It’s all acoustic at Session 1, but Gever joins the jam on his uke with Fiona and Elena.

Anna is wrapping her brain around the teepee design. Perhaps its Gus’ deep understanding of trigonometry that has amazed her.

Gever steps in to clarify the teepee design. They won’t be building a giant sphere, although the description of how they plan to all lie down sounds more like cats curled up in a ball than camping out.

The Nooi are prototyping their shelter design. That blue tarp-stand-in looks suspiciously like my tablecloth. Well, they haven’t put it on the road and laid down on it. Yet.

The Kablooi team is shocked at the price of buckets these days. With the skyrocketing cost of PVC pipes, they don’t have enough money to also buy a bucket. How on earth will they cover the opening at the top of the teepee?

The vast array of choices in PVC joints at Ocean Shore Hardware is staggering the Nooi. Julianna is literally fit to be tied.

Gus wrangles the PVC pipe destined to become the Kablooi teepee. I wonder how the smallest Tinkerer will be getting that pipe up on top of the big truck rack? Just another puzzle to solve at Tinkering School!

The Piki await their grand total with bated breath. Their extremely streamlined design leaves room for luxuries like screen for their windows. However, their choice of a single roll of neon yellow duct tape (aka duck tape aka gorilla tape) will come back to haunt them.

After the arduous shopping excursion, everyone is ready for a picnic at the beach. Since the shelters still need to be built, there will be no sand or swimming today. This saddens some Tinkerers (although you wouldn’t know it from this group!).

Gever comes through (as usual) with a fine substitute for eating lunch on the beach.

Everyone takes a longing look at how tantalizingly close the beach actually is. But not TOO close a look.

Is it the shopping, the victorious carrying, or the prospect of building a black plastic pyramid that quickly becomes christened “the Kid Cooker” (and seems to be more sauna than shelter) that has Piper so excited?

As Carter (and Leo) work on their mastery of the long-distance tape measure, they learn the downside of using sharpies to mark the measurements: an extra hand is needed to remove the cap.

Piper, the tallest of the Nooi, confirms that the base of the pyramid is long enough for her to lie down (one of the shelter requirements). Later, we confirm that Wednesday shall be known as “Clean Shirt Day” for all involved in today’s project.

The PVC pyramid is quite well-constructed. And well ventilated. The tribe seem hesitant to cover it up in the light-absorbing, heat-capturing, shapeless black plastic.

Due to their minimalist design, the Piki were able to purchase an extremely attractive green and brown tarp. There is some discussion about which side goes out, but a 3 person team is built for issue resolution.

Since the challenge is to build a shelter that fits your entire team lying down, it’s not entirely clear why Gever has them confirming they can all stand up in it. The Kablooi Teepee is, however, the only structure that anyone can stand up in. So why not flaunt it? Plus they will be the only team with clean shirts at the end of the day. Wet, but clean.

Anna and Elena have just realized that Gever expects them to get all the way to the tippy top of the teepee to secure the poles and affix the covering.

As Gever explains the finer points of teepee building and the origin of PVC and why it’s so hot in the barn, Sam wonders when he’s going to get to the part about what they need to do next.

Julianna tries out the pyramid, and wonders what she’s gotten herself into.

The Piki really are getting this long-distance measuring thing down. If only the tape measure was as much fun to play with as the cordless power drill!

It sounds so easy, but it turns out that the supply bin has a large array of dull scissors. No one can believe it could be this hard to cut a tarp, but Carter allows all the Doubting Thomases to experience it for themselves. Fortunately, the Piki’s expert measuring skills measure up: there is no errant cutting.

Everyone gets a turn at drilling the holes in the PVC (for the rope that keeps them from wandering too far afield). Gus doesn’t have as much experience with the drill, so his team joins forces to help him get it done.

Gever needs a single piece of wire to create a needle for threading the rope through the holes in the PVC. Gus can barely contain his enthusiasm to check out the wire – Gever is hardly able to get his single piece extracted before Gus Must Have Them. It’s entirely unclear _why_ this is so. But it is.

We’ve gotten this far, so I’m sure you want to see how the PVC holes, rope and wire needle all come together. Elena demonstrates.

Fiona has made it quite clear she doesn’t like to be photographed. But Steve is persistent. Fiona tries threatening him with scissors. Based on the blur I’d say she shook him up a bit.

It turns out Fiona’s scissor waggling (and later duct tape throwing) only strengthens Steve’s resolve. He returns with not one, not two, not even three, but now FOUR recording devices to capture Fiona in action. I wonder if the iPhone is shooting photos or video?

Piper and Julianna take turns with Julianna’s pocket knife. The goal: to whittle two tent stakes from small branches found outside. Given the pace is about the speed of sharpening a pencil by hand, suffice it to say that the gals spend a significant portion of the afternoon whittling.

