Capillary Action

It's science fair time, and Emily has decided she wants to participate.  So, this week we have been learning about capillary action, or in Emily's terms - how a liquid moves along a solid.

She did three parts to her experiment.  She made toothpicks bend into a star shape using drops of water, had colored water move along a paper towel to fill an empty jar (and blend colors), and the classic turn celery into a color experiment.

Emily had her first manicure on Friday as part of a birthday party.  She chose a sparkly blue for one hand, sparkly pink for the other.

And no weekend would be complete without some time skiing...

A Valentine Holiday Weekend

Friday was a workday for teachers, so Emily started her weekend at the YMCA kids' club with friends.  This time they were up in Ketchum, so they went swimming which was a treat!

And since it was a holiday weekend, there was no ski school this weekend.  We spent Saturday at home, which we haven't been able to do since Christmas vacation.  With temperatures in the 40s, Idaho is starting to thaw.  We can actually see the bike path once again, so Gerda got to go for a walk.  What a happy dog!  Emily is already talking about riding bikes again soon.

Sunday started off with exchanging some Valentine presents.  Emily played with some lego sets, before opening up her new snorkeling set (after all, we have a vacation this summer to prepare for!).  At first she told me it was a stupid sport, but she agreed to go swimming to try it out.  She ended up loving the set and we had a great time swimming as a family.  And since it was Valentine's, we out to eat for both lunch and dinner, and Emily just thought it might be the best day ever.

Today we enjoyed not going to school.  We had plans to spend the whole day skiing, and we were so disappointed when we got to the hill this morning... first of all it was windy and two lifts to the top of the mountain weren't running AND with the warm temps there were spots where the grass was starting to poke through.  Emily told me, "I guess Phil was right, spring is coming!" but to her that isn't a good thing.  We skied till lunch, and as a treat we actually ate in lodge today.  Then she decided she'd rather go home, get a swim suit and go swimming again.  She's been in the pool three days out of four - shocking!

She was in her pajamas by 4 and was asleep by 4:30.  She was an extremely happy, yet very tired, kid. Luckily, there wasn't any riding lessons tonight!

Busy Weeks

The weekend means skiing, both Saturday and Sunday.  We have been there every weekend so far.

Emily is in the green jacket and pink pants

Emily has the perfect little group of kids and the best instructor, Alex, who charms them with his Australian accent.  He's also a kid at heart, so the five of them have been in the powder, jumping off things, tackling the half pipe, and doing almost everything that would give me heart failure!

Monday is riding night still.  It has been cold and dark, and they still ride in the indoor arena.  However, here are some pictures that a photographer took this summer when Emily was still riding Stuart Little.  The lady with Emily in some of the photos is Jeanne, who is known to spoil Emily with gifts from her travels and presents on every holiday!

Then comes Tuesday, and that is Emily's afternoon to go to open skate at the rink.

Wednesday is my late day at work, so her longest afternoon at the YMCA after school program, which unlike last year, she really enjoys going right now.  Thursday is gymnastics day, and by Friday we are both ready to come home right after school and take it easy!  Before you know it, it is the weekend again and right back to skiing (which is really good right now)!