Science Fridays

I felt like I was cramming too much learning into each day. I wanted to take time to explore some topics in-depth.

The idea came to me in three parts.

It dawned on me that at a university most classes don't meet five days a week. Some meet three, others two and most labs meet only one day each week.

Couple that with reading Harry Potter. If you pay close attention to the schedule you'll notice that students have lessons on a particular day of the week for each subject.

Then I thought of the NPR show Science Friday, and voila, our own Science Fridays were born.

It's not something we do every Friday. I tested it out in June before we took a summer break. We just so happened to be reading about cephalopods and there were awesome videos of cephalopods for that week's Science Friday on NPR. I took it as a sign of fate.

We spent the morning watching videos on octopus and one interesting specifies known as the vampire squid - though it's not actually a squid - and then we pulled out the "Planet Earth" dvds and made some of our own creatures out of Play-Doh.

 We've done a few more sessions since, and it's turned out to be a whole lot of fun.

 

Our quest to find ducks a few weeks back coincided with our Friday theme.

We also uncovered a black-noir video about tar, and ice-age animals that feel prey to it. Again, courtesy of the "real" Science Friday.

One of my favorites so far was what we did this past week. I actually did some advance planning for this one. We read about jellyfish and then watched NPR archived Science Friday videos. Did you know there's a fried egg jellyfish? Well, there is, and its story and life cycle are quite interesting.

One video we came across was about a remote control jellyfish. To be honest, it's one of the most pointless inventions I've ever seen, but the kids loved the video!!

We ended up attaching strips of paper to balloons to make our own version.

Caterpillars and Butterflies

What better way to spend a crisp fall afternoon than outdoors learning about butterfly gardens?

While my children were the youngest ones in attendance by about 65 years, excluding myself of course, it was a delightful presentation about what to plant in order to attract butterflies. There were also some interesting pointers on what not to do.

We were able to observe a chrysalis and then take a stroll through the garden to see eggs forming on plants and a few small caterpillars attached and gnawing away on the leaves.

Did you know lantana is one of the best butterfly attractors?

Even though this last image wasn't part of the presentation, I couldn't resist sharing this massive spider weaving her web.

Strange Lands

Reading is one of our favorite adventures.

It takes us through lands unknown, to places we would never travel otherwise.

Take where we're at now for instance. Somewhere in the mythical land of Prydain between Caer Dallben and Caer Cadarn in pursuit of a black cauldron.

We came across the first of Lloyd Alexander's fantasy novels "The Book of Three" this summer at our library. The book was displayed on a table, and Jack picked it up because he thought the cover was cool.

That was the beginnings of our travels through the Prydain chronicles with an assistant pig-keeper and his lovable and equally annoying sidekicks. We're now on the second in the series, "The Black Cauldron."

I can't quite put my finger on how to describe the series. The best I can offer is that it's a twisted mix between C.S. Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia" and J.R.R. Tolkein's "The Lord of the Rings."

Equally unusual is the land, or should I say time, I found myself traveling through during my own late-night reading adventures.

"A Tale for the Time Being" is about two realistic characters that find themselves somewhere between reality and a mystical world in which time and fate can be altered.

Its central theme, suicide, is not for the faint of heart. Had I known that suicide would be such a prevalent element of the story I might have passed this one by. But the wisdom and pathos woven so beautifully throughout made the tough parts bearable. Especially toward the end.

In Search of Ducks

We got out of the car and they came running.

For a moment it felt like a stampede.


















Mattie began screaming. Jack started backing away.

That's when momma pulled out the bread, and all returned to normal.

We were able to watch, observe, draw and follow.

Some weren't even ducks. I'm guessing this one is a turkey.


















Though this was weeks ago at an industrial park near our home, the funny thing about looking for something is that before you know it that thing starts showing up everywhere. Like at the National Mall or in Georgetown on the Potomac River.

And a whole lot of places in between.

The Day I Became An Aunt

Today I became an aunt.

For the first time.

My children have cousins.

It's plural because they are twin boys. Born early and weighing less than 3 lbs. each, but breathing on their own and needing minimal NICU care.

It's a wonderful day when someone becomes a parent.

It's just as wonderful to welcome new ones into an extended family that loves them and can't wait to meet and hold them.

A Side Trip To Gettysburg

Last week I was at a conference in Chantilly, Va., and Matt and the children tagged along.

We hit a few Washington DC hotspots, but because I've posted so much in the past about DC I didn't want to include anything here.

The last day of the conference wrapped up early, so that allowed us time to explore uncharted territory. Uncharted for us, at least.

We decided to make the 90-minute drive to Getttysburg, Penn.

The rain held off, which gave us time to walk around the well preserved area.

The wild flowers were probably my favorite part.

This kid and his faces!

On the Day He Turned 7

We were seven years and hundreds of miles away from the place he took his first breath.

Seven years of hugs, tears, laughter, sickness, learning - a whole lot of learning for this momma - and we find ourselves still smitten with him. By him. For him.

He's our first born. Our first real taste of what that preacher on Sunday morning often refers to as agape love. Love that is all encompassing. Love that knows no boundary. Love that knows no end.

He is our Lego lover. Our shy talker. Our whole life wrapped up in he and his sister.

He is my travel buddy. My artist. My joy.

And when he turned seven and wanted to spend it in New York, the city I love most on earth, how could I turn him down? How could I say no to a request that meant we got to spend his birthday, his day, amidst toys and food and fun?