Umatilla County Fair 8-10-11

The pictures are backwards and it takes too long to fix so I am just going to leave them.
We went to the Umatilla County Fair in Hermiston, OR. The kids really enjoyed the science room. Ben wanted to stay their the entire time. Emily was interested in the magnetic blocks. I will have to find some for her. Joey really liked the marble wall.
We then went to look at animals. Emily wasn't as freaked out about the animals like Joey was his first time. She was interested in them. Ben was excited to shoot a bow and arrow. We took the kids on the carnival rides. Joey finally got to ride the rollar coaster that he screamed about going on when he was about Emily's age. We then went and watched the pirate show. It is a cute show that if you arrive early your kids have a part to play. We didn't get their early enough but they boys still enjoyed participating from the audience.
Eric then took us to Fudruckers. Joey had a huge hamburger, Ben enjoyed his black licorice ice cream and Emily liked drinking the ketchup, eewww. We then went miniature golfing. The kids really had a lot of fun golfing. Even Emily thought she was doing pretty well. Eric and I enjoyed spending time with them. It was a good day.

Friction Investigation August 12, 2011

We learned about friction for our science experiment. We tested out the different surfaces by wearing socks and then not wearing socks. The kids found out the difference between tile and carpet. They had fun. I got the plan from Sid the Science Kid Website Friction Investigation.

Science Experiment-Inertia

For our science project we learned about Inertia. I downloaded the activity and the video off of the Sid the Science Kid website. We took a dinosaur and placed it on top of the motorcycle. When we pushed it towards the step the bike stopped but the dinosaur kept moving. We tried it with the wagon by pushing the wagon and when we stopped it they could feel their bodies move forward. I asked them how we can stop our bodies from moving forward and they eventually figured out that seat belts would stop their bodies.

Dust Devil Game August 9, 2011

We attended our first minor league baseball game. The Tri-City Dust Devils are from Pasco, WA and we took the family to the game. We arrived an hour and a half early thinking we could get in to watch some batting practice. But they didn't open the gates until 6:15 p.m. so we had to wait 45 minutes. We let the kids play on a nearby playground and then Ben watched soccer. We then went into the stadium. I walked Emily for almost an hour and by the time the game started she just wanted to sit down. With the combination of candy and being tired we made it through the eighth inning and could have probably stretched it but decided to leave. They made it through 2 hours so that was good enough. They liked the in between entertainment and they also had a "dusty's dash" where the kids run the field from one foul line to the next. It was cute. Joey even caught a ball when we first arrived in the stadium. He was so happy! It was a great day.

August 8 & 9 Camping Trip

The Edwards Family Camping trip was the first for our family, alone. We decided to attempt a 24 hour camping trip. We originally headed to the church campgrounds but found that Trek would be arriving soon and that we weren't insured with them so it would be best if we went somewhere else. We understood so we went to a campground in Plymouth, WA which is right on the Oregon/Washington border. We set up camp, and played games. It was fun. The only difficult time we had was when Emily had a hard time through the night. She wanted to sleep in her own bed so she cried most of the night. I felt bad for the campers around us. Eric taught the kids how to crack open walnuts with rocks. Then Ben decided to crack open rocks and so he called them his rock puzzles. We had FHE and we learned about nature and made a leaf collage. We had spaghetti for dinner. It worked out well. We will have to go back when Emily is a little older.