Here are some pictures and a quick re-cap of Logan’s birthday party from last Saturday:

Details: The theme was “mad scientist”. We set up 4 different stations of experiments, one upstairs and three in the basement…er…I mean, the downstairs lab :) My amazing friends helped me man all the science tables and the dessert production after dinner as well.

The color station, run by Heather and Jen, had the following: milk fireworks done with food colors, full-fat milk and dish soap, color mixing and UV bead bracelets – these are beads that are sensitive to only UV light so they look white indoors. We had the kids make bracelets, then step out on the porch to see the beads magically turns different colors.

In the lab downstairs, we had 1. Fun with Balloons (run by me and cousin Max): we did self inflating balloons by filling small water bottles with vinegar and then attached deflated balloons that I had pre filled with a small amount of baking soda. Once the two mix, the gas formed fills up the balloons. We also did an experiment with water balloons fitting inside of jars.

2. Fun with polymers, run by Anne and Susan: the kids made fake snow (so cool!) and played with these crazy marbles that you soak in water for a day or so before the party. The clear marbles literally disappear in water. We filled a pie plate with just the marbles and put a picture of a mad scientist underneath. You can only see the picture once you add water to the pie plate…it’s like a magically appearing image.

3. Fun with ooey-gooey, run by Anna and Kristin: I ordered some amazing stuff from stevespanglerscience.com including atomic shaker slime which is super easy and super cool slime making…plus it glows under black light and atomic worms. The worms are made by squeezing a premixed polymer solution into a water/calcium solution. The polymer makes these crazy gooey worms the instant that it touches the water mixture…they also glowed under black light. fun!

4. After a dinner of pizza and bosco sticks (cheese filled bread sticks that are AWESOME!) for the kids and an amazing nacho bar Brian made for the adults, everyone returned to the basement for an “invent your own ice cream sundae” bar.  There were two colors of cake and brownies to choose from on one table. The next table had giant tubs of ice cream and toppings in various science containers like cylinders and test tubes, the last table had sauces like chocolate, strawberry, marshmallow and the cherries (I had cans of whipped cream, but we forgot to bring them down!) Logan went through first and we sang happy birthday before all the other kids (moms and dads) made their sundaes. We then all ate in the basement…in chairs, on the floor etc…kinda like a picnic.

In his true, “must be dressed in costume at all times,” fashion (and much to the dismay of his mother), Logan changed from his “cool guy” cloths into a falling-apart Wolverine costume and aviator shades for the duration of the party. Hopefully someday he doesn’t say something like, “why did you let me do that?” I mean seriously – this costume is literally disintegrating…there’s nothing left to the back of it and it’s got nylon runs all in the rear. I figure, you can only get away with that stuff for so long so why not…it makes him happy.

Bear helped me make the cakes one day while the other boys were at school:

We made a purple cake and a green cake then cut them up for the sundae bar. I made the brownies later that week.

Signs for each station

 

The basement “lab”

These are the crazy marble things that we used for some of the experiments. These ones were soaked in colored water  

Since I manned the balloon table, I have lots of pictures of that activity. Here is the group of oldest kids watching their balloons magically inflate.

Logan’s group:

Aiden’s groups (no pics  for Brady’s group though…I think they were all running around per usual)   

These are the thank-you cards I made…and need to fill out, like today! :)