Rainbow Jar

To celebrate St. Patrick's Day, we did another science experiment.  This is our rainbow jar.

 

We thought it was just cool the way it looked, but I had to at least add some educational value to it, so we talked about how the densities of different liquids vary, thus why you can layer them like this.

Kids faces like that = successful project!

A Tale of Two Birthdays

March 22nd is a pretty special day at our house.  These two guys share the same birthday that day. 

It's always fun to celebrate two for one, and this year was no exception.

Ethan really wanted to go to the TRF waterpark this year and since it had been more years than I could count (as in, we had never gone with the younger three) since we went, we decided to do it.

The waterpark was super fun. Amazingly enough, even I could go on the waterslides since I don't have a baby to tend anymore!

The kids had tons of fun, well almost all of them.

Ethan and his friend Evan enjoyed chasing the teenage sisters all over the place, and they had a blast together.

Eli and Olivia hung out with Dad and Mom, playing on the lazy river in tubes, getting warm in the hot tub, and going down the smaller waterslides. They both went down the larger slides, Eli once and Olivia several times.

We had presents the next day, on the real birthday. Ethan got some gifts, and is pretty excited about his new bike.

Steven got a new 'drone' as the kids call it, but the package called it a quadcopter. It will be fun to see an aerial view of our house and neighborhood.

As we had planned to eat cake the next day due to a youth fireside at our home on the birthday, I frosted the cake and covered it with a plastic bowl. The safest place I could think of to keep it was in the oven. The next morning, I came downstairs and began preheating the oven for muffins. After about 10 minutes, the smoke alarm went off, and both the cake and I had a melt down.

That is the remnants of my plastic bowl all over the oven.

Sooooo.... I made an ice cream cake for their birthday instead.

Ethan got his annual birthday restaurant dinner tonight.  As expected, he ordered a 'big, juicy burger' and loved every minute of it! Not sure how he got that in his mouth.

The Egg Experiment

We did another homeschool science experiment.  This time it was the well-known egg vinegar experiment.  We put an egg in a cup and covered it with vinegar.  After 24 hours, the shell had nearly dissolved and the vinegar was white and bubbly.  We changed the vinegar and left it for another 24 hours.  At first the kids thought it was kind of gross, but when we were done, we had this.

The egg had swollen up quite large, the shell was gone, and it had a tough outer layer.

Everyone had a turn looking, holding, shaking, and looking some more.

Until Ethan was the lucky one holding it when it had been handled once too much and it went all over him and the kitchen floor.

 

All that was left was that little white membrane that had been holding it all together, and the stinky yolk/vinegar inside. 

Last Chance Ice Fishing

Spring is coming early this year to Roseau!  All of the snow melted in one week of 40-60 degree temps and we are celebrating.  All except Alex the ice fisherman.  Here is the 25" walleye he caught last weekend up at Northwest Angle.

At the beginning of the year, the youth in our church had planned an ice fishing activity for mid-March.  Alex was skeptical about the integrity of the ice for a few weeks before, but luckily it was a beautiful evening for fishing, and one of the last weeks to be on the ice.

In spite of the cold, there was a good turnout of youth, and a few even caught fish.

This couldn't happen without people like Dan and Alan Crompton who have the right equipment and go out of their way to make this a fun experience for the youth!

 

Pinewood Derby 2015

Another year brings the annual pinewood derby in our little branch. 

Ethan was the only one racing from our family this year, and he and his Dad made an awesome looking car, don't you think? 

Oh the anticipation before it began!

Unfortunately for Ethan, his Dad was on a business trip to Mexico and couldn't be there.  Also unfortunately for Ethan, his Mom knows nothing about prepping a derby car, i.e. putting graphite correctly on the wheels correctly.  Nor does she have any idea what to do when one of the wheels works loose from the glue.

 In spite of the complications, Ethan got fourth place and was a good sport, though disappointed.

He also got the 'Most Futuristic' award.

What a group of boys! It took 6 pictures to get one this good.

Fun times!

Spring Might Actually Come!

You can tell my kids grew up in northern Minnesota by the way they react to a 40 degree day after being below zero most of the last six months.  I came home to find these cuties outside. 
I think it may have been 41 degrees - holy cow, that's hot! 

Note the clothing attire: t-shirts and shorts/skirt...still need the boots because of all the snow! 

 

Steven went to Arizona on an ATV testing trip, and I think Alex thought that's where he was. 

That day made me really glad that I had a 4-wheel drive suburban - pulled it right out!

 

 It was so nice outside, Eli had baseball on his mind even though the season won't start until school is out. Never too cold for baseball!

   

  He was so cute, he even convinced his dad to play catch with him...in the snow/slush.

 

Now the day this happened, we had a party!