Day 45 - Norman as Peter O'Toole

The Port Aransas beach, Arabian Desert--it's all the same to Norman.

Day 44 (Part 2) - Beach Bot

Our attempt at a sand robot.

I'm sure an aerial shot would have done much greater justice to the exquisite detail and craftsmanship. 

Day 44 - Workin' on the Tan

Tired of cleaning sand out of all the wrong places, Norman chose to skip the beach and lay out on the deck instead.

Day 43 - Exploring the Beach Cottage

Norman had heard things were bigger in Texas, but these stairs were downright ridiculous.  I mean, really?

Day 42 - Where's Norman?

Even on vacation, Norman found himself having some trouble fitting in with the crowd.

He knew he should've packed his pastel pants.

Day 41 - Lushing It Up

Apparently, Starbucks' version of "tall" was different than Norman's.  Now if only he could figure out a way to reach that straw before the baby did.

Day 40 - The Pitfalls of Communication

It's hard to communicate when you're on two different levels.  Also, when neither of you have mouths.

Day 39 - Road-Trip-Induced-Exhaustion

Having limited life experience, Norman didn't realize how exhausting 9 and 1/2 hours in the car with four young children could be.  He was pooped.

"Vacation"

So I knew this whole 365 thing was going to overlap with a vacation at some point.  Yes, I know it appeared progress had stopped on A-Robot-A-Day--but I did, in fact, carry on.  Ah, yes, I carried on.

Because our trip included driving to San Antonio with four young boys and because I knew my energy might possibly be on the lower side, I chose to bring Norman along and document his exploits as part of my project.

But before you scroll on in eager anticipation, I want to formally apologize to those of you who were sitting on the edge of your seat, forced to experience the bitter sting of disappointment when your hourly checks for a blog update resulted in nothing.  

And, now, I leave you to enjoy Norman's adventures.

Day 38 - Tricky

And that's how it's done.

Day 37 - Fun with Sharpies

My Moleskine notebook I've been using for lists, etc. had a slight disfigurement in the upper left hand corner.  I took a white square and drew robot-ish things with a Sharpie.  That's right--not a pencil or some other wussy erasable instrument, a black permanent Sharpie.  Boo-yah.

I'm gonna be the envy of all those other list-maker-types.

Day 36 - Brought to You by the Letter R

P.S.  Thanks for helping cut R's out of magazines. You know who you are.

P.P.S.  And thank you for not cutting Gray's hair, Den.

Day 35 - Rusty Enjoys the Great Outdoors

Though some may not think Rusty's the type to run away, you can never be too careful.

I mean, look at the glint in those eyes.  Who knows what would happen if a neighborhood cat ran by?  

[Collar provided by Daisy's Diva Designs, the best collar maker in the universe.]

Day 34 - Norman Evades Stormtroopers

It was almost like he WAS Luke Skywalker.

 

Day 33 - I See a Robot!

Gray and I made inkblots.  Some turned out really soggy and a fair amount of paint now calls the table home, but we had a fun.

Big Strong Robot with Red Wings

Little Robot Guy and a Cute, Robot Owl?

Graysen's Robot Head

  

Day 32 - Clock Parts Robot Tin

Day 31 - Quite the Party

Sometime after ten, the party kicked itself up a notch.  Though he could offer no reasonable explanation later, Norman found himself swinging from the chandelier.

Day 30 - Help Me Obi Wan Kenobi, You're My Only Hope

Day 29 - Lucio, the Bringer of Light

This guy's been in the works for a while off and on.  I used the Make Something 365 project as the impetus to finish him today.  I think he turned out pretty great.

Day 28 - Tangrams Robo-Style

Today, I used Noah Scalin's Day 65 suggestion:  Work with only the classic tangram shapes.

[In case you didn't know . . . the tangram is a dissection puzzle that consists of seven flat shapes, called tans, which are put together to form shapes. The objective of the puzzle is to form a specific shape (given only an outline or silhouette) using all seven pieces, which may not overlap.]

Saturday Night Fever, Robo Style

Kind of Lame Robot w/a Big Head

Prof. Robot, I presume?

Day 27 - Give me an R-O-B-O-T!

With some coaxing/threatening, I convinced the boys to help me with today's project while I sat on the top bunk, saying, "Curve your body. No, curve it, like a C.  Curve!"

Day 26 - Mix and Match Magnets

This one turned out to be a lot of work (sketching the different parts, coloring them, mounting them to the wood squares, then outlining in Sharpie), but I'm pretty happy how they came out in the end.

Day 25 - Dance, Dance Fever

Norman really only knew how to slow dance.

P.S. Thank you, Sarah, for my new robot-dancing friend.

Daty 24 - Norman meets Chewbacca

Norman wasn't expecting to meet a wookie.  Was there a protocol for this type of thing?

He thought he better surrender, just in case.

Day 23 - Meet Ace

Lefty was looking lonely, so I made him a robo friend.  I'm working on teaching him to fetch.

(Don't forget to check out Lefty's own exploits at a-baseball-a-day.blogspot.com.)

Day 22 - Robot Magnet

I made this magnet out of metal odds and ends.  Overnight, the glue I used caused weird, cloudy oxidation all over the face, so I felt like I needed to paint it.  Not as cool as I hoped, but orange can make anything at least a little better.

Day 21 - Norman Enters the Pit of Doom

Ignoring the carnage around him, Norman bravely held his ground as the giant baby stalked toward him.

He should've run.  He knew better. 

Bravery has often been confused with stupidity.  Norman would not soon forget his lesson.

Day 20 - Nuts or Bolts?

(Imperfectly-drawn) Robot Tic-Tac-Toe Board

You wanna be nuts or bolts?

*Inspired by the Chili's kid's menu.