OMSI

We decided to spend a day at OMSI before the end of the year...

This cool little devise simulates black holes, and lets you play with different gravities.

Several computer games have you answer science questions to gain points.

Although it's a little blurry, this one has you design a bridge.

The Gravitram - this very cool gravity-fed ball roller coaster has been there since Robb was a kid.

It neveer fails to amaze!

This one was a challenge to build the best rubber-band boat

Kayl sends a Morse code message.

Sean learning about pulleys.

Mary has an 'electric' personality...

As the conductor (the big silver ball) charges up, the pie tins fly from your hand.

This one's a game about animal life...

One of the kids' favorite rooms is the 'ball room', where you can make air pumps move balls all over the place.

caroling at the Cascade Inn

Sean's Cub Scout Pack arranged to go caroling at a retirement center that was the home of one of the kids' grandparents.  As we entered the facility, there was a sign up with the daily activities - and we were one!

We started out meeting in the resident's room.  The kids were amazed at all of her Christmas trinkets.

Next, Cub Master Janet lead the boys through making their own Christmas cards to give out to the residents when we sang.

All you need is paper, crayons & imagination!

Even siblings got to make cards for them.

Sean was very focused on getting his two cards done in time.

Notice Santa on this card of Sean's...

After our cards were done, then all the kids and adults filed down the hall to the dining room to carol.

We stood up by the stage, where there was a piano, and sang our carols.

Sean loves to sing Christmas Carols!

He has such a great time - and great expressions!

Here are some of the cards the boys made - Sean's are the two on the left: a stripy Tigger saying "Ho Ho Ho" and Piglet riding Eeyore with Santa.

Our pianist - one of the residents - told us she had been playing piano for 85 years!

The residents had been eating dinner, and were now enjoying coffee & cookies with their carols.

Afterwards, we went back to the first room where the kids got to make another card to take home, and they had a little party as well.

Almost forgot - see the bell around Sean's neck?  Well, they were given those to ring as we walked down the halls!

And the party ended with pizza!

touring The Columbian

For one of Sean's Cub Scout Pack's 'Go See It' days, arrangements had been made to get  a tour of The Columbian - Vancouver's newspaper - and see how a paper is made.  The tour started with a look at their very first type-set press.  I'm not entirely sure the kid understood how it was used...

The next half hour was an informational video followed by questions and answers.  Although many of the questions were good ones - how many people buy the newspaper, where do you get the paper. how many reporters do you have, etc. - quite a few seem to focus on how would you deliver the paper if there was a flood/snowstorm/hurricane/earthquake/etc.

Finally, they got to go see the actual paper press.  But first, a little warning about looking with your eyes and NO TOUCHING!

This is a thermal form that transfers the page layout from the computer to a metal 'plate' via a chemical imprinting process.

The kids were very impressed...

Our tour guide explained that when the plate is run through the press, the ink only holds to the printed sections, and doesn't stick to the white spaces.  Magic!!

Here you can see the stamping roll, where the ink has been transferred from the plates and is about to transfer to the paper roll.

All-in-all, the kids had a great time.

bell ringing

The fourth, and final, event of our 'kickoff' of the holiday season was bell ringing. Every year we go as a family and ring bells for the Salvation Army - usually with our Lions Club. This year, however, there were enough other Lions to ring the bells, so we volunteered at church. It's always fun standing back and ringing the bell while a cute little kid dances and sings - the donations are much freer around them!

A well deserved cookie & cocoa break...

Mad Science

The third event of our first day of holiday break was another Cub Scout event - and this one was pretty cool.  The folks who run 'Mad Science' were out at the Intel education center, and had all the elements necessary for the kids to earn their Science beltloop and their Science pin.  Three hours of science exploration - what could a 7-yr-old boy want more...?

The afternoon started with some experiments from the stage - and one that actually went OUT from the stage!

After that, the boys were broken up into groups of 25-30, and cycled through 5 different stations - simple machines, states of matter, mineral mania, sea life and then atoms & molecules.  Here Sean is learning that a screw is actually an inclined plane around a cylinder.

Level - or catapult - I guess it's all in your perception...

Then they got to build a better catapult.  Sean loves building with tools!  and the best part - they got to keep their little catapult!!

This little gadget combines a plane, a pulley and a fulcrum.  Not to mention it had a car element...

In states of matter, the dry ice experiment was definitely the highlight.  One kid wanted to know if they got to keep dry ice to use with their catapult!

Because it's heavier than air, you can actually pour dry ice fog - carbon monoxide - into a cup and hold it there.

The mad scientist in the geology section had a fun, if weird, way of getting the kids' attention when they had completed a task.

Here the boys are examining the rocks for characteristics.

And another task completed.

Bio-luminescent minerals are cool under a blue light!

A few quick questions about life in the sea.  Did you know that jelly fish can grow up to seven feet long!?!

Here the boys had to pick one of several creatures of the sea, then make hypotheses about things such as life span, size, predators, food, etc., and finally research for the correct answers.  It was a great mini-lab.

Sean is cutting out his water molecule.  This first molecule they made from paper with stickers to represent the electron bonds.

Then they got to make an ammonia molecule from marshmallows and toothpics!