Mythbusters Themed Birthday a Blast!

Megan had a vision of what she wanted for her birthday party, and by gum, it came to fruition.

The guests arrived at 11 and had three "experiments" to explore. One was a high-powered microscope with lots of interesting things to check out under the lens, including a dead yellowjacket, a potato chip, coins, and Mentos candies. The second was a tray full of Jello Jiggler "ballistics gel" shapes (hearts and stars -- I wouldn't let there be people or animal shapes, go figure) for the kids to poke at with pretzel sticks and eat. The third was outside, in a big bucket. It was ooky, goopy, sticky, tacky "quicksand" made out of cornstarch and water! We used 8 boxes of cornstarch -- it was deep enough to stand in, and sink hands down into, and try to sink or float small objects like diving toys, strawberry baskets, pie tins, and such.

The plan was that the kids would play themselves out for an hour or so, then we'd eat, then we'd move on to the next portion of the party... Unfortunately it was hot out, as in over 100, as in too hot to really enjoy being outdoors at all. The kids were ready for lunch at 11:30.

Lunch was hamburgers, chips, and fruit, which lasted a good fifteen minutes. Now what?

Diet Coke and Mentos!!

Matt set up the famous Mythbusters experiment in the street in front of our house, and the kids and adults all lined up on the sidewalk to watch. Matt was cheered and egged on to add more and more and more Mentos, until the final experiment, which was somewhere around 9 candies. He lined them up in his homemade dispenser tool (PVC pipe with a nail through the bottom to hold the candies in until he released them) and let them splash in... ta da!! Check out the impressive geyser above!!

We returned to the cool house and opened gifts and ate cake, and it was still only 1:00.

The "drop off" parents weren't getting back until 3:00.

It was too hot to be outside anymore, so we found a saved Mythbusters on TiVo (God bless TiVo!) and some kids settled in to watch that; I brought out crayons and a stack of computer paper and some kids settled in to color their way through several trees; and I flicked on the computer and let a few kids take turns on some games. Some of Megan's presents got opened and played with, too.

Megan was delighted with her specialized party, and the kids didn't seem to notice the massive shift in plans due to the rising Mercury. The parents were all impressed with the whole shebang, and Matt and I were happy that everyone had had such a good time.

Father Daughter Dance

Each year our Girl Scout Service Unit (yea, SU 7!) puts on a dance for Fathers and Daughters, with a theme, dinner, dancing, games, and a raffle. It is a BIG DEAL, let me tell you! The dads get dressed up, the girls get dressed up... there are hair and nail appointments, and shopping for just the right dress... there are photos taken by a professional photographer, in front of a backdrop and everything. It's like the prom, without the spiked punch.

This year the theme was Dancing with the Stars. Our entire troop went, and one dad (Saint Alex, I must say) organized the girls into a group picture. The photo from last year is in my wallet, and I proudly show it off, telling anyone who will listen that these are "my girls." I can't wait for this year's picture!

Autism Facts

According to www.autismspeaks.org, here are the latest facts regarding autism.

*1 in 150 children are diagnosed with autism

*1 in 94 boys are on the autism spectrum

*67 children are diagnosed per day

* A new case is diagnosed almost every 20 minutes

*More children will be diagnosed with autism this year than with AIDS, diabetes and cancer combined.

*Autism costs the nation over $90 billion per year, a figure expected to double in the next decade

*Autism is the fastest growing serious developmental disabilty in the U.S.

*Autism receives less than 5% of the research funding of many less prevalent childhood diseases.

*There is no medical detection or cure for autism.

*Boys are four times more likely than girls to have autism.