I gave in...

...and let them make a pillow fort!



Having clutter and a big mess are things that make me twitchy, so this was a big, big "cool mom" move on my part. School starts in a week, so we have to enjoy the rest of the summer!

It's a gas!

We had fun with two little projects involving vinegar and baking soda and the reaction they cause when mixed together. First, the exploding plastic bag. Put some white vinegar in a plastic sandwich bag and seal it. Then take a paper towel, put baking soda on it, fold it up, and then place it into the bag with the vinegar. Seal it and watch the bag expand and expand until it eventually pops!










Second projects was hiding food color under little piles of baking soda. Then we took an eyedropper and dipped it in the vinegar. Mix the vinegar with the baking soda, and watch the colors come out! Greer especially liked this one.







And of course, this guy is just the cutest! Here he is in his Bumbo...



And here he is in his exersaucer...



And a flashback to his big brother in his (note the FOUR trees in the background)!

Cute mugs!

There's no better way to end the month of July than with a visit from the Kelly cousins! We had a trip to the zoo on Monday and a trip to Adventureland on Tuesday.



Today we kicked back with ice old root beer floats on the deck!



Close-up...



And let's not forget the two wee ones! Mom took a few pics with them last week on her Mac. So grateful and lucky to have these healthy, happy kids!

Friday Fun!

Park, pool, then a sleepover!





Hanging out with the two little ones for dinner!

You put the lime in the coconut...

Monday at the grocery store, Alex begged me to buy a coconut, so I said, "why not?"



First we drained it and strained the coconut juice to use for later.



Then we took it outside and cracked it open using a hammer.



We took the two halves and placed them on a cookie sheet and baked them at 400 degrees for 10 minutes to get the coconut meat out.



We are planning to make a coconut cream pie later this week!

Car cookies and other summer stuff...

It was hot, so we tried baking cookies in the car. Alex is enjoying the finished product (which wasn't too bad, they were cooked pretty well, if a bit gooey).



First, we put the dough out...



Placed them in the car on the front windshield...



After an hour...



After two and a half hours!



On Wednesday, we had some fun with a frame mat that I had.





Photobombed!


Portrait of an Alex



Tuesday evening it was an impromptu socccer game in the backyard!

(Bubble) Snakes in a Bottle

Bubble snakes!

Catching up...

Here are a few things we did the last few days that I didn't post!



Magic bag - science trick that demonstrates surface tension and polymers in plastics.











Sidewalk chalk art - Graffiti Greer loves nothing more than to take a big piece of chalk or crayon and start "tagging" walls, doors, decks, etc.





And last, but not least, cute little baby boy!

Talk to the hand

We drew 3-D hands today!



Alex shows the steps, first trace your hand with a pencil. Take a Sharpie and draw straight lines that then curve around your hand/fingers. Then color.



Oh, and Greer did a drawing of her own...

Drop it like it's hot

We did the egg drop experiment to demonstrate Newton's Law of Inertia, and um yeah, it took us two tries to get it to work. I don't have any video of our demonstration, but I do have a photo of the egg in the glass after our successful attempt. I should have shown the counter after the first failed one.



Here's a video link of it being done: Egg Drop Experiment