According to Marilyn (Robyn’s mom who came out from Virginia to help with the cooking), the 2008 Juniors have eaten:
16 lbs of grapes
12 lbs of strawberries
3 lbs of cherries
12 nectarines
3 peaches
24 apples
1 watermelon
8 plums
and, wait for it, yes,
30 lbs of Clementine Oranges!

This tally was taken today at noon, so we can expect them to pack away a few more pounds of fruit by Saturday at noon.

Another brilliant idea from Marilyn - why spend all that time stitching up the canvas to fit the boats when we can staple it?

With the boat project in full swing today, Sam’s zip-line is not getting any attention. You know it’s a good project when they are forgetting about the toys outside.

I think we all know where most of the 30 pounds of oranges went…

Sam has been asking about making a surfboard since the boat project was announced. He proposed the design, refined it with Gever, and then set about to build it.

Everyone agrees that the curved boat is the most boat-like. Later we will regret the shape for all the problems it causes in getting a tight canvas skin on it.

Brenna and Fiona have the canvas-fitting system down. It’s a bit complicated to get the canvas to fold and lay flat in all the right places. We started out using string to tighten the canvas, but have resorted to nylon zip-ties for the sake of expediency.

The performance of a surfboard depends on the subtle things - the symmetry, the shape of the side rails, the thickness - and Sam had to give up thinking about all of those things when we wouldn’t let him use actual fiberglass and resin to make his.

Gever and Piper make an efficient team in the application of wax to the canvas. Piper’s natural tendency to obsess over details gives her the zen-like focus necessary to keep any air from getting trapped against the canvas.

There’s something odd about a bunch of kids reading Dilbert books…

Anna does not much care to play tag, so she often takes a book and reads for 15 minutes while everyone else runs around the yard squealing.

Anna, Fiona, and Brenna work out the kinks in another boat skin.

Anna has a secret super-power - she knows her way around a needle and thread. Our boats suddenly get a lot less flappy looking.

Anna is justifiably proud of her sewing on the stern of the last Nooi boat. With a coat of wax, this surface will shed water (hopefully out of, and not into the boat) when it cuts through the waves and chop of Princeton Harbor tomorrow.

Bob is teasing Piper about some bit of nautical lore. Brenna and Nik welcome the break from working with the difficult canvas.

We have, collectively, had enough of the boats. We decide to take a walk over to see the zonkey at a nearby farm - it’s becoming a Tinkering School tradition.

Gever accidentally let it slip that nasturtium flowers are often used as decoration on cakes, and that they edible. Elena promptly popped one in her mouth - before I could tell her to check for bugs.

“It tastes good at the beginning and then bad as an after-taste,” she said, adding, “can I have another one?”

Nik had to try a flower, but wanted it to seem more dangerous.

There are now two zonkies at the nearby farm. The woman who owns the farm purchased/rescued a zebra from a hunting resort in Texas and put it in a paddock with her prize donkeys, hoping that they might all get along.

Big heads, stripey legs and manes, and really big ears - the zonkey is the sterile offspring of a zebra and a donkey.

The tinkerers thought that it was mean that the zonkeys couldn’t have children.

Evidently, visitors are expected to bring carrots. If only we had known.

After the zonkeys, no one was quite ready to get back to tinkering, so we decided to walk down to see the Alpaca, stopping along the way for food so that we wouldn’t die from hunger.

“You can survive for five days without food,” offers Nikhil, “or is it three?”

We may have to send the goggles home with Piper.

As the minutes go by, the tinkerers lapse into introspective silences punctuated by fits of giggles.

Oranges are passed around, peels are tossed into the weeds along the road.

Even Sam find himself in a contemplative mood.

Recently shorn, the Alpaca do not disappoint as they frolic and gamble just like characters in a Disney film.

As we head home, the pace slackens to a stately amble - punctuated by fits of giggles.

Anna takes to the bridge as we head down for the evening tink. We’ll try to finish the skinning of one boat, finish the waxing of another, and dismantle a defunct color laser printer.

Elena, Brenna, Fiona, Piper, and Anna all get to work on the laser printer and soon have the case open and the guts spread out on the table.

Robyn removed the toner/ink before hand.

In a somewhat Huck Finn style moment, Nik, Sam, and Max enjoy the simple pleasures of applying hot wax to canvas.