Saturday, February 27, 2016

STEM Night

Gavin's school had its annual STEM night last night, and it was lots of fun! STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math, and the gym was full of different activities and stations for the kids to explore:


We were both fascinated with the mirage table. Look at each container. It look like there is an object on each  - but there's really nothing on top of them. It's all  a trick with mirrors!



There really is no frog on this bowl. Honest. Crazy, right?!




Stacking magnets:




A cube puzzle:




Pendulums



With his pals Ava and Claire:



Extracting DNA from a strawberry:




Sending straw "rockets" up to the ceiling with a bicycle pump:



 This was one of Gavin's favorites of the night. He connected wires to a battery and light bulb to make the bulb turn on. 


Thanks to the volunteers who helped make this night so much fun!!

Monday, February 1, 2016

Fun With Our Cousins


Every winter, around the Christmas and New Year break, we try to get together with our Wisconsin extended family. Sometimes we are sick, sometimes some cousins are out of town, but as many as possible meet up at a restaurant in Kenosha, which is a good halfway point for all of us.


The restaurant has one of those "claw" machines - Gavin and Erin tried to get toys but were not successful. (I think those things work about 1% of the time.)





Next, Uncle Kevin discussed the technical layout of the sandbox Sean is going to build for his Eagle Scout project. Gavin and Jack looked on:




Gavin hadn't seen technical drawings like this before (I don't think!) and was fascinated.





Next, playing Hangman with Erin:





And then the silliness started. Gavin, Erin, and Erin's dad Dennis got their hair as static-y as possible:







 It was a fun afternoon!