Helmeted Knight with Background Dragon

Our younger son is working on a video at camp that features a knight and a dragon. We spent the Fourth of July making the knight’s helmet pictured here out of cardboard.

Fashioning compound curves out of corrugated materials proved way more challenging than I anticipated. I vaguely remember knocking out a cardboard “Captain Rex” Star Wars clone trooper helmet in an evening with time left over to draw the rest of the costume in Sharpie on white pajamas many years ago... So many years ago that my older son was young enough to develop a life threatening need for a clone trooper costume the night before Halloween...and apparently I was young and foolish enough to make him one. 

I don’t remember that helmet being so challenging, but perhaps I was just not sleeping enough at the time to form accurate long term memories.

Or maybe this loss of helmet building skill is a symptom of progressive cognitive decline: losing one’s keys, poor word retrieval, and the “inability to fashion helmets out of flat materials”

In fact, I am a little sleep deprived right now. Can you tell?

My son is now telling me that we need to remake the helmet over the weekend as he has decided that it requires a more complicated design.

At least the dragon is two dimensional.

Here’s the previous helmet from way back in 2009
Maybe it was more impressive in my memory...

Wrecking Ball Shirt and Cake

One last birthday picture: I don't usually post shots of actual kid events on this blog, but the image of the Wrecking Ball shirt tonguing the frosting Wrecking Ball amused me.

Birthday Cake with Swampfire, Wrecking Ball and Dragonvale Sun Dragon

The sixth birthday cake:  Not one of my better efforts in frosting, but it does have three characters on it...and a large amount of frosting.  

Ansel's first question: "Why does Wrecking Ball look sick?"  

I did my best.  

Baby Solar Eclipse Dragon from DragonVale

My sons have an ongoing debate about which DragonVale dragon baby is cuter.  I try to remain neutral, despite being repeatedly asked for an opinion.  This is the first DragonVale napkin in a while, but that does not mean that the enthusiasm for the game has flagged. 

DragonVale Rainbow and Skylanders Spyro Dragons

We debated what would be the ideal combination of DragonVale and Skylander characters.  Archer convinced me and Ansel that the hue and rhyming names of Rainbow and Spyro made the most sense.  I was so sure about the compatibility of the personalities, or the relative sizes, for that matter.

Equinox Dragon from DragonVale and Toothless for Archer

The Equinox Dragon from DragonVale is upstaging all other dragons in Archer's mind this week. But he has not yet managed to get one.  Perhaps Toothless is wondering just how that dragon gets around with no wings and only two legs. 

MeatLug and the DragonVale Cactus Dragon for Archer

 
Meatlug from Dragons: Riders of Berk / How to Train Your Dragon meets the Cactus Dragon from DragonVale:   Will hilarity ensue?   Archer humored me with a small smile, but was otherwise unimpressed.

DragonVale Paper Dragon for Archer

 

 I have not had to try to draw something from DragonVale for a quite a while, but Archer is trying hard to get the paper dragon before the end of the week.

Ruby DragonVale Dragon for Archer

Archer has briefly sampled and discarded an appalling large number of Ipad apps, (most of them available for free of course) but he continues to return to DragonVale. 

Dragonvale Gold Dragon and Sunstone Tiny Monster for Archer

Archer and a friend engaged in a fierce debate yesterday about which was better: DragonVale or Tiny Monsters?  Then they moved on to how is Clark Kent's name pronounced - the friend argued that it was spelled "Knet" and therefore pronounce "Net"... but I digress... Archer's solution to the app debate was to just do both.  He wisely left the "Net" issue alone. 

Firework and Evergreen Dragons from Dragonvale for Ansel

Thank goodness Archer managed to hatch a Fireworks Dragon in Dragonvale after his total lack of gratification with the Solstice Dragon in June.

Dodo Dragon for Archer

Yet another dragon from DragonVale: a baby dodo dragon.  After this extensive run of DragonVale napkins, I am thinking fondly back to previous fixations on Batman, or Star Wars....

Plant Dragons and Victini for Archer

Plant Dragons from DragonVale pose with Victini from Pokemon:  I had not really considered the parallels between the characters from these two franchises, but their appeal is not very dissimilar.  

Butterfly Dragon for Archer

DragonVale continues to absorb Archer's attention...and to extract the entirety of his allowance. Perhaps I am pleased that he is not spending it on candy?

Cactus Dragon for Archer

Although I am really hoping for a break from DragonVale, the Cactus Dragon is one of my favorites to draw.

Reindeer Dragon for Archer

The rather undragonlike Reindeer Dragon from Dragonvale was only available during the holiday season:  Apparently Archer has worked out some sort of deal to trade with one of his friends who has a surplus.  But this led Archer to the question of why there is not a Chanukah dragon?  Given the possibilities of menorah wings or horns, I have to agree that there might be a missed opportunity.

DragonVale Dragons for Archer

Three dragons from DragonVale:  I usually refuse to draw multiple characters on one napkin, but evidently I had more time and masochistic impulses than usual last night.  Archer asked for four dragons originally, but the Bone Dragon somehow did not make the cut, despite the fact that is less cute, and therefore my favorite from the group.

Sakura Dragon for Archer

The spring cherry blossom themed dragon from Dragonvale.  Archer requested it despite the fact that he had just missed his opportunity to acquire one.

Iron Dragon for Archer

There was some sort of conflict at school yesterday because two iron dragons have the same name.
I am hoping that the napkin will not rekindle the antagonism.

Chrome Dragon for Archer

Today was one of the very rare occasions that I managed to finish the napkins before midnight the night before school.  Unfortunately, doing them early only means that it takes longer and the kids have changed their minds by the time Monday morning arrives.