The Weekend, modified. . .

Due to the weather forecast for the weekend (last), we decided to not go to South Dakota (which turned out to be a very good idea!). As a compensation package, we took the boys to the Cities for a little get away. On Saturday the plan was to go to the Mall of America and let the boys ride rides. It's a good thing we didn't buy the wristbands before getting there because we ended up buying none at all! The boys apparently have their fathers' stomach and opted to just walk around and "view" the rides. At one point, Brayton thanked us for taking them there because "whenever we take a step, in any direction, it's pure fun!". The first thing we found when we entered was Legoland and the boys were thrilled! Taite was impressed by how much time constructing all the pieces took. One of the items (don't know why I didn't take a picture) was a grandfather clock with moving pieces and everything which took 25 people 2 1/2 months! This was one of the displays the ~ the triceratops.

When we got to the hotel, the boys put their Legos together and after supper went swimming. We mistakenly thought it would be less busy after supper, but it wasn't. It was extremely loud and Chris was very nervous. He once saw a kid slip and "crack his head open" around a pool so busy chaotic pool scenes really make him edgy. After the pool, I was joking with the boys when they were showering by taking pictures when they were in the shower ~ they were all completely innocent and Taite had fun :~)

Guessing which side of the curtain I'm going to pop out of:

After a not so restful night (noisy kids above us, much too hot), we went to the Science Museum because they were having an Engineering special thing. Chris found out the museum opened at 9:30 and the Engineering thing was at noon so we wanted to get our moneys worth (Chris thought it was like $24 per person, but that was for Imax movies and everything ~ it was much cheaper than that). The first thing we found was a real news broadcast type station. It showed the boys how the teleprompter works and how they start over and make it move down. To give the whole effect, they have a TV to show what it would look like if they were real news casters.

Too much fun. . .

I just thought this fish was kind of cool. It looked like it was made from all "recycled stuff" (or junk, if you will).

This was a little trivia/game show type set up that the boys enjoyed playing against Chris at.

The board they were reading the questions on and they had a limited amount of time to answer the question.

Brayton was especially excited when we got to the dinosaur display. He said "I can't believe I am touching real dinosaur bones! I've always wanted to do this, since I found out there was such a thing!" LOL
This was a little puzzle type display that you can put the pieces together to form the dinosaur.

The finished product:

At noon, we headed over to the Engineering special: Spark, Slime, Speed. The kids worked on 4 different projects and when they were all completed, they received their very own, signed and personalized Jr. Engineering certificate. They also got a free t-shirt for participating!

Speed #1

This was the first thing they made, a little spool with a rubber band and pencil (a few other things, but these are the main ones) to make a little "car" that releases the energy stored in the rubber band.

Taite winding up his pencil getting ready to let it "roll".

Slime
They said this was similar to Silly Putty, but we aren't taking it out of the bag :~) This had glue, water, food color and an agent that held it all together, but I forget what it was called.

Light-up Bugs

These are by far the coolest thing they got to make! There is a button battery, wires, tape and pipe cleaners (for legs) to make a cute bug that has light up eyes when you touch the one wires to the antenna.

By the time the final station came around, the lack of sleep the night before had kind of caught up with them.

Speed #2
The boys made an improved airplane. They learned about lift and drag and I got a good laugh during the beginning of this exercise.

They are trying really hard to pay attention to the speech. . .

This was the first thing the boys had to do: cut out two strips of paper ~ 10"x1" and 5"x1". . .

Brayton was VERY into this task and here was the picture I took of him. This continued to go on, so I had to take a video of how exactly precise he was when cutting these strips!

Here the boys got to test their new "planes". They even had a "runway" taped on the floor to show the distance of the "flight".

Grandpa

On our way home, we went through Rochester (we normally go via a more direct route) to pick up some groceries and were going to visit my Grandpa because today he was to be transported to a nursing home closer to home to finish his recovery. I called my mom and they were just leaving the hospital and Grandpa wasn't doing too well. This was kind of how they said things would go ~ a good day or two and a bad day. Well, last week he had a lot of good days, so I thought it was kind of expected, but it wasn't. Instead of moving from the floor he's on to a nursing home, he was moved back to the ICU today. His heart isn't functioning as it should and his lungs are full of fluid. The doctors are not too hopeful today. We are praying this isn't the end, but if the Lord has other plans, I just pray Grandpa doesn't have to suffer. Hug the ones you love and make sure they know how you feel. Toby Keith's song "I'm Cryin' for Me" seems appropriate here. Instead of a "upside down, left-handed, backwards bass guitar" my Grandpa would be playing his accordion, better known as his "squeeze box" up in heaven. :'~{