Lava Lamp

Joshua wants to do Halloween stuff the entire month of October. So, I googled Halloween science and came up with this cool lava lamp thing.

Find a smallish glass or jar and fill it 1/4 with water. Then pour some vegetable oil on top of that. You'll want at least a couple inches worth of oil so that the bubbles have a place to go. The oil and water will separate (as oil and water do). Then add a few drops of whatever color food coloring you want your lava to be. We did one purple and one blue.

This part was pretty cool by itself. We watched the drops of dye fall through the oil and come to rest on the top of the water. Then, after a few seconds, the dye would break through and permeate the water. Cool!

Finally, once the water is colored, add 1/3-1/2 of an alka seltzer tablet and watch the bubbles go. Once they die down, add more alka seltzer. We went through 7 tabs and could have done more but I told Joshua that we should give the oil and water a chance to re-separate and then he got interested in something else. This was really super cool!

Three rules of driving

According to Joshua, there are three rules of driving. They are:
1. Wear your seatbelt
2. Don't go 100
3. Keep your door closed

I think I can handle that!

At the circus

Today the four of us went to the circus. I don't think I had ever been before or if I had, it was before I can remember. Anyway, I was super excited about going.

The show started at 11 but at 9:30 we could meet the animals. And then at 10, there was an "all-access pre-show." We went to all of it.

Evan was enthralled by the elephants. Joshua liked the tigers.

 

 



 

At the pre-show, we saw some gymnast type girls, some dancers, and some clowns. We also all got clown noses.

 

Blurry clowns in the sky

Blurry family of clowns





The show itself was super fun and exciting. There were definitely parts that were better than others but overall, it lived up to my expectations.

Taba and the lions

Hand-balancing and contortion artists

The Danguir high-wire troupe

Human cannonball

The ever-controversial Asian elephants

More of the elephants

The Steel Vortex (one of Joshua's favorites)
 

 I didn't get pictures of some of our other favorites, including the Trampoline Tower Tumblers and the Kiev Aerial Enchantresses. The only thing missing from this show was a trapeze act - they had skywalkers instead.

Both boys had a super fun time. Evan passed out halfway through the second act. Joshua says it was the best circus ever. And that he wants to go again. Next year, kid, you bet!



And then he was 5

In true Joshua form, we had a ghost pirate themed party to celebrate Joshua's birthday this year. We had seven 4-5 year olds and a few younger siblings. They jumped, played games, ate pizza and cake, and everyone seemed to have a great time.

 There were hats, necklaces and eye patches for dressing up.

Joshua's pirate ship, some pirates, goody bags, and a rat.

 Having fun with the jump house.

Food. And a rat.

Joshua giving out the tattoos.

 The cake. I let the candles do most of the work for me.

Blowing out the candles

Our family.

Joshua wanted balls in the jump house. So we got balls. 100 of them.

The pirate theme.

Treasure boxes for the plunder won from playing games and digging in the sand box.

 Decorations

Ring toss with pirate hooks

Pin the eye patch on the Jolly Roger

The pirate plunder pail

Meeting Diego

Joshua, Evan, and I flew down to Los Angeles at the end of July to meet my sister's new baby. My boys were mostly very nice and gentle with Diego except for a few poking incidents. And covering with the blanket. And squashing him a bit.

The visit was brief but I am so glad we made the trip. I am so happy for my sister and brother-in-law. I can't wait till our kids get to hang out again!