Science Fair 2009

Lauren and Ben were both entered in District 44's science fair this year-- Lauren by choice, Ben by force. (Since I was the Pleasant Lane science fair chair this year I told him if I had to do it, so did he...) Lauren and her friend Alex won a first place ribbon for their pop spray experiment, but when we went to table 8 to find out how Ben did with his magnet experiment, his poster was gone! In it's place was a little piece of paper saying "Congratulations-- your project has been selected Best In Show." You have got to be kidding. He must have really charmed the judges or something! Unfortunately (or fortunately) we'll be leaving for Disney World the day they wanted to film him for School Scape. I broke the news to him gently, but he just said, "Nobody watches Channel 6 anyway." Good point.

Grandma and Ben's Epic Light Saber Battle

I had to throw in a few pictures of my mom and Ben dueling. This was hysterical-- once my mom started "playing," it quickly escalated into an all-out battle that lasted for about 15 minutes. Ben used light sabers, a hockey stick, and even a vacuum attachment. He told my mom that he's practicing doing back flips so he can incorporate them into his battle sequence! Now that he's proven himself against Grandma, we plan to enroll him in the Jedi Academy this summer so he can battle his ultimate foe, Darth Maul.

Lauren's 8th Birthday

Lauren had her 8th birthday party at the Lombard Park District. It was a "1/2 Hannah Montana, 1/2 Jonas Brothers, 1/2 Camp Rock" party, making it 1 1/2 times more fun than the typical party! The girls (and Ben) made stuff out of clay, ate cake and Cheetos, and freeze-danced for two hours. It was lots of fun! Lauren picked out a leprechaun cake with a rainbow and extra shamrocks. But next year I think I'll just set out a gigantic bowl of Cheetos puffs, since the kids seemed to enjoy those the most!