Good Stuff

SWEET FUN: So, a couple of days ago, I got an email about cupcakes. Everyone gets emails about cupcakes, right? 

Anyway, this particular email mentioned a breed of cupcake called the Hi Hat.  The showy dessert is a chocolate cupcake topped with a whipped, marshmallow-y icing dipped in chocolate that hardens into a shell. 

It reminded me of some soft-serve ice cream cones I've seen the kids get (Krispy Kreme and Dairy Queen come to mind). 

So, we decided we had to try it!

We baked a go-to chocolate cake recipe, whipped up a meringue-powder based icing (I wasn't comfortable using raw egg whites), and then dipped it in the prescribed melted semi-sweet chocolate chips with a little canola oil added. 

It was a messy process, but the kids had fun dipping them. Then came the hard part ... waiting for them to harden.

We put them in the fridge to help them along, but in about an hour, they were set up and ready for the kids to test drive. They were a BIG HIT!

HISTORY DETECTIVES: We wanted to take the dogs for a walk this afternoon, and I thought to take them to some property we happened upon while hitting garage sales last weekend. It was on the outskirts of the Discovery Park boundaries we know, and clearly former Fort Lawton property.

When we passed through last week, it looked like a modern day ghost town. Intrigued, we wanted to do a little detective work.

This abandoned building, in particular, intrigued me, due to its mid-century modern architectural style.  We parked in its lot and circled around it on foot.  If you look closely, you'll spy the kids peering in a window.

You can see the main entryway in the photo above - it's the void in the bottom floor, where there are no windows. We walked into the area and found this ...

While there was (clearly!) no closed-circuit phone for us to use, we did, at least, get a really good clue about the building ... its name! We looked forward to getting home to Google search "Leisy building Fort Lawton."

As we stood in the outside entry area of the building I told the kids to take a big whiff.  "This is what the '60s smelled like," I told them. Even though it was outdoors, it reeked of stale cigarette smoke.

We continued our walk, heading for another article of architectural intrigue, a brick column.

As we approached it, we found there were some concrete pads in a field above it.

We'd love to know what they were used for. The kids guessed it a helicopter pad. I thought it was a bit small for that. 

As we neared the chimney, we took a closer look at the small sign near its top.

We puzzled over what, exactly, it was, and what it meant/stood for. To me, that top part looks like an axe head, but it's so out of scale compared to what seems to be clearly a mountain and an evergreen.

Once down next to the chimney (after braving some blackberry brambles), we found ourselves standing atop a concrete bunker roughly 20-by-20 feet in size.

It clearly had electrical service. ... So intriguing. It also had a lovely view of Shilshole Bay.

Annabelle spied something of great interest atop the bunker ...

A fuzzy caterpillar!!! Cute, but of little historical significance, I'd say.

When we got home, we started hitting up "the Google" and found out all sorts of interesting things!

For instance, the Queen Anne Grizzlies' Alumni Association's Web site let us know that Leisy Center at Fort Lawton was named after 1963 Queen Anne High School grad Robert R. Leisy, a Magnolia native who died in Vietnam and subsequently was awarded the Medal of Honor. Per the QAHS site, Leisy died in 1969, "taking a grenade intended for his squad but enabling them to withdraw." 

Leisy was (posthumously) awarded The Congressional Medal of Honor on December 16, 1971, by then-Vice President of the United States of America, Spiro T. Agnew.

So there you have it, 'mystery' (to us) solved about the building's name. 

But what about that brick chimney? From an archived story on The Seattle Times' site from 2005, we found reference to the brick pillar. The story was in conjunction with the announcement was made by the Pentagon that Fort Lawton would be surplussed. It said, in part, "The most historic structure may be a brick smokestack. Col. Mike Pierce, who is stationed at Fort Lawton, said it's all that's left of an incinerator where the Army once burned mule carcasses."

So there you have it. The chimney was for smoke from burning mules. And probably other stuff. ... 

From the city of Seattle's site, we learned Fort Lawton was established in 1900. At its peak, the fort covered 700 acres on the western tip of Magnolia bluff.  It was named in honor of Maj. General Henry Lawton, a veteran of the Civil and Spanish American wars. Fort Lawton was the second largest deployment site on the West Coast during WWII. Beginning in 1964, Fort Lawton started to be decommissioned, with 85 percent of it declared surplus. In 1972, land given back to the Seattle community was turned into Discovery Park. 

