Happy Birthday!

I forgot to mention the other post that the boys did a great job at putting a king size bed frame together!  Mom & dad are LOVING the new bed!

After I posted last time, we had a bon fire.

Then the Easter Bunny came.  :-)

And later that night we picked up "Other Brother"!  :-)

 Two days later it was Fireball Coyote's Birthday!!!! WOOHOO!!!!

He received a Ninjaga  kit.

 Along with a Lego City car, Ninjaga Lego game, solid geode, 2 PS2 games, and a stuffed rhino.

His reaction to his brother's gift.

A Pokemon ball & character, Pikachu.

So, two worked on the plane and ...

one on the game.

 While the boys built I made a 3 layer baseball shaped cake.  It was good!

"Happy Birthday to YOU!"

The next day "Other Brother" had to go back home.  We took our time getting there.  When we arrived in his 'home town', we hung out at his mom's work for a few hours.  

We saw lots of animals, gems, minerals, fossils, and more!

We watched items being scanned for a 3D computer program.

We walked up & down these steps several times.  (Great view)

Best of all was the 'tour' of  his mom's work room!  (Looking at Beryl)

 We learned SO much from her!!!!

We learned about the Mohs scale of hardness number for minerals.  For example, we all know the hardest mineral, diamonds, is a 10.  We learned that the second hardest, 9,  is Ruby and Sapphires.  They are also called corundum minerals.   Quartz is a 7 and Calcite is a 3.  

We learned that a 12 sided mineral is called a dodecahedron, Garnet for example.    

Quartz and Beryl are some that have a double termination, in addition to having hexagonal shape.

The museum has some Hiddenite, from Hiddenite NC. ( I want to go & look for some!)

That the difference between Malachite and Azurite is Copper.

That it all need to be kept in a well maintained area, with minimal exposure to the elements around us.  It is best kept in a metal box or well maintained clear casing.

And SO much more we learned!

Of course we had to do the microwave Peep experiment!

Next week, it's back to the races.  L.J. comes back, there is classes at R.M.S.C., Latin, comp. classes, baseball practices, acting classes and a farm tour all on the list.  

Ready?

Set?

GO!