snake day.

Snake Day is looked forward to year after year in this house. The boys ask how many more days until Snake Day, and count them down for the last few months. We leave early so we can be there the minute it opens, before the crowd. We spend hours circling around again and again.

While G loves visiting the snakes, he then likes to wander the museum. A, on the other hand, wants to stay in the room with the snakes (and turtles, alligators, lizards, etc.) all day. He doesn't want to leave. Or visit other parts of the museum. This year his recent intense phobia of the dark means he could only go in the bright areas of the museum - which is about 10% of it. He tried, but ended up covering his ears, looking down, and refusing to step deep into the dark hallways full of the exhibits. So we visited a few things (butterflies!), but spent hour upon hour with the snakes! A loves their calm quiet, G likes their silky feel.


So we begin the countdown to the next Snake Day. 364 days to go!

my kind of saturday night.

I love the cooler nights, the early darkness. The boys play with friends in the alley - running in the dusk, bundled and rosy cheeked. The parents holding steaming mugs of tea or cocoa.


Last night was perfect for a fire pit. Our yard is so small it isn't safe to do it when windy, but last night was cold with only a slight breeze. We pulled out the pit, the boys setup the wood just so with some used paper wadded up below, and both had a chance to light it (yes, they lit a fire with matches :)).


We found marshmallows, graham crackers, skewers. The neighbors came over and all the boys roasted the insanely huge marshmallows and A counted how many times he could light his on fire. Ahem.


A grabbed his guitar, because strumming around a fire is just what you do.


The darkness fell, and the flames mesmerized and warmed us.


After the neighbors went in for the evening we sat out around the fire, watched the flames, and talked about things. My kind of Saturday night!

fun science at home.

Dark wet fall weekends are perfect for family home life. We cozy up, bake, make, read, play, and spend time together. Science is big in our house - there is always something on the to-do list, and there is always a basket filled with something or other we want to play around with. Sometimes we do bigger projects - program a robot, make a solar oven, look through the microscope for specific somethings, test water or soil, see what happens. But sometimes the small projects are really fun too. And they are fun to repeat and even if simple they never quiet get boring (at least with my boys).


One of those endlessly fun things is the cornstarch project. You mix water and corn starch and get a funky substance that is both a solid and a liquid. The thing is water and corn starch don't completely mix. Their molecules slither around each other. The corn starch molecules get tangled up, but the water molecules flow around them. So, if you whack the substance hard, the molecules don't have time to move and it feels like a solid. When you move into it slowly however, the water molecules have time to flow around and it is a liquid. It is messy. It is fun. And it is easy to do.

You might want to cover your table with something.
Pour 2 cups of corn starch into a bowl. Measure 1 cup of water and add a few drops of food coloring if you want. Stir. Slowly add the water mixture into the corn starch, stirring as you go. Mix it up - it should be really thick and hard to stir. If you can't stir at all add a little more water, but it should be a bit of a struggle.


Now, go! First try to hit the mixture with your knuckles quickly.


Next, gently press your fingers or hand into it.


Goo is a long time of fun.


Another easy and fun one is making a lemon battery - with your tongue as the final connection. Batteries of course are made with two metals and an acid. One metal has a positive charge, one a negative and the lemon is the acid. By sticking your tongue on it, you complete the circuit and get the tingle.

Take a lemon and push while you roll it on the counter to get it juicy inside. Straighten a paper clip and stick it in the lemon. Take a piece of copper wire about the same length as the paper clip and insert it into the lemon near the paper clip. Touch it to your tongue! You should feel it tingle.



We had zinc and copper plates from another science kit, so used those and got a bigger tingle. Whoo hoo! :) We could also test the current by connecting it to a little LED light.


Very fun. Perfect family fun for a dark rainy day.

adventure.

Saturday we woke to perfect weather. Sunny and cool. We told the boys we were going on an adventure, packed up the car and headed out. And oh, what an adventure we had.

Our first stop was a county park in the woods with a big sandy beach and spring fed lake.


The boys cast on an empty sunny beach with practice weights on fishing poles, saw where a spring bubbled up from the sand and fed the lake and watched the water lapping against rocky outcroppings.


We saw butterflies and dragonflies and birds.



After a lots of casting and playing, we told the boys we had to head out to the next place on our adventure, packed back up and hit the road.

Our next surprise stop was at our at our very favorite hiking trail at our favorite state park.


We hiked a steep cliff of rocky stairs down down down into a waterfall oasis. Filled with ferns, caves, a clear pool and rambling creek.

There was a lot of rock hopping, frog watching, stick finding and cave exploring.

And of course plenty of hiding behind the waterfall.


In this beautiful place fall has already arrived, and golden leaves drifted down around us the whole time we were there.


We walked down the trail beyond the waterfall oasis, hiking along a mossy fern covered creek bed.


We looked at animals, trees and moss. We crossed bridge after bridge, and climbed fallen trees. We felt bark, and moved fuzzy caterpillars to safer spots.


We hiked and wandered and went back to the waterfall. As we climbed the steep stairs out of the oasis, the boys said they never wanted to leave that magical spot. After passing creeks, watercress, fields of goldenrod and galloping horses, we headed out for our next stop.


We drove past Frank Lloyd Wright, stopped in a small town cafe, and visited another county park high atop a hill. The boys spun and climbed and ran and skipped.

We looked out at fields of gold from up high. We counted silos, we watched the patches of sun move across the landscape.


We listened to the wind.


As we headed back for our last stop near home the boys talked about their favorite parts of the the adventure. A sobbed, never wanting it to end. He wants to always take the scenic route. He wants an adventure day every week. My boys said it was the best day of their entire life. Of course they say that every day. And that is how I like it.

...to long weekends.

I love long holiday weekends with perfect weather. Don't you? This weekend was so busy, but all good busy. And I mean good busy in that I didn't have to touch tomatoes but to make a salad all weekend! ;)


We had family in town, so lots of cleaning and cooking to prepare. And then of course a lot of visiting and catching up!


I had both of my sisters in town on Saturday - at the same time. The three of us haven't been in a room together at the same time in years (my family has 4 siblings living in 4 states). And the boys had some aunt catching up to do.



Sunday was more family time, walks, ice cream and botanical gardens. The boys were happy but exhausted after so much.



So for Monday we knew we needed a laid back day, but wanted to get out in the perfect weather. We headed to Old World Wisconsin, which is one of the largest living history museums in the world (almost 600 acres). So much room to roam!



We walked and wandered and visited all the animals and looked at the gardens and went into each farm. We took tram rides around the farms and through the woods.



We played games and watched wild turkeys. It was a perfect day to be out - pants and fleeces and sunshine and blue skies. I love the cooler air and happy boys who could walk and run and play without worrying about prickly heat, heat rash or sun blisters. SO wonderful!


I'm back to the tomatoes and red raspberries, but that is OK. A little quiet kitchen is good after so much weekend! Happy Tuesday!