In 2005, what was left of Fort Lawton (38 acres) was declared surplus, hence the abandoned buildings and grounds we were exploring today. 

In 2008, the city published a Fort Lawton Army Reserve Center Redevelopment Plan (http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/fortlawton/brac/pubs/ft_lawton_redev_plan_091808.pdf). From it, we learned that Leisy Hall was built in 1970, with an addition in 1976. (If you're wondering, its construction is two-story precast concrete column and steel joist structure with precast concrete panels.)  From Friends of Discovery Park's Web site, we learned field we walked around the brick smokestack is called Trailblazer Field.  Oh Internet, how we love thee!

NASA NEWS: So much news from our national space agency this week, I can't begin to disseminate it all. But two points of immediate concern: a SpaceX launch to the International Space Station tonight (11:14 p.m. Pacific Coast time!) It's SpaceX's fourth cargo mission to the ISS. This go 'round, there are 2.5 tons of supplies on board, including critical materials to support 255 science and research investigations that will occur during the station's Expeditions 41 and 42.

And on Sept. 20, MAVEN will insert itself into orbit around Mars. The orbiter was launched on Nov. 18 of 2013, and after 442 million miles (711 million kilometers), it's in great shape to get ready to do a science. :)

Graphic: NASA http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/MAVENOrbitInsertionFactSheet.pdf

Here's a quick video about MAVEN's mission.

Another Thursday

BONEYARD:  This morning, the kids got right on their science homework, constructing a boxy, cardstock skeleton.

There were lots of pieces to cut out and holes to punch.

Happily, their specimens came together as prescribed. Now, they're having fun posing them around the house. 

We listened to the  Delta Rhythm Boys perform "Dem Bones" while doing some of the constructing.

BREATHE DEEP:  We're back to weekly yoga for the kids with the amazing Nicole of Next Generation Yoga. This series of classes is conveniently (for us) located in Ballard. 

While the kids were in class, Christian and I wandered Ballard Avenue and would up going in a place called Macleod's, a Scottish pub. We thought that a fitting stop given the voting that went on today in Scotland. 

They had a really cool map of Scotland painted on their ceiling, and lots of other Scotland-related decor. 

They had Scottish election coverage on the television, which was interesting. When we picked the kids up, we talked a bit about what the election means for England and Scotland.

GAMEY: I should have included this photo yesterday. It's of Annabelle's super cute, original game she created in art class on Wednesday morning. 

I love the unicorn game pieces. ::

ANOTHER WAY:  I watched a video this morning explaining the "box multiplication" method. 

We've always done it the 'normal' way here at MPA.

I thought it would be good to introduce the kids to another way to skin the cat, so to speak. 

To me, the approach makes lots of sense. In fact, I think it does a better job of helping kids visualize what they're doing and see the big picture, instead of just computing as fast as they can.

Not gonna lie, though, the kids struggled with this 'easier' approach, because it was new and different. We're going to hit it up again tomorrow and see if it maybe sunk in a bit overnight.

Dem Bones

SKELETAL:  Wednesday is our 'school' day, where we actually go to a bricks and mortar place for some learnin'.  Annabelle created a board game in her art class this morning, and this afternoon in science, the kids continued learning about the skeletal system. 

Last week, they learned there are 206 bones in the human body. For my kids, that number is easy to remember, as 206 is the area code for Seattle. :)

Today, they worked on assembling skeletons. Mercifully, there were not 206 parts; it was significantly simplified. 

It was fun watching the students use logic to figure out which bones went where. Of course, there were some comical mistakes along the way, but that's how we learn!

In the end, they all got the hip bone connected to the thigh bone, etc.

HISTORY LESSON: We started our morning with Emmett Sullivan of the University of London and professor of our "The Camera Never Lies," a class we're taking via Coursera.

More specifically, we listened to Emmett interview Julio Etchart. Born in Uruguay, Etchart has an impressive body of work, including his images from the 1980s in Chile, during the uprising and struggle for freedom from the Pinochet dictatorship.

