by Matthew | Mar 21, 2014 | Friday Mashup |
Hello Everyone!
For whatever reason, there’s not much to mash today. Perhaps you were all too busy outside enjoying the springtime to send us your stories and pictures, but I have only a few things to share today, though wonderful things they are.
For example, this drawing from Simon.
I’m guessing you can tell that this is a leprechaun. But did you notice that it is a leprechaun playing skee ball? If you don’t know about skee ball, then you should learn about skee ball, because it is one of my favorite games. Here’s a link to get you started. Perhaps skee ball will be the theme of the week at some point.
In my experience, one does not win a pot of gold for excelling at skee ball, but that said, I have never played skee ball with a leprechaun.
Moving on, then, to other signs of spring.
Here is Alden’s drawing of our welly wanging efforts.
You can see the path of the welly and the bright yellow tape measure with which we measured the might of the toss.
A close, up, for those of you without superhero vision.
If you have not yet entered the International Interwebs Welly Wanging Competition, here are the rules.
Here is an accounting of our family’s wanging.
And here is the trophy you could win by wanging your welly the farthest.
Which is to say, if you have not yet wanged your welly, why on earth not?
We will consider all welly wanging results received by the end of tomorrow (Saturday, March 21), so grab your welly, head out of doors (or stay inside if you live in a castle with an enormous ballroom) and start wanging.
Did you know that today is the first day of spring?
Look what’s happening outside.
Before the flowers came up, my mom made some shamrock cookies in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. They made me think of spring.
And, lastly, here is Robbi’s drawing of spring, in case you missed it on Tuesday.
If anyone is feeling quite motivated, this painting can still be had on Ebay through 12:30EST tomorrow (Sunday, March 22), though the bidding has gotten quite spirited.
And now, I am ready to head outside for a walk on this beautiful spring day. But before I do, it is my pleasure to announce the winner of the Bobbledy Theme Week Trophy for Spring is none other than…
I’m not sure how Simon knew that I am a sucker for 1) Leprechauns and 2) skee ball, but his strategy was extremely effective.
You can just download this image to print it out and color it in, or get the pdf HERE, Simon!
As for the rest of you:
1) GO WANG YOUR WELLYS
2) ENJOY THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING, and
3) CHECK BACK TOMORROW FOR A POST ON OUR NEW THEME.
We missed seeing your drawings and reading your stories this week.
Bobbledy is only as fun as you make it. Unless, of course, it’s only as fun as WE make it, in which case: WE’LL TRY HARDER!
by Robbi | Mar 19, 2014 | KidQuiz |
Does it feel like Springtime where you are? Actually, it’s been snowing here in Bobbledyville, but we’ve still got Spring Fever. Here’s this week’s quiz about Spring. Let’s see how you do!
[WpProQuiz 12]
Well done! Alright, now that you know all about Spring, it’s time to get down to business. And business is…
WELLY WANGING!!
Yes, whether you’re in the Northern Hemisphere or the Southern Hemisphere, you can (nay, you MUST!) join us in the first ever International Interwebs Welly Wanging Competition! The rules are outlined in our theme post (which you can find HERE) but the idea is simple:
1. Welly Wanging is basically a ferocious competition of throwing a rubber boot (known as a “Welly,” which is short for “Wellington,” a brand of rubber boots in England and the British environs). Anyone can do it:
(we even tried to get Iggy to join in, but she refused, claiming that throwing is for people and fetching is for dogs).
Boys and girls:
Even two-year-olds can compete, though August’s toss came in at 32″ (since official regulations state measurements must be made in yards, feet and inches, it actually came in at 2 feet, 8 inches), which one might argue isn’t really competing.
2. Once you’ve made the toss, you need to measure how far your welly has flown.
We discovered that having multiple tape measures on hand made it much more exciting for the many (count: three) people who were desperate to use a measuring tape.
3. You have to wang your welly from behind a designated line on the “thong” – the “thong” being your area of play. You may simply stand behind the line and throw it, or you are allowed a run-up of 42 paces.
I attempted a windmill-style run-up, in which I swung the welly around multiple times during my approach. I don’t think it helped, and I almost hit Kato in the head three times, so keep in mind to clear the pitch if you plan to do a run-up.
4. Traditionally, the “thong” is a specific area in the original welly wanging competition site in England. For our purposes, we just agreed that the welly had to land on or near the sidewalk. Allowances were made, however, for grandmothers:
or at least this grandmother, whose welly ended up hitting the back of Doug the Baker’s and landing in a pile of leaves.
5. Be careful to record everyone’s measurements.
(Being careful, of course, not to mix up Mama and Papa’s tosses, because it made Papa look bad). Alden recorded first in inches, and we had to work together to get the proper conversions to yards, feet and inches – a somewhat taxing math exercise.
6. It helps to get your strongest wanger to go last.
There are a couple reasons for this. Number one is that everyone gets exhausted having to run so far to find the welly.
Number two is that you’ll need to commit a fair amount of downtime to measuring. It’s best to do this once everyone has figured out a successful strategy.
And number three is that through brute strength, the best welly wangers often eviscerate their welly, and (apparently) can injure themselves enough in the process to prohibit further throws. It also messes up the game for everyone else who might have been sharing (or wearing) that welly.
And so, the first entries to the first International Interwebs Welly Wanging Competition are as follows (from shortest distance to longest):
August Swanson: 2 feet, 8 inches
Alden Swanson: 5 yards, 2 feet, 1 inch
Kato Swanson: 7 yards, 8 inches
Robbi Behr: 10 yards, 7 inches*
Matthew Swanson: 24 yards, 2 feet, 5 inches**
So those are the numbers you have to beat.
* potential disqualification due to endangering another contestant. Decision pending by judges.
** potential disqualification due to destruction of fellow contestant’s welly. Decision pending by judges.
The WINNER of the first International Interwebs Welly Wanging competition will come away with THIS very fine high-class trophy of glory and sophistication, sent via post to the contestant with the highest score:
The first and second runners-up will win an archival 8″x10″ framable art print of their choice from any of Robbi’s drawings. For those of you who have lost out on auctions, now is your chance! First and second runners-up will not only be judged on distance, but also on style points. If you send us a good story or photo of your welly wanging, you might win the judges over in the artistic category.
And there you have it!
Now you’ve learned everything there is to know about Spring, it’s time to get outside and do some Welly Wanging!! Post results in the comments here or on any spring-related post, or use #bobbledyspring on instagram to enter the competitive fray!
