Wednesday, April 23, 2008

May the Force be with you

Okay, getting a chance to sit and get to this . . .

Saturday - We went to Philly!! It's such a fun city! And really beautiful!! After filling up with gas (and, as the Goodens said, filling out loan paperwork to pay for it), we caravaned with several others to the Franklin Institute to enjoy a great day at the museum, especially the very awesome Star Wars Exhibit!! It was AMAZING!! They had so many cool things to see and so many very cool hands-on things to do (like building a floating device, RIDING a floating device, building and programming a robot, and much more!). Very nice exhibit! Plus the whole Franklin Institute is fun and educational and really, really great (planetarium, heart exhibit, the Ben Franklin stuff, etc.). We stopped at the Cheesecake Factory (and Toys R Us while waiting for a table--where we found a hundred dollar girls' bike selling for $20! And, darn, it was already assembled, so they didn't charge us for that either! And M got some cool skateboarding gear!) and we enjoyed an AMAZING meal there. YUM! We got home exhausted, but what a fun day!

So, these pictures are so out of order it's ridiculous, but it gives you an idea just the same:


This is Vavo and the kids exhausted after a very long and full and fun day of walking and walking and walking!

Checking out the Jawa's eyes





So cool to see the ACTUAL light sabers from the movies!

It's remarkable to me how creative George Lucas is with so many gadgets, names, planets, etc.



Checking out the Jawa's eyes (I told you--these pictures are very out of order!)

Driving the Hovercraft--SO very cool!





Programming our robots!








Building our robot!

Directing our robot!

Yoda!! And Mace Windu (well, his outfit anyway)!!

The girls with Princess Leia (again, her clothes)

So cool to see the actual droids from the film!

Cool! General Grievous!


Making our own Hovercraft with magnets and Legos

Everything about the exhibit is so very Star Wars--I can hear the John Williams music in my head as I type about this!






Omigosh, look at the excitement on his face at walking in to this exhibit. SO exciting!!

Luke's Land Speeder

I kept saying for M to show me his excitement with big smiles. I get what I ask for. He gives me these big cheesy grins.

Kids' Discovery Zone

Making a picture with shadows

Making shadow puppets

Here is Vavo with the kids and Ben Franklin!




Make your own fountain


My mom's favorite toy in the kids' section--the bubble making pump

Kids from our group enjoying the Vader steps!

Learning about the heart with real ones from animals!

Ancient maladies and "cures" pinball style!

Exploring the inside of a giant museum heart!

We love these trees! We've ordered 10 of them (FREE!) -- they bloom beautifully in the spring (as you can see), their leaves change various colors throughout the seasons--purple, green, yellow. Beautiful!!


Sunday - We went to church (my mom got to see Allan, who she hadn't seen in years and I'm excited that Dee was in town and that Mom got to meet Ruth, too), stopped at Duke's for a nice lunch, and then enjoyed a relatively quiet, rainy afternoon watching Return of the Jedi (we've been watching them all week as part of the exhibit--Mom's hooked!). I enjoyed a nice talk on the phone with Pat who is out of town at her daughter's house in Utah. Mark's also been fixing and mudding and sanding walls. Everything is looking so good!!

Monday - We got some errands run in the morning--we got some great (and cheap!) clothes at Kohl's and TJ Maxx. And another beautiful day of playing outside! The kids got to try out their new clothes and new stuff (bikes, gear, etc.) in the yard. Very fun! Mark and I made a SLEW of phone calls about various things--pressure washers, lawn care, pest control (ants, bees, etc.), dentist, doctor, junk pick up, etc. Crazy! We celebrated Thi-Thi's birthday (M's imaginary pet hamster--we do this kind of thing often for their stuffed animals and imaginary pets) and enjoyed ice cream at our favorite local old-fashioned ice cream shop! So fun! A good violin lesson (recital next week!) and home again, home again, jiggetty jig.

Tuesday - Today, we voted (hurrah!) and ate lunch at Memphis Blues. We ran some errands at Lowe's, Wal-mart, etc. (we're working hard to consolidate our errands and such) and a local gift peddler and also Big Lots. We got lots done. Another beautiful day, so more enjoying our awesome yard! Lots more phone calls (more of the same, VTing, etc.) and Mark and I each had a patient tonight, too.

It's been crazy (and fun!), to say the least!! We have a lot going on!! We've got a lot over the next several days, too. But we're getting lots done and enjoying ourselves, I think. :P We're also in the process of ordering 10 free trees online! Yes! It's AWESOME!! If you're interested, I can tell you more . . . ;)

6 comments:

Emily said...

free trees is a deal, they're expensive.

that exhibit is SWEET! i wanna go! did the hover craft you "drove" actually move?

Ruth said...

Ok, seriously call me about the trees. I would love to have at least 3 or 4 more in our yard. Love trees! That is the one thing missing from a newer neighborhood and I miss it!

Robynne said...

What a fun day in Philly! Looks like you had a great time. And *awesome* about the trees, that's so cool!!! Glad you guys are doing well!

Boquinha said...

The free trees are through the Arbor Day Foundation -- go to their website, pay $10 for a 6-month membership and you get 10 free trees (and free shipping, too!) as well as major discounts on all trees (apple, pear, oak, pine, flowering, etc.). It's SUCH a great deal!!

Boquinha said...

Yep, the hover craft really does move--it's pretty cool.

The Rat Life said...

The Star Wars Exhibit looks very cool...Glad to hear all went well...What a wonderful find~bike for $20. Wow, blessings all day! Oh and by the way my nephew's wife did order her trees... Thanks