From an artistic standpoint, this class has been fascinating. And today, listening to Etchart, we learned so much about the composition of a compelling photograph, especially in a tense situation. But this class has been so much more than an art lesson. Via the photos we've been compelled to study for our homework we've learned volumes about the Korean War, the Chilean uprising, the U.S. Intervention in Somalia in the early 1990s, and so much more. 

It might not be the typical curriculum for fourth and sixth graders, but in the grand scheme of things, I think it all evens out.

Stars and Diamonds

DIAMOND DANCE: I have been sitting on these photos since the weekend, when we went to a Mariners' game. 

Saturday was billed as a special event: "Night Court."  Every time Felix Hernandez pitches, there is a "King's court" section in the ballpark where everyone wears a gold shirt and roots for the former Cy Young winner.  Well Saturday night, they passed out 35,000 "King Felix" shirts in hopes of revving up the crowd as the Mariners chase a play off spot.

Felix pitched his heart out, but to no avail. The Mariners' bats were cold as ice.

One of the bright spots (literally) of the night was that it was salute to Latin America Beisbol night, so we were treated to some great music and dancers in colorful costumes. 

STAR TALK:  We spent some time today reviewing last night's enthralling evening - attending an event with Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson. Without further ado, I'll just let the kids tell you what they thought of the program. Annabelle's up first. ... 

On September 15, 2014, I went to see a very famous scientist, Neil deGrasse Tyson, in the Paramount Theater. My family and I sat in the very back of the theater, but we had a great view. I enjoyed sitting there. 

He showed us many things, including which countries discovered which elements, a little speck of pale blue on a photo of Saturn that we call "Earth," and why he shouldn't get the blame for Pluto being demoted from planetary status (he told people to GET OVER IT). 

He made lots of jokes, including a time where one of his images was loading, and the projection was black. He joked about how it was the first color photo of a black hole ever. Most everyone in the theater laughed at one point.

So many people came to the show it was sold out! There were absolutely tons of people watching deGrasse Tyson, and the crowd was very patient and quiet. At points, you couldn't even hear a single person talking!

He also showed things such as the earth in TV shows before we went to the moon- such as in the Star Trek intro- had NO CLOUDS! He also joked about say, an alien visiting our planet, and being like: "Hey there! What are you guys using for energy these days? We're using solar energy from a bunch of the stars in our universe!" And humans would say, "Um, well, we're kind of drilling into the ground and using oil that ISN'T REPLACEABLE," and how the aliens would laugh and laugh and LAUGH!

Near the end, there was a Q&A section, in which people asked questions, such as if he had any tips for starting teachers. One 6-year-old asked what the smallest particle in the world was, and Neil Tyson admitted that he didn't know, like a good scientist would. He even gave a woman that said he inspired her a hug!

Overall, the show was fun, entertaining, and cool. I really liked hearing Neil deGrasse Tyson talk about how many countries have science heroes on their bills and such. For instance, our country has Ben Franklin.  However, he was put there as a founding father instead of a scientist.

I loved being there to see the show.

And here are CJ's impressions ...

Yesterday, on September 15th, we went to see Neil deGrasse Tyson at the Paramount Theatre, a 2,807-seat performing arts venue at 9th Avenue and Pine Street in Downtown Seattle. Neil deGrasse Tyson is known for being an astrophysicist, being the current Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space, a research associate in the department of astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History, and having recently hosted the primetime show “Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey,” the sequel to Carl Sagan's 1980 thirteen-part television series “Cosmos: A Personal Voyage”.

We arrived at the Paramount at about 6:30 P.M, but the show started about an hour later. A lady walked on the stage and introduced Neil, even though presumably the entire audience knew who he is. When Neil deGrasse Tyson actually came on stage, one of the first things he talked about was Pluto, and how he has a entire cabinet full of hate mail thanks to the fact that Pluto isn't a legit planet anymore.  Children who probably aren't even in fourth grade yet and have a bizzare sense of logic sent him letters, including one child who I presume was in, at tops, second grade. That student addressed Neil as "ScIEtEst" and told him that people "might" live on Pluto and that if Pluto isn't a full planet now, they wouldn't exist. News flash: Something that once was a planet being reclassified as a dwarf planet wouldn't just suddenly wipe out all life on it.

