Hot Science: Cool Talks adventure

Here are glimpses of our most recent excursion to revel in hands-on science at UT. 

We were blessed with the company of some good friends for this trip, which made the long train ride even more enjoyable for the boys. Our friends were well-stocked with games to entertain them as the city swept past the windows. 

This month's topic was the science of weather. We had a delightful hour exploring and experimenting with several engaging learning stations. After the hands-on science fair, we were entertained with a 90-minute lecture about weather forecasting, and boy was it fun! The teacher kept kids engaged the entire time. I love these science excursions. It's such a memorable way to learn concepts! 

Joseph loved this interactive mini-tornado machine. We'd place our hand int eh middle of the vortex and watch the storm disappear. 

Other glimpses of random stations.....

This was their favorite station. It involved a neat chemistry experiment to make fake snow. The kids LOVED watching the reaction take place as the liquid rapidly inflated into a big fluffy mass. They each brought home a little baggie of this and played with it for weeks. 

This was the toddlers' favorite station. It's fake snow made with shaving cream and baking soda. It's wonderfully fun to play with, and is a dreadful mess (which definitely increases the fun factor). 

After the lecture, we ran to catch the last bus out of town for the night. We were cutting it rather close on time and were worried we'd miss this bus (okay, actually only I was worried, Nathan was confident we had enough time.) and be stranded in downtown Austin. The bus stop was half a mile away, so we had the delightful adrenaline-producing fun of running through the dark streets laden with backpacks, camera bags, and huge souvenir posters. Nathan carried the two toddlers and several bags, making an interesting sight to see.

We did arrive with a few minutes to spare. The children all fell asleep on the long ride home. It was after 10:00 on a school night after all. After arriving at the station, we started the long drive back to our farm. We made it home close to midnight (and it was a school night!) and bundled everyone directly into bed. They fell asleep with their school uniforms still on.

It's a long night for sure, but is a highlight of the month any time we go. I don't mind letting them sleep in and be tardy for school after such a life-enriching event as this. (And for the record, Sarah was still awake before 5:00am, and roused everyone from their slumber in plenty of time so no one was late for school after all.)