Fog and dusk bring an ethereal mood to the Tinkerers – but it doesn’t last and soon everyone is playing Hide-and-Seek tag in the dark.

The Keepers of the Monument perform the nightly ritual of affixing LEDs and spinning the four sacred wheels (each representing one of the pillars of Tinkering; Imagination Construction, De-construction, and Fooling Around.

Anna uses two LEDs to trace the outline of her two friends Elena and Fiona.

Steve brought a laser-pointer ($14.99 on Amazon.com) which led to a very late evening of free-form exploration and a plan to try painting a picture of some kids (Anna and Carter) using just the laser.

Using his big flashlight, Gever paints a stand of native grasses outside his tent cabin. Does he ever stop tinkering?

The village is quiet at dawn. Theo and Sam in the lean-to, Piper and Anna in the monument, Leo already reading, and Carter _almost_ in the Piki tent (now empty since Leo is up). The teepee, with its cinnamon bun sleeping arrangement, was deemed unworthy. The Nooi pyramid was quickly abandoned by Fiona and Elena when the earwig infestation was found. Steve reported that the regular sleep-talkers were unusually silent this night.

It’s a Tinkering School tradition to send the kids home with the means to keep tinkering. First-timers receive their toolkits: Leo is appropriately impressed; Carter fears they may run out before he gets his.

The class of 2009 (Junior edition).

The kids have been promised Free Build time after they’ve packed up, before the parents arrive. Some are eager to finish their cars. Julianna has been working on presents for her parents: LED lanterns she invented.

I don’t think there was any specific purpose to the effort, but after balloons were found, they simply had to be blown up.

Gus explains his PVC contraption: it’s a water-jet-thingy. Water from a hose or a sprinkler goes in at this end and goes out over there.

Olivia, Carter’s little sister, is quite pleased with the LED she’s been given. Not sure if it’s because she made it light up, or because it’s pink and goes so perfectly with her butterfly wings. (The sling arrived with her – NOT as a result of tinkering!)

Gus and Nik pose for a shot since their mom couldn’t come today. Sam is wondering if he should drop in on them….

Sam – enjoying life.

Matt is suitably impressed by the screened-in windows in the Piki tent. (Robyn was later heard to comment that she would totally buy one of these tents, if the floor was attached – boys, you have a product calling!).

Carter gives Marshall and Olivia a tour of the Piki Pup Tent (which I have been erroneously calling the Piki Leaky). Marshall is eager to check it out, but doesn’t want to put down the super-cool car that Carter gave him. Carter helps him out, as any doting big brother would do.

Families are gathered around to hear the story of the building of the monument, surprising Gever, and, most importantly, how to get inside.

Leo tries to make sure his sister Rose doesn’t repeat his head-bonking experience when exiting the monument. She seems to have a pretty good technique worked out.

Leo shows his mom and sister the Piki tent, and starts to describe sleeping out last night. Leo was asleep and Carter was tangled in his sleeping bag. Carter picks up the story, explaining how he somehow rolled over Leo and right out of the tent. Asleep. He shows where he woke up this morning, wondering “Where Am I?!”

Carter takes Olivia for ride on the spacious Piki Trimobile. Hold on tight!

Carter takes Rose for ride on the rambling Nooi cart. All the little sisters seem to be enjoying the ride! (Sam also took Gretchen, but Julie was at the power-switch and didn’t get any pictures to complete the set.)

Julianna’s little brother Dason wants to ride, too, but the drills have been removed for storage. No worries – he’s on a little hill, and has figured out the steering so can stop by going into the grass. Dad runs along to keep an eye on things, just in case.

Sam shows Gretchen the teepee. She likes the window best.

Gretchen REALLY likes sitting in the Rain God’s chair. She wants to know how everything works. She doesn’t want to get down. She thinks the fact that there is a giant G on it is destiny (G= Gretchen, get it?). She didn’t really need a moustache, but she got one anyway.

Elkus runs a day-camp every other week, so we need to clear out of the barn (and the front half of the ranch house) for the week between sessions (when we sleep :-). This is about what it takes to run Tinkering School (plus materials – most of them are still being reclaimed at this point).

All packed up and no where to go (thank goodness, since it’s not really travel-safe right now). At dinner we talk about a mobile version: Steve suggests an Airstream trailer, Theo suggests an 18 wheeler. Theo obviously knows Gever better than Steve!

One can of garbage is all that is left of the Tinkerers – for Session 1. Join us in a week for Session 2.

After disassembling the structures, reclaiming all the reusable materials, relocating all the shelving, tools and supplies, and mostly cleaning up the barn, the boys feel they deserve a reward. I’m not sure they were THAT good, but they’re awfully cute.

The drill-less carts are irresistable. After a test run down the road by the barn, it’s decided they must ride to the Conference Center (about a quarter mile away). Theo is first down – finding the Trimobile steering to be very tight and the curves are easily negotiated.

Julie stationed herself here (instead of the finish line), since there seemed a real possibility of a 3-cart pile-up on this corner. Turns out they barely have the momentum to get to this turn, due to the flat/slightly uphill portion of the road (Gever is about to experience it). Steve still makes it look very exciting.

Gever’s cart is rather squirrely (most likely due to the loose bolt resulting in a wheel coming off momentarily). But it’s a lot easier to get it moving again once it loses momentum (which is does several times on the course).

Steve uses the classic giddy-up/butt scooch to try to get moving again. Inspired by the rein-steering perhaps? Gever goes for direct wheel drive since his hands are free (and later tries front-wheel drive, without significantly different results). But the t-shirt says it all: Think, Make, TINKER!

Lighting the wheels.