It wasn’t so much of a blizzard as a “really unpleasant day outside”.

We are still working on our Rube Goldberg contraption although we are now happily aware it cannot withstand the rigors of the Philly Contraption Contest. But I mean — what better way to plan for next year?

Here’s Baba Yaga amongst the skulls on her porch. We literally had the skulls lying around anyway (made by the kids). Spinning house on chicken feet — check.

And, one of the bigger challenges we’d had was met once Ben was trapped in the house: the glowing skull held as a lantern by Vassilisa the Beautiful… first a circuit…

then… REALITY!

All we can say is: we are still working and whatever we have by Saturday is DONE. We are still playing the “home game” along with the actual Contest, which we just can’t give up music lessons this close to a show (and traveling soon anyway and missing a lesson), and we really know we will never get TEN moving parts in. We have the storytelling part DOWN. We have a narrative. It’s GOOD. But, the actual dynamics…

well, they are just where they need to be. The kids are having a great time. 10 on the flow scale. 10 on the learning scale. Shaky newbie heat-gun use, but lots of independent box cutter use (not without incident, and we’d have preferred Béla to have said “I cut myself” than for Tuck to find the blood, and the Band Aids, and the Band Aid wrappers in the sink hours later).

We will have a post on Saturday, or POSSIBLY Friday… with What We’ve Accomplished.

Save