Yikes! I apparently haven't blogged in a week, and it's been a busy week. I had every intetion of getting it done the last few days, but I just haven't had the time. I'm trying to sneak it into today before we head off to Disney. I'm actually even typing from my bed, since Asa is still asleep (and if I leave and let the dogs out, they'll bark thus waking him up- and I'm trying to let him sleep!)
So much fun stuff this week though, my favorite had to be the open house of the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in Saint Pete.
But, I'm getting a little ahead of myself. I'm going to try and get this blog done in warp speed so I can make Jeopardy, pack dinners, change my fantasy team, and feed everyone lunch. Monday and Tuesday was full steam ahead in Science Project Week.
Calib built is volcano, really from nothing- here are the phases. We had the bottle in the middle.
Which he used to take cardboard strips to give the volcano some shape.
He filled in with newspaper, and then topped with plaster of paris.
Then we were ready for paint! He also completed his board, but I don't seem to have a picture of it.
Peyton's Geodes have been growing away. The salt (blue) seems to have turned out the best. But, about two days after I took this picture the sugar (red) really came around too.
He also mined for some crystals.
(With a little help from Hayden).
His board is all done too, so they're just about ready for presentations!
Hayden did his board since his experiment is all done. (see last week's blog)
And our raisins are just about there too.
Our grass growing has been coming along. Those grew FAST.
Oh, and check out Asa and Maybel. She lays next to him like this whenever he plays Madden and wags her tail, and asks for belly rubs, like she's some sort of dog.
On Wednesday evening, my mom arrived. She brought all kinds of stuff with her, including Hayden and Calib's trophies from the fair.
She also provided lots of non-couponed snacks. The boys were thrilled.
Thursday the boys went to their first class at the new center at the aquarium. It is SO COOL. The new labs for dissections are awesome, but the whole set up they've got going on is pretty amazing.
The class this week was really to show off the new center. It was about a sea turtle rescue operation, and they had to figure out what happened to Tango, the sea turtle. They got to go in all the different rooms and check everything out, it was very cool.
Friday mom and I headed out to Joann Fabrics to buy all the things for our Halloween costumes for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (which we're headed to tonight!!!!) Asa and I had planned on going as Russel (the Junior Wilderness Explorer), and Kevin (the bird) from Up. But, when the boys saw how awesome Asa's patches were, they all wanted to be Junior Wilderness Explorers. Mom wanted to match too, so she's going to go has Kevin, too. Anyway, when we got home I started working on their accessories.
(Dipper apparently a big fan of felt)
I made something like 82 badges, and most of them are totally unique to each person. Hayden has the hammer badge for all his build n grow classes, Peyton has Lincoln's hat, Calib has a bunch of ZZZ's to denote what a good sleeper he is, that kind of thing. It's super awesome.
It took me all evening, but look how cute he is!
During all of that, we also made some apple butter and apple sauce from all the freshly picked apples mom brought for us!
And we did pizza for dinner, because I had a 50% off my whole order coupon at pizza hut. All this was only $25 somehow!
Saturday Asa was in the office, and Calib was at home sleeping in enjoying some alone time, while mom, Peyton, Hayden and I headed out. We had lunch at Panera.
Then we went to the free lego build at Toys R Us.
This time we put it together there.
Bat Signals! It's very cool they rotate and move every which way.
Then we headed out to Marine Quest!
We got there just in time for the manatee simulation rescue.
Hayden helped, along with a lot of other kids. First they get the manatee into the net.
Then they put the manatee on the tarp.
They carry the tarp with the manatee over to the truck.
Then they lift up the back of the truck.
Now they can take care of the manatee (in this case he got caught in some fishing line)
Then they reverse the process to release the manatee.
There were tons of hands on activities. The boys tried to build houses to with stand a hurricane.
There were lots of things to look at.
They did an oil experiment, trying to clean up an oil spill.
They learned about all kinds of animals right here in the Gulf.
There was the shark anatomy booth.
Lots of trucks they use for research in the field you could walk onto.
The Mote Marine aquarium also had a booth with a touch tank.
Here we have a pelican skull.
The Clearwater aquarium was there with the prosthetic they use on Winter the Dolphin (the dolphin without a tail-- they made a movie about her)
There were fun little games to play.
We got to go on a couple different Fish and Wildlife boats.
They showed us what all the buttons and radios do too!
All the biologists there were just awesome, lots of great mini presentations.
We saw some stone crabs.
These guys had just been caught on Monday, and they said they'd be put back today.
Lots of tanks with fish too, we even got to see the venomous lion fish.
More touch tanks.
They even let you pick some of these up.
Hayden was not a lobster fan- this guy was HUGE.
This biologists told Peyton all about how the lobsters smell each other's urine to see if they're interested in living together. Apparently, they can even tell if a lobster is diseased by the smell of another lobster's urine, and they'll know to stay away.
There were lots of research tools on hand too.
And the boys even got to go fishing!
It was a catch and release pond, and these fisherman were AWESOME with the kids.
They made sure all the mom's and dad's got pictures too.
Peyton said it was his favorite part of the day.
They even got little cards that said they caught a fish at Marine Quest!
A few more walk throughs, and we were ready to head out.
It was an awesome (totally free) event that we'll have to mark down on our calendars again for next year, for sure!
After dinner on Saturday (and one more trip out for free coffee-- which we got 6 out of the 7 days) mom and I got to working on our Kevin costumes for Halloween.
She worked on the skirts for our outfits.
Meanwhile, I made the necklace, flip flops, and headbands.
And of course, to brush up on our knowledge of the movie we had to watch Up.
(Some of us from cardboard boxes)
Next Up: We're going to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party! I've wanted to go for YEARS! I'M SO EXCITED!
No comments:
Post a Comment