N Is For Nine and eNgiNeering

Badly-lit birthday breakfast documentation, but worth it for the bierocks and apple pie.  Oh! And for the boy! This marvelous little boy turned nine years old.

Here's a peek into the birthday boy's mind-- PLANES, FLIGHT, DRONES, PILOTS, REMOTE CONTROL EVERYTHING, DRONES, HAM RADIO, WOOD FORTS, HELICOPTERS, DRONES, HOMEMADE GO CARTS, LET'S BUILD WITH FOAMBOARD, DRONES, STICKS, MORE WOOD, TOOLS, KITES, WOOD, WHATEVER I CAN MAKE A MESS WITH, DRONES, YEEEEEEEEEES!

Zeke is a Dreamer and a Maker, both.

He loves the magic possibility of raw materials and can envision a use for anything, which means that I have to throw things away behind his back. He feels deeply and daydreams long and disappears in the wink of an eye if housework calls. He can fall away into Making for hours, but sitting down for 30 minutes of speech or reading is hard. He is becoming more and more interesting as he grows, and I can't wait to see what shape his daydreams take!

In April, it was mostly freehand foamboard plane to fly. And more lately, it's been the dismantling of cheap drones to make hybrid boats and planes. Many times I've muttered, "That boy!" upon finding the messy remains of his making, and I'm pretty sure there are more mutterings to come. 

Bonus! Here are two Very Professional videos Aidan took in April of the plane Zeke attached to a remote control car. 

I took this video in April because Zeke wanted to show Grandma Owen his first attempt at drone repurposing, using some parts from the drone she'd given him four months prior for Christmas (and which finally broke after many hours of use and multiple short-term fixes with a glue gun). His drone repurposing these days has resulted in a boat and a double-propeller mini plane that dizzily spins around on the floor in circles but still will not fly. It's like Wilber and Orville all over again...