Theo (the Consultant today) suggests using a rope to keep their tent roof taught (no pole required). Robyn likes to think of it as a giant sewing project, although the Piki boys might like to know it’s also called lacing. Not lace like doilies, Nik. By the way, Leo is doing an excellent job.

Sam’s shirt seems particularly apropos today, sitting there in the teepee.

Turns out Sam is actually peacefully working on a little guy made out of wire (Gus must have dropped a piece!) who is balanced standing up in the teepee.

Sam’s little wire guy.

Gus and Elena inspect the security of the teepee top wrapping that Sam and Anna did. You don’t think it was just an excuse to climb up the big ladder, do you?

The Piki test their shelter. Not only can they all lie down, but they can also sit rather comfortably in there. Since there is still a long way to go to get it closed in, the tent is christened “Piki Leaky”.

Right about now Leo is thinking “how much more measuring can there possibly be in this project? is there really going to be ZERO drilling? not a single screw to drive? maybe one of the other teams needs some drilling. i should ask around.”

No one can believe we were ALL outside when Sam decided to go inside to talk to the llama. And it spit at him! Not a single witness. No documentation. He hardly even got wet – apparently the llama thought he was dealing with Gever and spit way over Sam’s head. Well, there is always tomorrow.

It looks perfect, doesn’t it? Gently, casually, just soaring through the air, directly to Fiona’s mouth. Fiona’s wide-open, much larger than grape-sized mouth. She’s not even laughing uncontrollably. It should totally be sailing right into her mouth.

Ok, so how close can a grape get to landing in someone’s mouth without actually going IN their mouth? About this close, right? And how many times in a row can it happen? More than you would believe.

The pyramid needs to be disassemblable, and since a limit as been declared on the amount of duct tape you can transport into the field, the Nooi have to resort to power tools for this step of the construction. Fiona uses the fancy new vice while Julianna provides (mostly moral) support.

The Kablooi teepee is still looking, to the untrained eye, about the same as it did an hour ago. But now it has duct tape footings to keep it from collapsing when working on it. The plan is for it not to do that when they get it outside (collapse due to the feet sliding).

The Nooi pyramid looks deceptively like it did about two hours ago. But it’s so much more now. It has a name. And a sign. And a floor!

Sam is obviously quite happy to see that the teepee might actually one day provide shelter. And that day could even be today. Although there is no door yet, and now Gever is talking about button knots.

Looks can be deceiving, and – despite what you might think – Leo is actually securing the center of the tent (while Robyn holds the other end, keeping it taut). This enables Nik and Carter to tape together the side seam without creating large, water-yielding gaps. Of course none of us believe it’s a coincidence that Leo holds the tent support pole like a scepter. Or maybe that’s an old-man cane?

Gever has figured out how to turn his favorite knot into a button. And the teepee just happens to require some buttons. So the Kablooi all learn how to tie the button knot. (Hint: it’s like a climber’s knot tied very close to the loop; then you pass… something… through the loop and it bumps like a button. Don’t ask me – I was taking the pictures, not listening!)

Gus discovers that the button knot also makes a fine stethoscope knot.

Elena cuts a hole in the teepee entranceway so the buttonhold knot rope can be tied onto the pole. Another hole is cut in the door flap so that the door will close. Note the fine edge detail on the doorway. How strong it is. How pretty it is. How large a gap it has since nothing was added to the cut edges. How much water will come through when the Rain God visits?

After a long day of shelter building, the Piki are taking full advantage of their luxurious shelter and catching a few winks. Too bad they didn’t put the floor in first. By the way, did I mention that Wednesday will be Clean Shirt Day?

Robyn demonstrates the wonderful window just created in the Piki Leaky shelter. This shelter really has everything: room to lay down, room to sit up, a solid roof, ventilation. And soon – window screens!

The Kablooi tribe decides that their teepee really could use a little ventilation as well. Gus demontrates their reinforced window.

Stage 1 completed! The Kablooi teepee is being successfully transported only by the Kablooi tribe.

The Nooi Kid Cooker (aka pyramid sauna) even has convenient carry-handles. And only 2 team members are needed to carry it. Nice design!

Robyn leaves to start dinner and Julie is unsuccessful in getting the Piki to make a carry case. We manage to tie 3 strings for door closures and wrap the tent with a scrap of tarp and a bit of string in order to carry it and hopefully not lose any parts. Luckily the structure is lightweight and there are plenty of hands for the spare parts (tent stakes and floor tarp).

Each team must carry their structure down to the previously unknown location of the PikiNooiKablooi village. The Piki and Nooi both have lightweight designs requiring only 2 to carry.

