Starbase Atlantis

Silly Guy participated in the Starbase Atlantis program last week.  It is a free program funded by the DOD open to all students entering or graduating 5th grade.  The program is 4 days of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.  The week is full of hands on Science experiments and instruction.  Some highlights from his week...designed his own space station, built and launched a model rocket, and simulated a flight where he had to take off from Ford Island, Pearl Harbor Naval Station and land safely at Hickam Air Force Base.  He also went on a few field trips to various places around base.  He was completly exhausted by the end of a 7 hour day but always excited to tell me about all of the fun things he had did at Starbase. To find out if this program is offered near you check out their website Starbase  .  Also on the website they offer some links to various science websites shared under the link tab.  Check it out!

In this picture is his group, Endeavor, graduating.

A picture of him preparing to launch his rocket.

Chinatown

We took a stroll in Chinatown the other day.  On this trip I remembered to bring my camera. 
My husband loves to go down there to buy our veggies and seafood.  The prices are usually better than the grocery store and everything is fresh.  The color of the fruits and vegetables are so beautiful and bright.  Not to mention the flowers;  unique, fresh, and relatively inexpensive.  The aroma of the lei shops alone is worth the trip.  Everytime we take a visit I have to bring home a bundle of fresh flowers to brighten up the house.
Here are my pictures from Chinatown....

I want to go home with you!
In this picture, I thought the robins-egg door in the background was just the perfect contrast for the red and green. 

Mangos, Papaya, and Lychee...oh my!

I had to take some of these beauties home too! Red Ginger is one of my favorites here in Hawaii. 

In this picture...again the contrast of the red/pink and green against the blue + charm(the baskets hanging in the doorway). 

The 50th State Fair

For Little Man's birthday we took him to The 50th State Fair.  We had a great day playing, riding rides, eating cotton candy, petting zoo, and a piggy race.  The last time we went to the fair Little Man was too small to ride.  He had such a great time and wanted to go again and again.

This is the piggy race.  So cute!

Here is Little man and my hubby on the race cars.

Silly guy is not one for rides.  His face in this picture cracks me up.  It truly expresses his feelings towards rides. 

Little man on the boats.

Sweet girl LOVES rides. 

She got on this ride which flipped her upside down about 50 feet from the ground. 

My 3 kiddos on the big slide.

Little Man is 3!!

Our Little Man turned 3 years old!  I can't believe he is 3 already.  This little boy was patiently waiting for a long time for his birthday.  The older kids told him a few months before his birthday was coming.  So he would always ask,"Is it my birthday?"  When the day finally came we had a blast celebrating his birth.  By his request I made him a Buzz Lightyear cake. Happy Birthday to you Little Man!! 

"It is time to give this cake a try.  Hmmm, let's see if I can fit it in..."

"Yup, got it in there.  Taste good!"

"Yay, it's my birthday!"

Mountain Countries Notebook

I created a Mountain Notebook for Silly guy's History/Geography study "Mountain Countries."  The notebook has 24 pages covering countries such as;  Peru(The Andes), Nepal(The Himalayas), and Switzerland(The Alps).  I have uploaded the file to my page at HSlaunch.  Feel free to grab a copy of The Mountain Countries Notebook .

 Our maps were included in our study but you can find some great maps by googling. 

I did want to share this neat video clip I found on Watch Know .  It was like a little virtual field trip:)

A summary from the Watch Know video:  "National Geographic presents a short video on the physical geography, the ancient capital city of Cusco, and the Inca Trail. There is a visit to Machu Pichu and its amazing stonework is shown with explanation of some of its special characteristics. The mystery of drawings carved into the flat, dry plains visible only from the air is mentioned. Headwaters of the Amazon and the rain forest are also shown."  

Also, some great ficitional reading we enjoyed with our study:

Secret of the Andes by: Ann Nolan Clark

 and

Heidi by: Johanna Spyri

Here are a couple of the notebook pages(below).  Have fun!