used a Sharpie to color it black.

The bottom of the Time Capsule. It says, "From: Daniel"

Inside of the Time Capsule

Here are the stuff that he's putting in: crayons, markers, silly bands, Go Go's, toys, a dollar, and coins (local and international)

Here's Daniel digging up the hole. I told him to put the Time Capsule in a Ziploc bag so water will not go inside it and also it will prevent some rusting on the can.

Not really sure who's going to get it but maybe in the next 5 or 10 years, Daniel or Daryl might dig it up.

Jet Packs Away, Book 2 - All Pages

noreply@blogger.com (oicned) — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 01:57:00 +0000

Jet Packs Away Book 2

GeoTrax Tracks - part 2

noreply@blogger.com (oicned) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 22:19:00 +0000

I knew I missed some photos when I posted Daryl's GeoTrax creations. Here are some of the old ones that he created.

Rectangle 8 track

Car track

Bridge oval track

Bridge Hat track

2 square double square track

A square and oval tracks

Old man with a rectangle track

A statue rectangle track

A bridge track

An elf shoe track

Oval and Double square tracks

Games

noreply@blogger.com (oicned) — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 22:30:00 +0000

Here's an old drawing by Daniel. Looks like I'm getting time now to post these stuff. Like what I mentioned earlier, I'm way way behind.

I believe the kids are skipping rope. As you can see, Daniel even added strings to depict the ropes.

Insane Kart Racing - All Pages

noreply@blogger.com (oicned) — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 21:50:00 +0000

Insane Kart Racing