Another thing Neil talked about was the periodic table of elements, but let's get more specific about it. Neil deGrasse Tyson had a chart of the periodic table that had a slider on it that showed how complete the table was over the years. Elements that were colored blue on his chart were known to the ancients, things like sulfur. The slider went on a scale from white to dark green, I think white was in the 1660s, while the shade of green on the right was 2003. The color an element had on his chart represented when it was discovered. In the beginning, in the 1660s, our periodic table just has a little more than what the ancients had discovered, making it pretty wimpy by today's standards. However, as Neil moved the slider along, you could see that more and more elements were getting discovered until we got to the periodic table that we use today. 

Why don't we remember something that Carl Sagan said from his iconic Pale Blue Dot speech? 

"The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner. How frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light."

Think about that statement for a moment. One thing Neil deGrasse Tyson brought up were the infamous events of September 11th, 2001. On that day, Al Qaeda became infamous for crashing some planes in a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, an event that would forever change our nation. Neil deGrasse Tyson showed us some photographs of the event that he took on his camcorder on the screen in the theatre, and I think I know the point Neil was trying to make: Humans kill. Humans are bloodthirsty. Humans have killed more living creatures on this planet than any other creature ever known to mankind, and often that is because they're looking for two things: Attention and fear of them. Carl Sagan was right when he said that “we spill so many rivers of blood just so we could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a tiny dot.”

One of the last things Neil did was say that he would read from "The book of Sagan" and he recited the entirety of Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot speech right in front of us.

Overall, I think Neil deGrasse Tyson's presentation at the Paramount Theatre was very fascinating.

And what did I think of our evening? It was, quite simply, fabulous. Seriously, I don't think I've ever seen an audience that size so rapt. Picture 2,800-plus people enthralled by a PowerPoint presentation about the periodic table!! :) And who said nerds don't know how to have a good time?! 

There was only thing that bothered me about the whole thing was the lack of children in the audience.  As CJ noted, we got to the venue early, so hung out awhile pre-show, and in the hundreds upon hundreds of people we saw, I only saw two other kids, both boys, and ZERO girls.  Seems to me there should have been more than a handful of kids in an audience of 2,800!  We need kids to get excited about science, and no one today makes science seem any cooler than Neil deGrasse Tyson, that's for sure!

BIG BANG:   Months ago, the kids both completed a short history course via Big History Project. I like them on Facebook, and today, I saw a post from them about a comic book all about the Big Bang. Cool! We spent some time together this afternoon reading it. It was a nice follow up to last night's presentation.

http://www.slideshare.net/BigHistory/bang-the-universe-verse-book-1?WT.mc_id=09_16_2014_SC-Sch_bhpfb&WT.tsrc=BHPFacebook

BANG! The Universe Verse Book 1 from Big History Project

MUSIC MATTERS: We started our morning by listening to Caspar Babypants (Chris Ballew of The Presidents of the United States of America) perform a live set in studio at KEXP. Ballew is always entertaining.

This afternoon the kids worked on learning the Barenaked Ladies' song "If I Had a Million Dollars." The chords are easy enough, but there are lots of words, which means lots of opportunities for train wrecks. They muddled through, however. 

During dinner this evening, we enjoyed a bunch of T-Rex songs.  Lead singer Marc Bolan was killed in a car wreck 37 years ago today. I have to say, the music he made still sounds so sweet.

Dr. Tyson

STELLAR:  Monday evening we had the enormous pleasure of spending three hours with Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson at the historic Paramount theater in Seattle.

We had "cheap" seats, but that didn't matter. He was challenging and inspiring and compelling from first word to last, and we'll post a full report tomorrow, as the hour is late now.

To end his presentation he read "from the book of Carl" (to quote him), reciting Sagan's "Pale Blue Dot" .


KHAAAAN!:  This morning's math lesson was all about finding the area of a triangle. First, we talked about I.D.ing a triangle's base and height, and then we watched a Khan Academy video about calculating the area.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOYQys52sPs

The video was great, and when the kids went to their workbooks to complete some exercises, CJ said, "This is easy!"