Mom's done with her meetings!

So we went to the Magic House. It's ostensibly a children's museum, but I think the adults have at least as much fun, which is why John was under strict orders not to take the kids there by himself.

The kids went downstairs via beanstalk, (John and I took the stairs. We're boring.)



where they found the nation's capital.

They raised the flag,



then Rebecca took some phone calls at the Resolute desk in the Oval Office.



while Kathryn held a press conference.



Next, the court, Judge Becca presiding.



Being a judge is hard. So they switched to construction.





If only she'd do this at home.



On to more literary pursuits.

Rebecca played the 'harpsichord' a la Beauty, of Beauty and the Beast fame. She actually looked at the color-coded notes on the music, matched them to the colored keys, and played them in the right order, without being told what to do (not that she'd have listened if she were told). My budding musician!



They also got to play dress-up.

Cinderellas:



Characters from Lan Po Po, a Chinese folk tale:



Sacageweas?



All that, and just in the first two hours! (Then the blogger got tired of uploading photos...)

We played at the Magic House for over six hours, and had an awesome time. It's not that easy to thoroughly engage both the 4 year old and the 9 year old, and this place did it impressively. If you're in St. Louis with kids, you MUST take a trip here.

We loved it so much it made our hair stand on end.

Building an arch

I would have liked a better title for this one, with technical sounding physics/engineering terms, but I didn't actually see the exhibits. Had to work. Poor me.

John built an arch at the St. Louis Science Center. It was so well built that the kids could actually stand under it.



Then they learned about optics.



And they did some brain teaser called the tower of Hanoi.



The teamwork exhibited in this picture is amazing. And rare.



Success!



Then they balanced 12 nails on one.






I am a little perturbed that they apparently learned a lot more physics/math on this trip than biology. Guess that's what happens when I'm not around to make sure they get a well-rounded education.

Mini-vacation!

I had to go to St. Louis for a workshop, so John and the girls tagged along to take advantage of the free room and mileage.

While I attended meetings in an over-cooled room with no windows, Rebecca and Kathryn brushed goats,



rode frogs,



sat in a hippo's mouth,



and climbed on a REALLY big bug.



They also saw some cool butterflies,



and goofed off in front of the penguins.



Tomorrow: the St. Louis Science Center.

What I did in July

We've come to the point in the summer when I realize that it's about time I started thinking about fall classes, fall syllabi, fall schedules. The luxury of not working for a living is almost past. And as usual, I have about the same list of to-do's at summer's end as I had in the beginning.

Sigh.

I feel so un-accomplished.

Except that I did teach in June. And supervise research students in June and July. (Yes, the 'not working for a living' thing is a sad myth.) And rip up a deck. And watch the Tour.

And I knit. Warm Woolies has a contest this summer. Six for six - knit six items that would fit a six year old child and win some knitting gifts. Sounded good, so I decided to go for it, even though I haven't finished the ten for ten contest - ten sweaters or pairs of socks suited for a ten year old.

I got started around July 6. And finished the last piece August 4.




Maybe I did accomplish something this summer after all.