Experiments

Matthew has been performing a series of "experiments" involving water and different substances at various temperatures. It wasn't until this last one that I considered documenting them; they aren't exactly landmark studies. But just to show the progression, here's a brief description of each study.

Study #1 - Matthew submerged a wad of chewed gum wrapped in its wrapper in a jar of water and observed it for about a week (until I couldn't stand it sitting on my counter any more!).

Study #2 - Matthew combined three ice cubes in a glass of water by stirring and then froze the all the contents of the glass for about a week (until I couldn't stand the glass in the freezer any more . . . Do you see the trend?).

Study #3 - Matthew combined a cup of sugar and about three cups of water in a container and then froze it.

elapsed time: about 2 hours

Noting that he hadn't been very good about tracking and observing the progress of his experiments in the past, he decided that he would observe this one for five days. Probably the greatest outcome of this experiment the chart he made to track his progress.
We love the bead-work marker holder that he produced.

Matthew hasn't decided on his next experiment, but maybe we'll provide a little more direction for his experiment designs. That is, if he'll take it.

Diving for Treasure

I suppose that there is a certain age when bath pictures lose their charm. It's probably been a good 3 years since I've taken pictures of Matthew in the bath, but the other day I couldn't resist.

Matthew is a bit attached to his swimming goggles. I would even go as far to say as they are becoming a bit of a crutch. On occasion, I forget to bring them to his swimming lessons, and while he can swim without them, he usually pitches at least a minor fit claiming that he doesn't want to swim without goggles.

When he asked for his goggles while taking a bath, I didn't see any reason to deny them to him. But, I didn't really expect him to use them for treasure hunting. I don't know that the pictures do it justice, but I found the image of Matthew diving for treasure next to Seth in the bathtub pretty amusing. I guess if you don't have a pool for diving you have to improvise.
We can't leave Seth out! (Undoubtedly, there is a Seth-in-the-bath picture deficient)

Another *Hike*

The boys and I ventured out again, but this time we stayed a little closer to home. We headed up to Magnolia and "hiked" around Discovery park.

My only attempt to get a picture of the majority of the group; I missed half of them! Why do kids move so quickly exactly when you want to to hold still?

This time our group seemed a little kid heavy. Three adults to six kids; one 5-yr old, two 4-yr olds, and three 2-yr olds. So, we were a kind of slow moving group. Mike & Ikes and Skittles helped the pace, but it was still pretty slow. Originally I had hoped to make it all the way down to the beach from the east parking lot, but we didn't quite make it. However, we did manage to collect a letterbox stamp, pick and eat lots of blackberries, and enjoy the scenery before reaching our destination- a huge sand dune.The kids certainly enjoyed some of the best sand in Seattle and unknowingly seemed to transport half of the dune in their clothes. Hopefully we'll return soon and make it to the beach, although we might have a tough time convincing them to go anywhere besides the dune!

Hike

The boys and I ventured East along with some other kiddie hikers and hiked along the middle fork of the Snoqualmie river.

This was Seth's first time walking all on his own. Jelly beans dropped along the trail came in handy as a motivator, although I think that I've set a dangerous precedence. The boys enjoyed the hike, the treats, playing in the sand, and for Matthew, building dams. A complete success!

At the beginning of the hike.
Seth shows his displeasure at not being allowed to climb on the bridge.
Taking a little water and jelly bean break. Seth collected his jelly beans in his sand bucket.

Matthew beginning his dam.

Uncle Jon's Wedding

I'm a slacker and didn't actually take any pictures on the big day, but I did manage to steal this one from Michelle.

What a handsome set of Goodwin grandboys!

Urban Adventures

Sometimes I like to pretend that I'm a real urbanite. So, for one of our adventures we headed downtown. The main objective was to eat lunch with Jon in his office's conference room while watching the Blue Angels rehearse for their Seafair Shows. But, when traffic delayed us and we missed the practice session, I came up with a plan B; head to Chinatown for some seasoned ramen noodles for the Chinese chicken salad I was going to make for Jon's wedding luncheon.

So, like a true city-dweller, from Jon's office we headed to the bus tunnel and took light rail to the International District. Coming out of the tunnel, Seth was immediately drawing to this lovely bit of urban landscaping:
He was so taken with the rocks he even tried to stash a few of them in his pockets for the ride home. Unfortunately, his shorts weren't quite equal to the rocks' weight. Plus, I couldn't really condone stealing. So the rocks stayed.

Matthew tended more toward the sculptured part of the landscaping; perfectly suited for peek-a-boo:
I swear I had a picture of Matthew's face peeking from behind this pillar, but I guess I was just too slow, or I lost it somewhere in the digital picture black hole.

After an unsuccesful trip into the market, the boys took the time to make some wishes at the fountain, before we headed back on the light rail to Jon's office.

Then, while waiting to meet Jon again to say good-bye, the boys explored the giant flower outside Jon's building.
Maybe not the most exciting adventure day, but an adventure nonetheless.