The Nooi try to remember their plan for reconstructing the pyramid. Later they will remember that the plan was to put together the frame INSIDE the giant trashbag – I mean windowless sauna – I mean hand-crafted Kid Cooker. Luckily there is plenty of time.

The Piki seem to be unsure about this being the same tent they were working on the barn. “I don’t remember there being this rope here.” “Was there only one pole?” “I thought our tarp was rectangular….”

Despite the large amount of time it spent looking nothing like a teepee, the Kablooi teepee returns to full teepee-ness almost immediately upon arrival in the village. Anna now understands why someone suggested they put the floor down first, though.

The pyramid is nearly back to its original pyramidal self. Julianna is wondering where best to put the sign. If they mount it directly on the shelter, it’s bound to get wet when the Rain God visits.

The Kablooi team demonstrates just how comfortable a teepee can be. Oh, aren’t they a happy tribe? So happy. And dry.

The Nooi have made a slight miscalculation – the ground is not soft enough to push a stake into. Especially not a home-made, hand-whittled-stick stake. Piper remembers seeing this in a Flintstones cartoon: you can use a rock as a hammer! For some reason, upon exiting the pyramid, Fiona finds this scene Absolutely Hysterical. Much uncontrolled laughter ensues.

While the tribes secure their shelters, Gus demonstrates the carefree pasttime of grass jumping. Gever insists on capturing it without looking through the viewfinder, but manages this quite unexpected documentation of the sideline observers.

The Rain God arrives and notifies the tribes they must RoShamBo to see who will be rained on first. There is some crazy even-odd version of RoShamBo and the villagers are bit thrown off by the whole thing. Or maybe they’re just trying to get their heads around why Gever has put a colander-like bowl on his head.

Carter loses the RoShamBo and the Rain God will visit the Piki Leaky first. Anna either finds this hysterical or has been inspired to interpet the occasion through dance. The tribe secure themselves for the deluge.

Aha – the colander appears to be a sprinkling mechanism. Rain is successfully simulated.

Everyone is anxious to discover if the Piki was indeed Leaky. Is Leo wet, or just recovering from the tension of not knowing?

Since the gang were all sitting down, and there is a strong suspicion that the water ran right across the floor, the evidence must be presented. Nik’s ginger fingering of his shirt is a dead giveaway.

Piper has lost the traditional RoShamBo, so the Nooi are up next. Anna is again clearly ecstatic about the whole situation. Perhaps she doesn’t understand that her team will not escape the Rain God, but only have a few minutes reprieve?

Julianna watches for the approaching Rain God, so the Nooi can batten down the hatches at the last possible moment, thereby avoiding any excess Kid Cookery.

And the Rain God visited the Nooi and the pyramid got wet. Take a really close look. There are fingers attempting to hold the door closed, since there was a miscommunication about the design. And Carter seems clearly impressed at the enthusiasm of the Rain God in getting kids wet.

The newly cut windows ended up keeping the water out (unexpectedly), however the rain fly as door did not. The Nooi must now deal with a puddle in the pyramid. Luckily the tribe is only a tad wet.

Mysteriously, the Kablooi all remove their shoes and socks before returning to the teepee to await the Rain God. Even more shocking, they leave them all neatly on the bench. What has gotten into these kids??

By now everyone has heard about the fatal flaw in the teepee design: the hole at the top where the PVC poles come together. The crowd insists Gever pour the water on the top (the ladder was fetched to ensure this). As expected, as soon as the water tumbles out, shrieks abound inside the teepee. Note the giant, child-shaped bulge forming on the side furthest from the water.

Amazingly, Anna still wears her expression of unbridled enthusiasm, even while nearly soaked to the skin. You’d think Gever would be a little disappointed, since it was his design. You don’t think this was his plan all along, do you?

When the Rain God announces he is going for a refill and will soon revisit the teepee, nearly every Tinkerer lines up to get inside. Theo is trying to remember what it was like to be 10.

The teepee is actually suprisingly spacious inside. Of course its shape aids in the distribution of water from the top, so no one is likely to escape getting wet. Oh right – that seems to be the point!

What better way to ensure that everyone puts on a clean shirt tomorrow than to have a project that requires lying on the barn floor followed by getting soaking wet? A record number sign up for showers this evening.

Gever has brought the Tough As Nails puzzle he created for Maker Faire. The gang gets all the way to Level 5 before asking for insights into nail conductivity.

Is anyone else suspicious about the fact that the entire Kablooi tribe removed their shoes and socks before the Rain God visited their teepee? And does anyone believe that story about them all “forgetting” about the triangular piece of plastic for the top? The proof is in the lineup to get back in the teepee when the Rain God decided to come back for a second visit….