My brother Doug is aptly referred to by my grandchildren, his great-nieces and nephews, as "The Science Guy!" From the time he was their ages, he loved science and enjoyed blowing up stuff! Oh, could I tell some stories! After he retired at a pretty young age, he went to college and got his teaching degree and is teaching eighth grade science in Pensacola, Florida. Doug has done some amazing projects with his students including building a solar powered go-kart! He decided to teach the kids some science on Easter Sunday and the following are just a few of the MANY photos we took of his "science lessons! He also threw in some "magic" tricks including this one. He had the kids draw a replica of a dollar bill. If they did a good job, he had them feed it through a roller device.
Just look at the concentration on Clara's and Sasha's faces as they fed their replica through the rollers! Will it turn into a real dollar? Are they "true believers?"
You betcha! It worked! They said it even smelled like the crayon replica they drew. Aidan and Ryan also got a turn and one of them asked if they could draw a $100.00 bill! . . . .on to the next project!
Another project that the "Science Guy" had them make was a catapult. These were so cool! The kiddos got to pick their wheel colors and assemble them.
Aidan was particularly fascinated with building an electric "motor" using a battery, wire, etc. You can see how engaged he was with the whole process. Imagine a room full of eighth graders having fun learning about science - you rock, Doug!
Before launching the rocket - yes, we had a rocket launch! - Doug did another magic trick using a card, a magic box, and matches! 
When the card Aidan picked was set on fire, imagine their surprise when Sasha opened the empty box she had been holding and there it was - intact! WOW!
Rocket Launch!!! One of the special activities Doug's students do is building and launching rockets. It is quite a production! He brought along a rocket to launch and before setting it off, he had the kids put jelly beans in the payload.
Off it went! It went so, fast, this is the only shot I got of it launching. It soared into the beautiful blue sky and when it landed, it came crashing down into the middle of a large pine tree!
However, we were able to recover it and to the kids' surprise, the jellybeans were still in the rocketship!
We were so lucky the weather was beautiful for all the activities for the kids.
Our morning started off at church and our annual Easter photo with Nana and Pap (that's us!). Trying to get all of the kiddos looking at the camera without goofy faces is no small feat!
Check out Jayce in his Easter finery! He is such a cutie-pie!
This was Emme's first Easter and she was very serious about finding her egg! 
The Easter bunny hid 120 plastic eggs this year and the kids had a blast finding them!
On Saturday we had a big celebration of Dixon's second birthday. He wore the overalls that his dad wore when he was a little boy. How adorable he was!
Dixon is obsessed with Thomas the Train and his cake was a big hit!
He also got lots of different Thomas the Train sets, T-shirts, pj's, and swim suits. He will be all decked out in Thomas gear this summer! Happy Birthday little guy! Choo Choo!
Although it was a hectic weekend, it was a wonderful one. We feel so blessed to have been able to share the weekend with the entire family. Although we are a quirky bunch in many ways, we love each and are grateful to have one another to share life's special moments.
