Marshmallow Shooter Physics

We had an entire afternoon of physics on Tues. We made Marshmallow shooters with the GAHN homeschooling group. What fun! Everyone had a great time. The younger kids needed some adjusting to their shooters to make them work (we ended up just making theirs be straight with no bends so they could force the marshmallow out). The older boys created "clips" of marshmallows that they would swap out quickly and reload. They also got creative with the configuration of their piping.

Everyone started out with the same pieces and an example of how to make it. The older boys decided they would see what would happen when they made different twists and turns or if they loaded more than one marshmallow.

Then they shot for distance (although most of the shots were at each other!) One of the original rules was that you can't shoot your marshmallow into the mouth of someone else... no germ sharing please! So Josh decided he'd try to shoot his straight up and then catch his own marshamallow in his mouth. Only 3 cooperated enough to land in his mouth though!

One of the kids is allergic to the corn in marshmallows so she was shooting small craft "puff balls" - that worked well too! Great for when the kids have ingested enough sugar for the day!

Josh discovered, once we got home, that the Nerf suction tipped darts fit into the end of the shooter, so he spent time shooting those too. Oh, and then he and his friend Ben took it over to Ben's grandpa's house. They set the air compressor to the lowest psi setting and tested out how both marshmallows and the nerf darts worked with that - I think he said they went 10 feet or so!

Today the kids are still enamoured with these shooters. They split a big bag of marshmallows between them and had a "shootout" in the backyard. The girls took the fort and Josh was on the platform of the low slide. I really hope marshmallows don't make the dogs sick....

This has been a great physics lesson - I love how life provides all sorts of learning if you just let it happen!

Spring storms

We had our first big spring storm roll through last night. It was definitely a big one. F2-F3 tornados touched down in the metro area. Our sirens went off, but so far they aren't saying any tornados hit here in our part of town. Although we wonder about that - seems like the damage is so hit and miss that it's characteristic of a tornado, but they are calling them straight line winds. We had downed tree limbs, and some buckled shingles on the roof and our baby weeping cherry tree (that we planted last fall) had one of the tie down lines snap and twist itself completely around the trunk of the tree. But two of those lines held and the tree is still standing. Not so lucky for our neighbors Bradford Pear tree. It toppled over at the base, just missing one of their vehicles. Again, it made us wonder about the winds... our portable bball goal is still standing but the tree fell? Just a hundred feet or so away. Strange.

The kids held up well through this storm. It helped that we have switched away from satellite tv and we could stay up-to-date on what was going on as it happened (with satellite it always went out in the severe storms like this!). We all took up residence in the basement, and I have to say, our basement feels pretty safe when you are down there. We had pillows and blankets and snacks and books. And dogs, hermit crabs, gecko and fish. Oh, and laptops... we kept up with our bid on the Mac iBook on ebay.. and won it in the midst of the storm! Happy birthday son! :-)

We headed back up about 10:30 or so, only to be awakened about 1:30 AM with something that just felt "wrong." The attic fan was buzzing, even though it wasn't turned on. Things definitely sounded not good at all! I was just about to get everyone together to head back to the basement when Rylie came bounding in our bedroom saying "I don't like this. I want to go to the basement!" We all went down again and checked the tv. It was looking like it could go on awhile, so we blew up the air mattress and settled in for the night. Dad and Josh on the air mattress, Mom and 2 girls on the daybed (just the top part, not the trundle!) - it was cozy to say the least! It was a LOOONG night and everyone is now in bed... which is where I'm headed too!

We did call the insurance agent this morning to have someone come check the roof. Better safe than sorry, especially when the roof is going on 12 or 13 years old. I'd rather baby it now, and have it hold up longer... or get anything taken care of before it would get worse.

Ahhhh, gotta love spring in Kansas!

At the Ballet, Chalk Walk and more

In the midst of an incredibly busy week, Darren calls from work and says he can get tickets to the ballet - it's a full-length production of Romeo and Juliet! We have almost NO time this weekend left, but we'll manage to squeeze in the ballet! Especially for free tickets that are practically on stage!

We spent Saturday on a run. As Ellie said "Mom has to work, Josh has the Chalk Walk, Rylie has dance, Josh has a party, Dad has a party, Mom and Rylie have the ballet and I'm spending the night with Nana and Papa!" That about summed up the day - the short version!

Darren and Josh left for the Chalk Walk early. It was held in the Historic NE section of KC. It was a fundraiser for Mosaic Brain which brings art to the inner city. Josh had pre-registered and had his idea all set. Darren got inspired once there, and since there were extra squares available he set out to do a city scene. I'll add pics of both of them. It was an incredible day - we all had so much fun. It started out cool, but then warmed up nicely... Darren and Josh both ended up with a bit of a sunburn.

Meanwhile, Rylie was dancing (no surprise there!) and went home from dance with a couple friends. After I was finished at the Y Ellie and I went to the Chalk Walk and hung out too. Darren had just finished his picture when it was time for Ellie and I to leave to get Rylie. Darren and Josh headed out too, since Josh had a party to go to and Darren had a Dad's Night Out, plus he was going to stop by the crawfish fry a gal he works with was having. Busy day!

We all managed to get to our respective places, and Rylie and I settled ourselves in at the ballet. We were in the 8th row, center section - thanks Sprint! Rylie knew a little of the story, but it was so fun to see it in ballet form. The dancers are incredible athletes! Grown men were leaping across stage and we could not hear them land! Amazing! (I know, that's what they are supposed to do...but it still amazes me that they can do it.)

Saturday took it's toll, as on Sunday we were all quite tired! But it was such a fun weekend it was definitely worth being a bit tired on Sunday!