Going Home

So Disney is done for another two years.  And we headed north again.  We did stop at Peach World.  Which sounds way cooler than it was.  We actually just needed to use the restroom, but the gas station had a "Closed.  Be back in 5 min." sign on the door, and the Peach stand didn't have a bathroom.  I don't know what you were supposed to do if you needed to pay for gas with cash.  And there actually was nothing in the store that I felt the need to buy.  So we took our Peachy pictures and got back on the road.

And then we even passed up South of the Border.  (which is kinds like the Southeast's version of Wall SD)  The signs warn you of your proximity to SotB for nigh on 200 miles either direction.  And they puns only get crazier the closer you get.  We have stopped there before, but this time I guess we were just all ready to be home.  See ya next time SotB!

The Science Fair

The girls picked some really interesting science projects this year. I really want them to find actual questions they have to direct their research and they did it pretty well!

Gwyn's question was:  Is color just perception or is it based on physical properties of an object?

She studied light and color, how the eye works, and color blindness to answer her question.  She even had a demonstration of colors refracted from a light source at her display.

Celee's question was:  Why does the element samarium repell sharks?  

Celee found out that sharks have extra-sensory pores on their head that are sensitive to magnetic fields, which samarium produces.  She found out all about the earth's magnetic field and how sharks use it to navigate.  She discovered that animals create magnetic waves when they move that sharks can sense.  And she found out about scientists experimenting with samarium coveted fish-hooks to repell sharks.  We even made a little shark model that's eyes lit up when it "looked" at the samarium.

Lyla's question was:  Why don't birds and squirrels get electrocuted when they are on power lines?

Lyla already understood how a circuit works, so she learned about how the flow of electricity takes the easiest path and will run from high to low wattage.  If the bird or squirrel only touches one wire, the electricity has no reason to flow into it. But if it touches two wires, or one wire and anything else, the electricity will go through it to run into the lower wattage thing.  She learned that. People are touching the low-wattage ground or tree, or pole usually when they touch electrical wires, so the electricity goes trough the person to flow into the other thing.  She had a model of a squirrel on a wire whose eyes lit up when you made him touch both wires on her "telephone poles."

We had three people from the community with science related careers come and be the evaluators.  Each student got to explain their project to the three evaluators and answer questions.  I find this very rewarding.  Even with the girls picking their own projects, there is still some cajoling that occurs to actually get the project completed.  So I love to see how proud of heir work they at e when they get to present it to others.

South Mountain Creamery

One of our co-op groups organized a tour of South Mountain Creamery.  I love this place!  Not only is the ice cream delicioso, but the kids get to feed the calves each time you go.  This time as part of the tour we got to see how the dairy actually works.  It was really neat to see the cows some into the milking barn and how all the machinery in there worked.  Then they showed us the tanks that hold and pasteurize the milk.   We got to see the yard and the feeding barn.  These cows even have special cow beds they can lay on when they want to.  They also had baby chicks and ducks that the kids got to hold.

They open the calf barn up for people to feed the cows every day at 9(?) and 4:30.  So if we ever go back there, we'll make sure it's around one of those times.

Day 6: Typhoon Lagoon

We had breakfast at the Contemporary.  I think people like this character breakfast because it's the Mickey gang.  I do enjoy getting to see Mickey and Minnie, but it's not my favorite breakfast place.  Nothing is bad there, but I just prefer the atmosphere at the other character meal places.  Nevertheless, we love how Donald and Goofy play tricks on people and act silly when they walk around.  It's also good to have the assurance you'll see these favorite characters without waiting in crazy lines.

And we were off to Typhoon Lagoon!  It was a hottish sunny day, so great for the water park!  We all just rode slide after slide, and did the lazy river.  It could have been hotter.  When we weren't all the way in the water, we wanted to be in the sun.  But it was so nice to just lounge in a beach chair for a while while the girls played in the sand.  I needed some sun-warmth.

Celee got to giggling on the bus back to the room.  I don't even remember what it was about, but it was one of those laughing fits that just won't stop.  :)

It just keeps going!

And it caught Lyla too!

We so enjoyed this vacation!  We all were in sore need of a break, and this hit the spot.  It was a relaxed trip, we weren't in a hurry to get anywhere or do anything.  It was very restorative.

As always, the week went by too fast.  But it was a week full of fun, food, and rest.  And we all went back to MD a little lighter hearted.