Sea World

We finally went to celebrate Claire and Scott's birthdays. 

Claire and Scott chose to go to Sea World as a family rather than have a party.  I was totally fine with that!  Less work for me, and practically the same cost as two parties.

However, we had to wait until after soccer season was over and life calmed down a little to actually go.  On the other hand, we needed to go before Kate turned three and would actually require a paid ticket!  Two Saturdays ago fit the bill perfectly.  It was crowded, but not so bad that we felt like we didn't get to do everything we wanted to.

We also got to have my sister and her family come with us for free because of my brother-in-law's military service.  I love that Sea World does that.

We had an absolutely wonderful time.  Sea World is so much more pleasant than many other amusement parks.  Less standing, more sitting to watch a show.  Fewer lines because it's less ride-based.  More shade at shows or even air conditioned indoor exhibits.  My only complaint was that I was at the tail end of a cold that had made me lose my voice.  It's REALLY hard to get your kid's attention at a busy amusement park when you don't have a voice.

Oh yah, and one more complaint.  I had to wear glasses all day.  I don't have prescription sunglasses so I was squinting all day.  And sunscreen and sweat meant my glasses were sliding down all day.  And at the Shamu show, Claire was DYING to sit in the "splash zone."  It's a super big pain to wipe salt water off your glasses.  (Not to mention your camera lens!)  I'm SO glad this glasses wearing thing is almost over!!!

Sun Spotting

Did anyone else try to watch the solar transit of Venus last Tuesday?  Or were we the only ones geeky enough to be excited about this?  The only ones geeky enough to have even heard that it was happening?  The only ones geeky enough to care???

Well, in case you were too busy having a real life, I'll give you a quick recap.  The planet Venus passed between the earth and the sun, becoming visible against the sun.  This is super rare.  It won't happen again until the year 2117.  So, you know, this was our last chance to see it.

But you couldn't see it with your naked eye - turning your retinas into smoldering piles of ashes and what have you.  We were reading up on it ahead of time and most places were suggesting that you view it the same way you view an eclipse.  They are all basically variations on poking a pin hole and projecting the circle of light coming through the hole onto a flat surface.

Did this actually work for anyone else?  We didn't have any luck.  Because with an eclipse, you don't need a lot of resolution so of course that would work, but Venus was TINY!!!

We did end up getting a good look at it:

See?  TINY!!!  I have trouble believing I could have seen it through a pin hole.  Instead, in short bursts, we did this:

We projected the sun backwards though Marshall's spotting scope onto a piece of paper.

And we didn't even start any fires!!!

That Lying Dirtbag

Last weekend I was hosting a party.  So obviously, I would need to vacuum.  But I have a dark brown rug in the living room.  After I vacuum, my kids get stuff on it again in about 2.5 seconds.  Every little crumbs stands out on dark brown.

(Aside note: I've tried both lighter and darker rugs.  I prefer darker now because with a lighter rug, the crumbs don't show but the dirty spots do.  I prefer a rug that can hide the stains.  With a good vacuuming, a dark rug can look nearly perfect again, even if the effect won't last long.  But it's much harder to reach a near perfect result with lighter rugs.)

I put off vacuuming until the end of the day when the kids were mostly done being in the living room.  And this was when I noticed that my vacuum roller brush wasn't turning.  Of course, when the party was starting in about an hour.  So I ended up vacuuming for my party on all fours with the upholstery attachment.

Yah, not fun.  Since I'm not hosting any more parties any time soon, I'm just gonna let my rug lie fallow until I fix the vacuum.

Which brings me to my next adventure.  Once the party aftermath had passed, I sat down to take apart the vacuum and verify what I suspected was a broken belt.  I looked at the bottom of the vacuum and molded into the vacuum's plastic were the following instructions, "TO ACCESS BELT & BRUSHROLL: REMOVE THREE SCREWS, TURN OVER AND LIFT NOZZLE COVER UP."  This seemed simple enough, so I removed three screws in various very asymmetrical locations from the bottom and started trying to remove the top cover.  I could pull one side up no problem, but the other side just wouldn't come up.  I tried every angle and wiggle and shake I could think of.  But something was holding it down really tight.  Finally I looked at the bottom again and saw that there was a screw right where it was stuck.  A fourth screw!  Once I removed that screw, everything came apart like a dream, I found the broken belt, and was on my merry wild goose chase way.  (Turns out? Not that easy to track down "style 20 belts.")

But four screws.  FOUR!  I could maybe begin to understand if the disassembly instructions were in a printed manual.  Or even on a sticker.  I can see a miscommunication between manufacturing and the tech writers about how many screws there are going to be in the final product.  Or if changes were made and someone missed an update in the documentation.  But these words about three screws were molded into the plastic.  You know, the same mold where they had molded in FOUR screw holes.

So Long, Contacts!

Today is a momentous day.  This very well could be the last day I wear contacts.  EVER.  I am strangely freaked out by this.  The reason for bidding contacts farewell is that I am getting lasik soon, but that's not what's freaking me out.  Cutting a flap on my eye with lasers and what have you... no biggie.  I'm not freaked by the prospect of surgery, but of being without contacts.  I have worn them since the 8th grade, so more than half of my life.  I got glasses 22 years ago.  What will this be like???  I think I will feel naked at first, kind of like when you forget to put on a watch or wedding ring that you always wear.

But I am really excited!  I'm so glad the timing is finally right for this!

PS - Just a little tip.  Do not stock up on contact solution at Costco when they have a coupon if there is a chance that out of the blue a couple months later your husband will suggest that you spring for lasik.  There is a remote chance that your frugality logic is so messed up that you will be apprehensive about permanently fixing your myopia and leading a life of carefree joy and unencumbered good vision just so you can use up the rest of the contact solution supply you bought. (Issues?  What issues?)

PPS - Anyone interested in buying some contact solution at deep discount?  New and unopened!

School's Out for Summer!

We survived the end of the school year!  All of the end-of-the-school-year madness has ensured my need for vacation.  I'm sure there's some sort of profound irony in that, but my brain is too fried to figure it out.

Scott at his End-of-the-Year Kindergarten Luau.

He turned out to be quite the hula-hooper even though he'd never picked up a hoop before!

We jumped right into vacation with a visit from my aunt who lives in California.  We stayed overnight for a couple nights at my parents' house while she was here in order to maximize visit time.  We toured downtown with her on Memorial Day.

Following Grandpa exploring in Zilker Park.

The kids fleeing from Grandpa as he splashed them with water!

My dad with his grand-kid entourage.

And at the end of our time in Zilker, we almost got run over by this guy hauling his canoe up the path:
  

I got tired just watching him!