Half an Hour With My Sharp Little Man

I'll post more soon about what's been going on in our lives, but for now, here's a brief, simplified recap of our car ride home tonight (approximately 30 minutes)...

Jacob started asking why people put lights on just about everything except for plants. Greg asked what he meant. He said like on buildings. Greg explained that lights help people see and also help deter burglars. He explained that some people want to break in and steal things so they can sell them, and that if it's dark they're more likely to do it because no one will see them. Greg then said in the wintertime, it gets dark around 5:30, which lead to...

Jacob asked why the days are longer in the summer and shorter in the winter. Greg explained that it depends on how the earth is positioned in relation to the sun (much more discussion about this, but I can't remember the wording). First, Jacob asked, "Oh, so does the earth spin faster in the winter?" He ended up talking about seasons and asked if snow is just rain that comes during winter and freezes because it's so cold out. This led to discussion the shape of snowflakes and how the shape affects how it falls.

I mentioned to Greg that while Jacob and I were in the mall, he asked about a sub shop there. He said, "Why are they called subs?" I said it was short for "submarine," and that it was because they resembled submarines because they're long and thin. Jacob paused, looked confused, and said, "But... submarines have a thing like this (and did a detailed outline with his finger in the air) that sticks up so they can see and a propeller like this (another detailed outline) on the back." I tried explaining that it was just because they were both long and thin, but he didn't seem to buy it.

Greg told Jacob the thing that sticks up can actually go down into the submarine so you can't see it at all outside and that a cover goes over it. (He also told him it's called a periscope.) Jacob asked how boats float. Greg explained that it depends on how much air something holds and that boats are shaped to hold a lot of air. Jacob said, "So, if you turned the boat upside down, would it sink?" Greg said, "Well, if it still had air under it, then no... but most of the time it's a little sideways and water goes up in it and pushes the air out, so it would sink."

Greg said sometimes ships sink when they get a hole and then water comes in and fills up the ship. Jacob said, "But what if there are two holes and the water keeps going out the other hole? Would it still sink?"

At some point the conversation went to torpedoes and missiles. Jacob asked if submarines had them and then said, "Because missiles are in the air and torpedoes are in the water?" He asked questions about if a torpedo missed ("Would it sink?"). Greg said it would and that sometimes people aimed wrong. Jacob said, "So, it would just slow down and then sink?" He also said things like, "What if it had a sensor or a camera on it and the submarine had a sensor on it, too? Could someone control it?"

This kid and his brilliant mind. He blows me away. I'm so glad his dad remembers all of his science lessons and I'm so glad he remembers them well enough to explain them to a very inquisitive five-year-old.

Silly Faces & Cooking

The St. Louis Adventure

Last weekend, we took friend from Greg's work and his kids to St. Louis with us. Three adults, a nine-year-old, two five-year-olds, and a two-year-old. An adventure! We started around dinnertime on Thursday night. Travis, being the "big kid" of the trip, let the younger kids use his shoulders as a pillow.

Benjamin and Darryl were pretty excited about the trip. Piggy was pretty happy as well!

Saturday morning, we went to Bread Co. and then to the Arch.

A passing woman offered to take our photo together. :)

Jacob and Chloe held hands for a good portion of the weekend. She's five days older than Jake. They were pretty stinkin' cute together.

Crammed together in the pod going up the Arch. Randomly, we were sitting with a guy from our state!

Greg and Jake looking out the Arch windows.

It's such a beautiful city!

Jacob looks cool in photos.

Hugging Jake on the pod ride down.

The Museum of Westward Expansion.

Immediately after the Arch, we went to the Anheuser Busch Brewery for a tour. Fun! Are we awful people for bringing the kids? Jacob was in a bad mood for the most the tour because he heard he wasn't getting samples at the end. He didn't think it was fair. He didn't buy our arguments that none of the kids got to drink beer and that it was illegal and we didn't want to go to jail.

Listening to the cheesy tour guide explain how the beer is made. Greg paying close attention, Darryl being easily distracted, Jacob focused but also crabby about the lack of samples, and Chloe being sweet and posing with her crush.

Ah.... the 11 ounce samples. You get two, but someone (no names here) ended up getting three because someone (again, no names) doesn't like beer (except for the occasional delicious porter at one restaurant).

My beautiful boy.

My wonderful momma and the best grandma in the world... no offense to any other grandmothers reading this. :)

Posing in the pool.

Baby B and his hat. I'm so glad he loves it!

Papa and Benny.

It's strange how they look alike here.

At the Family Picnic at the Botanical Gardens.

The very nice guy at the sno cone stand gave Benjamin extra syrup for some reason.

I'm guessing he doesn't have kids.

The syrup was all over the seat of his stroller approximately 13 seconds later.

We went to the zoo bright and early on Saturday morning and spent most of the day there.

Sunday morning we had breakfast courtesy of the grocery store's freezer section (fancy, huh?).

Breakfast conversation turned into talking about when my dad cut my bangs and made them really short. My mom went downstairs and brought up a photo album as proof. Somehow that led to getting out the old family photo (pre-Anne and Ben) and then the resulting reenactment...

As we loaded up the car, Uncle Ben started a game of hockey with five kids.

It was an exhausting weekend! My parents are the best hosts around. I think we left Darryl and his kids with a pretty good impression of St. Louis. We had a lot of family time, a lot of acting like tourists, and a lot of laughing over silly times. I am deliberately leaving out the part about how a certain 5-year-old was Mr. Crabby Pants for a lot of the weekend. I am erasing that from my memory. It never happened. My children are both sweetness and light. Always. :)

And the little one below? He'd never cause trouble. Look at that face!