This summer so far...

     It's going to be an action packed summer this year, full of trips, events, and goings of on. There's the usual summer activities, like birthdays and holidays, not to mention Ragnarok (more on that later), but we've also a wedding in Reno and a big-time camping trip. Probably the biggest thing going on this summer is right here in our apartment everyday. I'm watching my nieces, Olivia and Gwyn, while school's out, so I've got a seven y/old, a five y/old, a four y/old, and a soon to be two y/old.

     I figure the only way I'm going to survive, let alone retain what little sanity I still have, is to treat it like school. I've got a schedule for the whole day, science projects lined up, art projects to keep them busy, and even field trips. Once the girls get used to following the schedule instead of running amok, like most summers, I think it's gonna work well. So far we've gone to the Oregon Zoo and the Tualatin Commons fountain. The zoo was fun. We took the bus to the MAX (Portland's light rail system) in so we wouldn't have to deal with shitty parking. We spent most of the day there and let the kids run out all their energy. On the way back, we figured Gavin would crash pretty hard but he stayed up the whole time. He loved looking out the windows. Jillian and Gwynny on the other hand both conked out within minutes. All in all, a day well spent.

Ride 'em Dinoboy! (and Dinogirls)

Tuckered out

Too tired

Bright eyed and bushy tailed

Yesterday was our first day of "Uncle Nicks Super Science Summer School". The day started out with some fun science experiments with friction. You can do it too if you want. All you need is two paperback books of fairly equal size. I grabbed Merchant of Venice and Julius Caesar

Take the books and interlace the pages, kind of like shuffling a deck of cards only slower. It can be a bit of a pain in the ass if you pick really thick books. When you're done, it should look something like this

 Then all you have to do is grab each book by the spine and pull them apart. Here, watch Gwyn give it a go...

That's the trick, you can't pull them apart, even two people pulling can't get the books to budge. Each overlapping pair of pages has it's own friction and when you have that many pages pulling at the same time, the friction is compounded. Mythbusters did this experiment with phone books. Here's their results http://youtu.be/hOt-D_ee-JE. Try it, it's fun! After Gavin's nap, we tried some experiments with bubbles and surface tension, but my bubble solution was crap and our bubbles never lasted, so no pictures. Stupid bubbles.

     When Belinda and Christina got home we packed up and headed to Tualatin Commons to play in the fountain and cool off. Gavin didn't quite grasp the concept of "Walk or you'll slip" so I strapped his backpack/kid leash on him and followed him through the water. The kids had a blast and, once again, fell asleep pretty quickly, rarely a bad thing.

     Today, we went on a nature walk down by the river and saw some deer tracks (and deer scat) and watched some newly hatched spiders. We were going to eat lunch there, but there were too many bugs for girls liking so we hoofed it to Jurgens park nearby. After lunch I brought out my science toys and we played with the Bernoulli blowers, paper helicopters, and Wright Fliers. Now we're chilling out at home, watching Avatar: The Last Airbender. Not sure what we'll do tomorrow, but I'm sure it'll be fun!

Mask & Mirror

     Last night, I went to an informational meeting at the Tualatin Library for Mask & Mirror Community Theater. Mask & Mirror is a new troupe, specifically focused on encouraging and developing community theater in the Tualatin/Tigard area. It was a good meeting, really straightforward and informative, and I signed up on the spot. I think good things are going to come from this. I figure it can't hurt. I've done work with a couple other non-profit groups, some worked, some didn't, but these guys seem to really have their act together (hehe, I punned). I found out about M&M from my Grandpa Dewey who found out about it from the Tigard Times (http://www.tigardtimes.com/news/story.php?story_id=130818408561353900). I've had the itch to get back into theater regularly since my return to Hadassah last year, but haven't had much luck finding anything nearby. If you live in the Tualatin/Tigard area and are looking to get involved in theater; whether it be on stage, backstage, off-stage, or even ushering, I suggest giving Mask & Mirror a try. They're on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mask-Mirror-Community-Theatre/211350792224516) and they'll have a booth at the Balloon Festival this summer.

     I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of theater and I'll post details of any upcoming shows or events here.

R.E.M.

Just woke up from the strangest dream I've had yet. I'm trying as hard as I can to retain it, but it's getting difficult. My waking brain keeps trying to impose logic on the crazy and the details get fuzzier the longer I'm up. As far as I can remember, there were huge surreal buildings everywhere but one in particular was where all the action happened. The walls, floors, and ceiling were predominantly yellow, and people were keen to avoid the yellow-ness whenever possible. Damn it, I'm losing it. It was far easier to hold onto the details of dreams before I had kids demanding attention in the morning. I remember the whole dream had a running soundtrack based entirely on They Might Be Giants. Everyone was very compliant and worried all the time. After multiple attempts to get them riled up, I finally found out why they were so sedate; if you instigate trouble a giant face appears in the yellow space and forces you into submission. I'm trying to remember the rest of it, but it's been too long. I remember running from the faces avoiding yellow like there's no tomorrow, the whole time being serenaded by the dulcet tones of TMBG. It was a race to the ground floor and supposed safety. It came down to me and one other guy barreling down the the last flight of stairs and into the foyer. I made one last desperate slide into the front doorway while a plexiglass barrier slammed down in front of the other guy, dooming him to a yellow doom, of doom. Relieved to be free of the faces, I step outside and see yellow everywhere. Then I woke up. There was way more to it, but I've lost it now. Suffice to say, it was intensely strange, even for me.