16 June 2011

Reptiles in the House

We may have to call an exterminator. We have a snake in the house.
Liam is fascinated with the monster.
Liam pets it, plays with it, feeds it (with marbles), cheers for it and all around is thrilled with it.
Maybe he should name it.
OK, I guess he likes it so much because he created it.
And it is not a snake, it is The Snake.

Looks harmless, right?
Not so much.
It is a beast.
Liam worked on a school science project with three of his friends and masterminded the worlds newest roller coaster.
Using only straws, two pieces of poster board and miles of masking tape, the finished product passed all safety inspections and thrilled a lot of marbles. There were a few mishaps, mainly a marble or two jumping the edge and flying off the table, but after a quick trip to the first aid station, they were screaming down the roller coaster once again.
Oh yeah.

Check out that long slide. This is where a marble picks up speed.
After the hairpin turn through the tunnel, blinding the rider, the marble throws it's hands up through the corkscrew.
Fearless.
Everyone on the building crew had a job. The track master, Madison Keifer, engineered the blue prints. The support builder, George Norwood, whipped the straws into place, after a failed first attempt. The adhesive specialist, Deborah Sinoni, taped that thing within inches of it's life. And last but not least, Liam, being the foreman on the job, made sure everything got done in order and on time.
The construction of this masterpiece was not without glitches. After being nearly finished, a competitor demolished it with a shoe. With the deadline only days away, the crew stayed up all  night to make the necessary repairs to get it in on time.

The end of the line - a soft landing in a pool of blue styrofoam peanuts. The marble has time to catch it's breath, before being hoisted back up to the top, ready to take on the monster again.
I think if we call the exterminator, he may want to take The Snake for a ride.
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