SCIENCE!

 

Yesterday was the school science fair. I'd never participated in/attended a science fair before, so this was a first for me too.  The younger grades had a joint project or a class project, and the older grades had individual projects.

Despite being in separate classes, both Lily and Madeleine got to participate in the group doing the kindergarten project.  Here Lily explains to us what they did with their balloons.

Madeleine liked the first grade balance projects.  Here she's adjusting clothespins on wire to try and balance the pencil on its tip.

They were very excited and we visited EVERY project to see what it was about.  Favorites were the worm soil preference, the baking soda volcano, and of course, the solar system projects.  We left with Madeleine demanding that we hit up Michaels for some styrofoam balls as soon as possible.  After lights out at bedtime she used up most of the tissues in their room making balls and taping them together to make planets.  Luckily she fell asleep before she got around to figuring out how to color them.

Where taking Geology 10 pays off

I was a liberal arts major at Carolina.  I started out not knowing what to major in, but I knew it was not going to be math or science-related.  So I was required to only take one science and two maths, and I chose geology as my science the first semester of my freshman year.

It was my first large lecture class, and we met once a week with a TA for "lab."  Lab was pretty much just identifying rocks.  Or dropping hydrochloric acid on things to see if they dissolved.

Madeleine and Lily have always collected rocks they find on playgrounds and such.  Usually the rocks hang out in a bucket until they're discreetly deposited in the side yard.  This week Madeleine came home with her rocks in a ziplock, and Ms. Bailey had included a booklet on rocks and minerals.  I never thought I'd be explaining the difference between sedimentary rock and igneous rocks to six year-olds.

On Sunday during homework time we read through the book and talked about her rocks.  Then I got out my stash of rocks I got while panning in high school and ones I'd purchased at gem shows because I thought they were cool.  The girls were EXCITED.

I Googled panning places and came up with a few, but they weren't open on Sundays.  So we headed out to our neighborhood creekbed with spades to see what we could find.

I got three ziplocks full.  Most of it is quartz and various types of granite, but Madeleine was excited to take three of hers to school today to share.  She came home with more playground rocks and another book she had checked out of the library.

Working at the Car Wash

I told the girls one of the things I wanted to do this weekend was clean my car.  I mostly meant the inside.  It doesn't get too dirty with food and such anymore, but mostly clutter.  Discarded jackes, sunglasses, braclets, toys, papers, etc.

But they had other ideas.  We bought our first grown-up looking swimsuits at Old Navy last week.  Gone are the toddler-sized Target ones this year.

 Madelein's solution to not getting her feet dirty (the sandals weren't working).

 Helping Madeleine out of the bucket.  She did end up falling backward and spilling water everywhere.

 Mom - isn't it easier to just dump soapy water on the car?

 Silly break.

 If no one's going to spray me, I'll spray myself.

 Love the water.

And finishing up with Lily in the bucket.

Photo Overload

When the girls were little, I never went to the park without a camera.  Seriously, every visit was documented for posterity.  Then sometime a couple years ago, it just seemed a pain.  Plus, we had tons of pictures of the same parks over and over. 

But this week a friend loaned me her camera to see if an upgrade is something I'd like, so I figured I'd take as many pictures as I can while I have it.  I was THAT mom with the DSLR. Today we headed off to Bond Park.  What's usually a pretty shady park is very sunny with no leaves on the trees.

Madeleine is awesome on monkey bars.

 Hiding from mom.

 Cheezy pose.

Headlock of love.

With the current state of our teeth - every smile looks like a vampire smile.