minnesota visit

we all lucked out early this week. i got to see my sister, brother in law, and 2 sweet nephews in minnesota during a 2 day visit to minneapolis, and ramona and james got to spend some quality time with their nana and awesome cousin maggie. seriously, i think everyone won.

in minnesota, we had an early birthday celebration for caleb, who turns 5 in a few days. (can that really be? 5?! wasn't he just born?...) nerd aunt brought some science toys, including an earth ball and a rocket fueled by the ever powerful double displacement and decomposition reaction NaHCO₃(s) + CH₃COOH(l) → CO₂(g) + H₂O(l) + Na⁺(aq) + CH₃COO^-(aq). that's vinegar and baking soda, and we only stopped firing the rocket off when we ran out of baking soda. which ultimately makes the NaHCO3 the limiting reagent. BOOM! SCIENCE!

here's what the earth ball looks like in the cocked-and-ready-to-be-thrown-directly-at-my-nose position.


caleb! don't stand directly over that rocket!


boom.


meanwhile, in madison, there was dressing up in fancy clothes for a fancy carousel ride.


there was also dressing down in the most casual of footie pajames for a causal carousel ride. go pack!