Discovering Science at the OMSI

We had an awesome experience at the OMSI in Portland.  I guess it is technically a science museum but it is completely geared for kids.  I loved it too.

We paid a few dollars extra per person to get into the robot exhibit.  I guess it is a traveling exhibit so we knew it would probably be a once in a lifetime opportunity.

The place was crowded so you had to wait your turn a lot, but it was cool.  here the girls "talk" to this robot.

This is a robot seal that is being made for pediatric wards in hospitals.  It is a big step up from a stuffed animal as a comforter for sick kids.  You can actually feel it "breathing".

We watched some robots playing soccer.  They were pretty good at the game too.

This was fun.  You got to play 21 with a robot.  I think I even beat it once.  The robot would deal the cards and you would touch the screen for hit or stay.

Here we play tic - tac - toe with a robot.  How often do you get to say you did that?  There were a lot of other robot things too.  I could have stayed all day in that part of the museum.

Left the robotics area and found a spot with a lot of puzzles.  Some were obviously meant for older kids but my girls had fun trying them anyway.

Shooting up a "rocket".  You had to decide how much air and how much water to put in to try to make it reach the top.

We made a movie out of lots of pictures.  Whitney seemed to really enjoy this.

Here we are in the lab.  You had to wear goggles to do the different experiments.  Adam was not a fan of the goggles and didn't last long in this room.

Adam stayed at this water table for a super long time.  He loves playing in the water (except for baths for some reason).  You were suppose to try to figure out the sails on boats and which worked the best.  We mostly just got wet.

There is a pinball machine that talks about preventing food waste - buying less at a time at the store, etc.  No where did it mention that it is mostly picky children that waste food. 

It was about dinner time when we got back to Ruth and Dana's house.  We decided since it was our last night in Vancouver to go out for dinner.  We went to Firehouse Subs, or something like that.  All kids get a fireman hat.  Hannah obviously liked wearing hers.

Anyway, we had lots of fun in Vancouver and Portland.  The next morning we traveled to Seattle.  More pictures to come.

Portland Zoo

I think Whitney and Rachel are my only two kids who have been to a zoo and they were too little to remember, so we decided a trip to the zoo was in order.  The zoo was a little crazy but it could have been much worse.  We ran into a couple of summer groups while we were there.  I liked that because then we could learn more about the animals from the workers.

Compared to some birds, we have apparently very short wingspans.  So I guess flying is out.

There were some little animal statues close to the beginning and everyone picked one.  Adam loved sitting on the hippo. 

The bats were our first animal and they are so ugly to be almost cute. Is that even possible?  Whitney said these were her favorite animal and she now wants one for a pet.

I enjoy watching all kinds of monkeys.  This one apparently likes watching all kinds of humans.  We watched them feed the monkeys here.  One had a baby that clung to its tummy.  So that was cute.

These old tortoises were interesting.  The big one was mean, kept following the smaller one and the smaller one kept trying to get away.

Hard to tell from the picture but the kids were watching the penguins.  I love penguins so we stayed here for awhile watching them waddle around and jumping in the water.

So cute.

We watched the elephant show.  There were a ton of people so I did not get the best pictures.  The elephant would do little tricks to earn apples.  He was very good at splashing the water really hard.

This giraffe was standing when we got to the exhibit but we watched it sit down.  It was fun to watch it try to sit since giraffes have such skinny legs.  So it went slowly but it did sit.  Kind of cool.

And here we are in the jeep pretending to be on a safari.  We saw lots of other animals too - lions and a black bear and sea creatures.  They were all awesome.

The Portland Zoo was fun.  We were there for like six hours and still missed a couple of things.  I am glad my kids were able to learn some more about these amazing animals.

Discovering the Gorge

Our fun vacation adventures began on the first day.  We met up with Ruth and Dana at the Columbia River Gorge Discovery Museum.

The center was a lot bigger than I thought it would be.  The kids thought it was fun and it was informative also.

The view from outside.  The gorge is so beautiful.

