Science Party!!

On Saturday, we had Lucia's science themed birthday party.  She invited 7ish friends (some couldn't make it, others brought their siblings).  The biggest, somewhat last-minute excitement of the day was that she was able to sailing with David Saturday morning, which gave me time to put the finishing touches on the party preparations.  The Littles helped me make a birthday banner...

Right before I took this picture, Rhea said: "Wow. Lucia will see this banner and ..." *gasps* "... and she will burst in love!"  The girls were very proud of their work of art. :-)

Then they went off to play, which allowed me to get the party food ready, as well as think through all the experiments to make sure we had the supplies we needed.

We had rented a park here in the area, and as soon as David and Lucia got home from sailing around 3:30, we packed up and headed over there.  The first friends showed up soon after we arrived, and I rushed through setting up so we could get started with our science lab!  I had quite a few fun experiments planned, and it was hard for me to get pictures of everything since I was trying to orchestrate the event at the same time.  Another mom friend who was there took quite a few more, but I don't have them yet.  These will have to do for now. :-)

Our first "experiment", and really more the center piece for the science table:  Hot water with dry ice.  The kids were fascinated by the "smoke" and watched these jars for quite a while. 

Group photo of the budding scientists before all the action

 I love this picture because it captures Lucia the budding scientist so well. :-)  The friends shown here are Mena and Braden, our neighbors across the street.  Big bro Braden was a good assistant to have around!

 Our first experiment was blowing up a balloon with CO2 (mixing vinegar and baking soda in a bottle).  The kids were impressed!

Then we made "Elephant Toothpaste" ... a rather messy experiment, but also very cool to watch!  Here Rhea and Adelyn are each dumping some yeast into a bottle of 6% hydrogen peroxide, a little food coloring and a squirt of dish soap...

 ... only to watch it start foaming and frothing and bubbling over!

 Their pan filled up quickly!  Papa is trying to figure out what to do next to contain the mess... :-)

 Then we made "lava lamps" with colored water, oil, and alka seltzer, which each kid got to take home.

 The next messy experiment was to create our own slime or silly putty, which the kids also got to take home.  (Parents, please don't hate me! Ha. :-) )

Then we had food and cupcakes (which Alexa had been SO patiently waiting for :-) "Now can we start, Mom?  Now can we start?").  

The cupcakes had "molecules" on them... :-)

This is the part that I hardly got pictures of:  each container of fruit and veggies had a label with the scientific classification of the food.  Cool fact: Watermelon and cucumbers are both in the family of Cucurbitaceae, which, if you think about the way both look on the outside, is not as surprising as you might think at first!

Here, the girls were awaiting the grand finale...

...a diet coke geyser!  Papa was quick on his feet and managed not to get soaked!  I married a man with amazing skills! :-)

Lucia finished her party by opening up her gifts...

 ... and giving hugs all around. :-)

All in all, a super fun party!  (I wouldn't mind doing that one again, but this time, *I* would enjoy doing some of the experiments myself! :-) )  Her sweet face captures the excitement of the day, wouldn't you say?

Happy birthday, big girl!  We love you and are proud of the little Miss you are growing up to be!  Maybe some day you'll be a real scientist!  Can't wait to see what God has in store for you!