This & That

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Resourceful

I'm not 100% certain but I bet this was Bea's handiwork.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Four

The Boss turned 4 on Friday.

Seriously.

I can't believe that she is 4.

Some days she acts 14.

Grandma Tina gave her this outfit. I love it, it makes me happy.

{and I think of Rainbow Brite, she was sassy too}

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Bea + iPhone Camera = Awesome-ness

Mark is convinced that Bea is going to grow up to be a hacker. She will swipe my iPhone every chance she gets and will systematically go through the apps trying to figure out what they all do and tries to buy something about every 10 minutes. Here is what you get when she figures out the camera. Sort of...

See, Awesome-ness.

5th Grade Science Fair

February 1 & 2, 2012

According to Drama, "If you want to pass the 5th grade, you have to do a science project for the science fair."

All of January was devoted to working on Drama's science project. The very day that the packet came home in her homework folder she wanted to get right to work. We mulled over a couple of ideas until she finally decided to test the "Up Theory." She wanted to find out how many balloons it would take to lift her up into the air.

It was a fun project and she did most of the work {except for tying all the balloons, that was my job}. Here is her write up...

Up, Up and Away!

I wanted to see if balloons could lift me up into the air in real life. Here is how I accomplished it.

First, I learned about helium. Then I built a scale model of me.

I had to see how much one balloon could lift. I had to measure every balloon as we filled it with helium so that they held the same volume. The balloons were all about 30 inches in circumference.

To start the experiment, four small washers were weighed. These four washers weighed 0.1 ounce and one balloon was able to lift the four small washers. Next, two big washers were weighed together. They weighed 0.1 ounce and one balloon could lift the two big washers.

Following this, a stuffed animal named Leo was weighed at 3.0 ounces. It took 23 balloons to fully lift Leo off the scale.

A giant chocolate kiss was weighed next. The kiss weighed 7.1 ounces and took 65 balloons to lift off the scale.

Finally, it was time for a 1/145th scale model of me. This model weighed 8.5 ounces and it took 77 balloons to fully lift it.

After we finished the experiment, we recorded all of the data from the experiment. We recorded how much each object weighed, and how many balloons it took lift the object.

We also calculated how many balloons it might take to lift the objects in the experiment. After we found out how much weight one balloon could lift we used that data to calculate how many balloons it would take to lift Leo, the kiss, the scale model of me, and to actually lift ME.

It would be fun to be floating in the air, hanging from balloons, soaring with the birds. Could this really happen to be soaring with the birds and how many balloons would it take? Yes, it could happen in real life. I calculated it would take 12,320 balloons to lift me off the ground. Based on the data from our experiment the actual number of balloons needed to lift me may be lower than we calculated. Wouldn't you want to be soaring in the air with the birds?

At the Fair

She created graphs and a fantastic chart. 12,320 balloons! That is a lot of balloons and a lot of helium! She did a fabulous job on her experiment but the best part is how much she loved doing the work, the experiment, the write up, and the graphs and charts! {But then I already knew she was super smart and amazing!}

Saturday, January 28, 2012

A Race and A New Blog

I've started a new blog - it's nothing fancy or important. I started a blog to chronicle my running and training adventures. Here's the link if you care to check it out...

Runner In Training

Today Mark and I ran a 5K together, his first and my not first. It was bitter cold but we had a fun time together. I wrote all about it on my running blog, here.....

Hale Freezes Over 5K Race Report

Here's a photo of Mark and I trying to stay warm in the car before the race as enticement to visit the other blog...

Friday, December 30, 2011

Ice Skating at the Olympic Oval

The #1 item on our "to do" list this Christmas/Holiday season {Holidays because we needed Thanksgiving break to New Years to fit all the "to dos" on the list in} anyway, #1 on the list was

Ice Skating!

The great Groupon had a discount to the Olympic Oval, 50% off for a family of 5. Bea is free except for skate rental because she is still under the magic age limit.

Today we finally headed up to Kearns for the much anticipated Ice Skating Extravaganza!

They had these neat walker/skater holder uppers {technical term} that little kids with no balance or experience could use. In theory, the child could stabilize themselves and learn to skate like a pro. In reality, the child held on for dear life and mom/dad held onto the child's hands and the contraption at the same time while bending at a 90 degree angle scooting around the oval while the child's legs and feet "went all crazy," as the Boss said.

This is the view I had for most of the outing. The Boss couldn't keep her feet going in the right, or even the same direction.

Apparently Bea, who was with Dad, had the same problems as the Boss and I.

Drama got the hang of it right away.

and Pooh Bear was a pro by the end of the outing.

Ahh, a helmet, a really good idea, considering.

Why won't they even look at me when I am taking a picture?

In the end we had a great time and the Boss cried most of the way home because she wanted to go back and ice skate. Of course Mark and I will be bed ridden tomorrow from the bending, stooping, lifting, balancing, steadying, and ice skate induced ankle pain.