This was an old canoe right in the front of the museum.

We saw an exhibit about the many travelers and explorers that came west.  It would have been such a hard journey.  I hope the kids appreciate how much easier our life is now and feel more grateful.  I know I do.

There were lots of little areas that had activities for kids.  Adam and Gideon work on a puzzle.

This lady came and spoke about raptors and showed us two beautiful birds. 

There was a play room at the end of the center that we used quite extensively.  Here you have to try to balance cargo on a boat.  I think the boat was a little off center, but maybe it was just me.

The kids put on costumes and we got a family picture.

And a cousin picture.

I am glad we took the time to stop here.  Thanks for the fun idea Dana.  More pictures from our fun vacation soon.

Girls Camp

I serve in the Young Women's presidency in my ward so I had the amazing opportunity to go to girls camp at the end of July.

In this stake all the wards stay together.  It was different than how I grew up where all the girls would be mixed together and you had no idea who would be your tent mates.  It was nice for me because then I could be with all my young women.  We are the biggest ward in the stake.

Our ward girls were the Neverland fairies.  Every ward had to be a little cartoon group - like the Minions and the Trolls. So here some of the girls spread glitter (fairy dust) secretly on another ward's camp site.  There was a lot of laughing as they threw glitter in the air.

There were a couple of different service projects for the girls to do.  This one was making baby blankets.

Every morning and evening we gathered together for songs and devotionals.  It is hard to tell with this picture but it is all the bishops (who had come for testimony meeting one night) singing and performing the Jelly Fish song.

I learned how to play this nine square game.  I wasn't very good at it but the girls were easy on me.  I also got a chance to prove my lack of skill at volleyball one afternoon.  It was fun to have casual time with my young women. 

I went on a hike with my second year girls.  The first twenty minutes felt about straight up.  All my "hikes" on a treadmill at the gym did not really compare.  But the view was definitely more beautiful outside.  There were so many glorious trees to see.

I also went on a nature walk with my first year girls.  We saw this all white plant.  It is a plant with no chlorophyll, not a mushroom.  I thought it was cool looking. 

And we saw these trees called the Three Sisters.  They are three different kinds of trees but they all link up as they get taller, kind of hard to see.  They lean on each other and support each other. 

The theme for camp was to be Princess Warriors for Christ.  We had this great theme song called 'Strong' which I recommend everyone hear.  We talked a lot about putting on the armor of God as we go through our trials and how to be warriors in this world. I loved the theme and taught it to my girls for FHE when I got home.

I missed my family while I was gone, but I am grateful I went.  Girls Camp was as fun and as spiritual as I remembered from when I was a youth.

Funfest and Rocks

There have been a couple of fun events in Hermiston.  We went to Funfest like we always do.  The kids have such a good time.

It was hot.  Will was a good boy scout and was prepared with a spray bottle of water to squirt at us at random times.

The girls liked playing the carnival games.

Adam shows off his "face" paint.  I knew he would not hold still enough to make a good painting on his face so we figured a hand paint of a dinosaur would be good.

We all listened to the brass band for about thirty minutes.  They are really good.

There were a couple of new things this year.  One was the bathtub race.  Don't ask. It was weird.

And Santa came.  I have no idea why he was there.  I guess Christmas in July is popular in some places.  The kids just wanted candy canes.  So it was a fun day.

As part of the summer reading program the library had a lady come from the university and present a rock show.  She taught all about rocks and where they came from and how they change.  Then there were some fun things for the kids to do.  Whitney and Rachel look at fossils in rocks.

Seeing how rock formations change you could blow air on the sand or drop water on a sugar cube.  I thought it was interesting.

This was to see the effects of an earthquake.  This was probably everyone's favorite.  Adam did not want to leave when the event was over because he loved building with the blocks and then seeing them topple over.

Megan makes her own layers of "rock".  It was a good event.  The kids had fun and it was informative without being boring.

All this fun leads to a tired baby.  I think Hannah can fall asleep anywhere.  Such a cutie.