Henry the Hexapus

I couldn't pass up the opportunity to blog about an octopus! I love all things octopus,but I'm sure if I ever came face to face with one I'd die ten deaths from sheer fright! lol!!

Anyway, this is Henry the Hexapus.


Henry has only six legs which is very unique since he should have eight legs! Apparently, his six-legged state is due to a birth defect. He was born with only six legs and scientists know this because there is no extra space for more legs. It's obvious that Henry has not lost legs and besides, we all know that if he had that they would have grown back, right? So Henry is special! Not only does he have three hearts and blue blood, but he is also a hexapus!! Cool Beans!!

We Need Some Rockets

Jake, Belle and I have really been enjoying our astronomy study this year. Currently we’ve been studying Venus. We just finished studying about Mercury and next we’ll be moving on to study Earth. I am just fascinated and amazed at all the things I never ever learned when I was in school. I remember learning about the planets but never anything like this…it’s just so neat!

Later in our study, we’ll be reading about rockets and spacecrafts. I think I’ll purchase a model rocket for us to use. I like this one because of it’s name: Estes Bandito!

Boy, oh, boy won’t the neighbors be pleased with us then! Lol!!

I Chickened Out!

So...remember when I said we were going to mummify a small roaster chicken? Well, I opted for an apple instead! I mean really, I just couldn't bring myself to buy that chicken knowing that it would be wasted...not that it was necessarily going to be a waste since it was for education....but I just kept thinking that someone who was really hungry would love to have that chicken! I know...you're saying the same thing about the apple, but it's different...it really is.

So....we mummified an apple instead of a chicken. Come check out our quick apple mummification over at the *NEW* Up the Hill Gang.

Post Experiment Video

Just when you thought you had seen the last of our cool experiment...here, for your entertainment it the extremely neato mosquito "post experiment-experiment"! Ha!! And we continue to have fun.....

A Chemical Reaction or Two!

We did a neat experiment for science today. It involved clear vinegar, baking soda and anthocyanin...cool beans!! Anthocyanin is found in red cabbage.

First, we boiled us up some ol' red cabbage leaves.


While the red cabbage leaves boiled, we very diligently added the baking soda to the balloon...ok...well...we weren't diligent at all, in fact we made a huge mess and ended up not adding the full amount of baking soda....but we took care of that later!



After we regained composure after the baking soda and balloon incident, we poured the really cool blue water that we got from boiling the red cabbage leaves into this neat Prego jar.


Outside, Nik poured the clear vinegar into the pop bottle and voila! The blue liquid turns pink!! And a pretty pink too!!!


We placed the balloon filled with baking soda onto the neck of the bottle...accidentally tore the balloon...wondered if it would work...

Discovered that yes, indeed, it did work! Since we had a smaller than recommended balloon, we didn't get a huge reaction but we got one. I'll have to post about the balloon adventure another time....

Being the smart guy he is, Nik noticed that the pink liquid had not turned back to blue like it was supposed to....so.....he has an idea....


Since we had to use a smaller balloon, there had not been enough baking soda dumped into the pop bottle to change the pink back to blue. Being the precise kinda guy he is (not!) he poured a bunch of baking soda into the pink liquid and sure enough, it turned back to blue! Smart one he is...I'm embarrassed to say that I would not have thought about that! lol!


And this is what we got! Cool!!


Good times, folks...good times!~