Science at 6 Rocks!

Last week we officially moved into life with a 6 year old -- and I think it's safe to say we did it with a bang!  

Will requested a science themed birthday this year.  Luckily for him his parents are resourceful and know people -- more specifically one of the greatest Science teachers I've ever met (and lucky for us also a very generous and brave individual...) and we convinced her to come and be the entertainment.  To say she was a success is an understatement.  

Before the birthday party we also had to have birthday celebration time with Will's classmates -- and of course we had to stay in the theme.  So first up?  Molecule cupcakes, of course!  

Next on the list?  Our birthday tradition of hot dogs and mac and cheese with some pretty great people.  We'll probably be eating hot dogs together when the kids are gone to college someday...

And on to birthday party day!  Will was beyond excited.  I wouldn't tell him any of the experiments until he saw them himself at the party, and I paid for it at dawn Saturday morning when he tried to wake me up to ask one last time.  This was a bigger deal than Christmas around here I tell ya.

Of course we had all kinds of fun food -- double helix cheese, radioactive ranch dip, fruit molecules, dna pasta, and even microbes (which may or may not have been pigs in a blanket...).  And we couldn't forget the adults and their personal mixology department.

First, each guest had to get signed into the lab with our high tech fingerprint scanner.  (or the free app on the iPad, but whatever).  You had to be granted access into the lab and then you were allowed to get your supplies.

Safety first.  Goggles for everyone.

And you have to record all your lab results, so everyone got a clipboard.  

And most importantly, lab coats.  Now we are ready for some Science!

Meet Ms. Margaret.  Quite possibly Will's hero.  It might be a toss up between her and the super cool Mr. Rich from the museum last year, but I'm pretty sure she's in 1st place right now.  Not to mention pretty much a super hero to all the parents who couldn't believe she kept their children completely on task for almost 2 hours.  

This science stuff is serious.

The little ones were all about being part of the experimenting.  Until stuff started blowing up.  Then they were out and decided bellying up to the food table was a better gig.

The beginnings of elephant toothpaste...gotta get your solution just right.

So awesome.  We were all pretty impressed with this one until...

We saw this!  There is an awesome video of this on Facebook, along with a bunch of other amazing pictures from the day.  

Then it was time for cake.  It's a little hard to see in pictures, but even the cake had some special effects thanks to a little help from some dry ice.

And the adults had to get in on the fun too...

This was hands down the best party I think we could have possibly dreamed up.  Not so sure how we are going to top this, but for now we will just bask in the fact that this little guy thinks we are the coolest parents ever. :)

Rodeo fun. :)

Our rodeo trip couldn't be all about mutton bustin!  Bellamy had her own ideas about what we needed to do while we were there too, of course!

While we waited for Will to go get a new cowboy hat (I guess his daddy thought he earned one by being stomped on by the sheep??;) ) Bell and I went and visited Ms. Moo. :)

And then it was off to the pony rides!  A year ago we couldn't get Bellamy anywhere near the pony riding, but this year was a very different story.  She told Todd over and over how much she LOVED her pony. :)

After walking around to check out all the animals inside, we headed outside for a little fun on the farm.  

After all your hard work you have to make sure you get paid, of course.  This year you earned two dollars.  One to buy your snack and one to put in the bank. :)

Another successful trip to the rodeo!

Mutton Bustin!

I'm pretty sure that Will's absolute favorite event of the year is the rodeo.  He loves to go and look at all the animals, exhibits, and spend as much time as possible out there taking it all in.  And there is one event in particular that has always had his attention -- mutton bustin.

You have to 5 to participate and he has been looking forward to his shot for the last couple of years.  This year is finally his year. 

Here's B discussing with Daddy what animal she is going to ride since Will gets to ride a sheep.  She thought maybe a pig would be a good choice, but we settled on a pony. :)

Where's Will??

Getting suited up for the big ride!  This mama is getting a little nervous watching all the gear go on...

But he is SO excited!

And there he goes!!

Hanging on tight!

Still going strong across the arena!

He started slipping off but he wasn't letting go!  He made it all the way across before the sheep officially had enough of him.

Still smiling even after get a little kick in the gut from the sheep.  

96 points and in 1st place after his ride!

The 1st place finish didn't stay that way (one more rider scored one more point) but this little cowboy was still excited about his ride and is ready to do it again!  

Is it here yet??

I know this probably doesn't go over very well with those of you north of us, but we are ready for spring around here!  I mean, I realize our winter is not real winter, but it has actually been kind of cold and gross here this year and I am ready for it to be over!  Usually by spring break we have all kinds of beautiful color and sunshine, but it's really being slow about getting here this year.  Instead what we have is leaves.  Lots and lots of leaves.  Falling constantly.  The bright side is that not a single acorn is littering our yard this year, and they are a whole lot harder to clean up than leaves.  And you can't really jump in piles of acorns.  

So I guess for now I'll keep raking...and re-raking when these two destroy the piles by playing in them.  Oh well...some day it will be their turn to rake but for now they are only little for a little while, right?:)

Memorial Rockets!

Basketball season!  Once you are in kinder you get to try out basketball, so of course Will wanted to give it a try this year.  Todd and I were a little skeptical of 5 year old basketball, but they actually did a great job!  One of Will's friends from his soccer team was also on his basketball team and they had a great time playing together.  Not a bad way to spend an hour on a Saturday in the winter. :)

Holiday Happiness

The whirlwind that is December has come and gone for another year!  We had a great holiday season this year and are so fortunate to have spent it with so many of our friends and family that mean the most to us.  

We kicked off our holidays with the annual trip to see Santa at Enchanted Gardens.  This is our favorite location to see Santa -- it's such a great location and atmosphere to really get you in the spirit.  I love it because there's good picture opportunities (if everyone contributes) as well as some really good holiday shopping.  Bell and Will love to look at the animals while enjoying cookies and crafts (ok, mostly just cookies...).

Bellamy was not so interested in Santa this year.  In her defense, she was fighting a case of strep throat that week and probably wasn't really on her game anyway.  She was SO excited while we stood in line to wait.  Here I was attempting to get a cute picture in the trees, but instead I got this.  Still cute, just not quite what I had in mind...they were just too excited to get to Santa to care about giving me a good pic.

Then it was our turn to actually sit with Santa and it was downhill from there...

But Will wasn't going to miss an opportunity to let Santa know exactly what he wanted.  As usual, he let Santa in on some requests that he hadn't told us about...

Yep, not a Santa fan this year.  Better luck next time...

For now we'll just stick to hanging out with big brother.  I love the way she is looking at him in this picture.  I want to freeze their relationship as it is right now -- they absolutely adore each other.

On to other holiday festivities -- Gingerbread house making!  It was so funny to see the difference between Bellamy and Will's sides of the house -- and I bet you can guess which one sparkled more. :)

And learning how to make pretzels with Grandma...

A little light looking time is always good to get you in the spirit.

 

It was certainly a merry Christmas at our house and I hope you can say the same.  Love you all and hope to see you soon!