sing, chat, scat.

Only one word needed. GarageBand.


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first peek.

lovage

Later than any year I can remember, but it is happening!
Buds, sprouts, shoots, things peeking through the soil.

rhubarb

valerian

strawberries

lilac


And Spring arose on the garden fair,
Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;
And each flower and herb on Earth's dark breast
rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.

~ Percy Bysshe Shelley

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6 year old wisdom.

We usually avoid crowds like the plague, but this weekend we knew we wanted to zip into the main exhibit area at the science fair early just to see the robotics tables before going off to explore the more quiet campus buildings. As we picked our way through the loud central space we passed a gravel bed with large rocks, green plants, and speakers playing odd pings and chimes. I turned and saw G in the middle up on the rock, in the lotus position, fingers gently touching thumbs, eyes closed. Brice looked at me and asked if I said something that made him go up there. Um, no.

"I just remembered it...from before" he says.

He always tells me things he remembers 'from before'. Always things I need to remember too. Like when you are feeling overwhelmed, meditating helps you quiet the chatter and noise and find your center. I only meditate after everyone else is asleep, late at night, the house quiet. But he knows. From before.

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science extravaganza.

This weekend we had one day of perfect weather - Friday was snow, Sunday was rain, but Saturday was glorious. It was perfect for our outing to the UW-Madison Science Expeditions. This annual event happens all over the UW-Madison campus and includes exhibits, museums, shows, displays and interactive activities for kids. As you know A is our science boy, so we had to go!


Both boys had a lot of fun, although A was just in heaven. We rode the trolley from building to building and visited so many great spots on campus...Physics Museum, Microbiology Building, Zoology Museum, and Greenhouse to name a few.



The main exhibit area had over 50 stations. We saw bio luminescent teeny tiny squid, learned how to use micro pipettes and did a few fun projects. Oh yeah. And did I mention robots? There were several robotics and engineering tables with Minstorms, battlebots AND even an autonomous robot. A even got to look inside to see the circuit board, motor and all the good stuff. I know he would have been happy only seeing robots and the physics museum, but it was nice to wander.



The main exhibit area was too many people for us, so we went in for specific tables (robotics!) and then focused on the trolley rides to the other science buildings which were not at all over crowded, and we got to explore and chat with UW students at every location.




We were able to visit areas on campus we didn't even know existed - like the zoology museum and collection. A 'had' to go see it. We toured the collections and saw room after room after room packed with really old specimens...and heard about the flesh eating beetle population housed in the basement of that building.


One tiger we saw was over 100 years old. The boys would not step foot into the large room full of thousands of jars of reptiles and fish (some very old!)...and I was the only one to go in there to look around.


But still, in the end robots won the day. And the boys were only grossed out a few times (ohhhh, the throat and vocal cord exhibit!!!!).

Very fun!

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things i love.

I love how the prism on our windowsill
casts rays of light and shadow and rainbows
all over the living room throughout the day.

Happy April!!!!

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