Science Museum Take 2, Horse Tangent, and Knocking on Wood

I'm probably jinxing myself by saying it, but I have loved this summer so far. We've done a lot of hanging out at home, little trips to the store or the fountains, just regular stuff. Next week you will probably be reading about how I tripped in a parking lot and sprained an ankle, and one of the kids got pneumonia, and I'm an emotional basket case. Just because that seems to be what happens when you start thinking everything is hunky dory.

Wouldn't you know that with all the plans and researching I did in preparation for this summer, this past month has been great. And not because of my plans. Just because the regular, everyday stuff has been enough to keep us all happy.

We've done some of my planned activities, but we haven't done most of them. I've just had them waiting in the wings should the need arise, but maybe next year my goal should be to actually accomplish the stuff on the calendar.

We painted rocks for colorful yard art.






We did some experiments for Science Week.


We watched what would happen when our carnations and celery drank colored water,





Ava drew her hypothesis while Luke made faces,





Next up was rock candy.


Objective: Make rock candy
Hypothesis: Sugar crystals will grow
Conclusion: Mom stinks at making candy



Our rock candy was a failure. At least the kids forgot about the jars after a day so I got to save face and just throw them away after they were in bed one night.


In accordance with our science stuff, we went to Fort Worth Science Museum for the second time. The first time around (last week) we only made it as far as the Will Rogers Coliseum across the street where the American Paint Horse Association World Championship Horse Show was taking place.

In a totally spontaneous move, we ditched the museum idea and headed over to see what we could at the show. Since the beginning of this year I have had the strong desire to take back up horse back riding. I think it has been fueled by watching (reading) my friend, Leah (not to be confused with my sister, Leah, who is also a horse woman) and her family's adventures as they've stepped into the horse world. Ava is obsessed with horses and wants to take lessons very much. I started when I was 7 and I think that's the earliest I'd start them for her.

Back in the day I used to ride horses. I was kind of the tag-along to my sister who was really the rider of the family. She excelled with hard earned skill and technique. I got along on mostly moxy (which has inexplicably left me as I've gotten older) and athleticism. We did exciting and crazy stuff that leaves me scratching my head now. Was that really me? Did we really do those things?

Jumping was my thing. My favorite horse to ride was named Paul Bunyan. He was a draft/thoroughbred cross and he was over 17 hands tall (which is big!). He rode like a freight train. Our lessons were always exciting. My teacher had us doing things like jumping with no feet in the stirrups, no hands on the reins, with our eyes closed.

Now as a mother I'm not sure how my parents watched us, let alone shelled out their hard earned money so their daughters could gamble with their lives each week.

Recently, as I plotted my return to horses, I was thinking that dressage might be a better avenue for me to pursue in my old age. It's completely flat work, still very interesting but not as likely to land me in the dirt with a broken something.

At the show last week, we sat at the far end of the arena. I watched each rider and was reminded about how much I have forgotten in these last 14 years. At the same time though, I had the feeling that if I got back on, I could pick it back up pretty quickly. But as I watched them jump the course, I started thinking that maybe dressage wasn't going to be enough for me. I found myself flexing muscles, leaning around corners, etc. with each movement. As the minutes passed I was convincing myself that jumping was the way I wanted to go.

And then all of the sudden, a horse stumbled on a jump. The rider was thrown forward but her foot was caught in the stirrup. Instead of falling away from the horse she finally fell right underneath and was trampled a good 3 or 4 times, right on her chest and stomach. And then she laid on the dirt like a rag doll as her horse skittered away.

My stomach was sick. Luckily, our view of the girl was mostly obscured by a jump, the boys were otherwise engaged, and Ava was coloring a horse picture. It took nearly 15 minutes for the ambulance to arrive, which is outrageous to me considering how large this show was. They should have had them onsite.

She was carried off on a board, and we will never know what happened to her. But as we waited and watched, I reconsidered. Dressage will be juuuust fine. Just fine.

So anyways, we went to the Science Museum this week. It was a really fun place. We didn't even get to see all of it, so a return trip is in our future. I have a few low quality phone pictures, but we'll have to wait until Dan gets home so he can help me put them on here. Dan has been out of town the past few days and of course I had been dreading it, but like the rest of this summer, it has been a pleasant surprise.





We are in a good place right now and it feels good.