summer storms

Well, the couple of days we had of 90-something degree, steamy-humid weather went out with a bang yesterday. We got a great show of wind and hail in the afternoon, and there are tree limbs and other debris all over my neighborhood today. I like watching the summer storms, and thankfully none of my kids hide under the bed from the noisy thunder. Of course, if I lived in an area where a summer thunderstorm often means the risk of a life-threatening tornado, I'm sure my opinion would be different. As it is, whenever there is a heat wave, I watch the weather reports to see when the storms will come, and I spend lots of time the predicted day looking up at the sky.


After the storm, because it didn't last all that long, we went to a presentation at the local library by Mad Science. I had never seen it before, and it was great. It was a guy in a lab coat, doing mostly low-tech but really exciting demonstrations. The best part: he explained the science behind everything he was doing, why it worked, etc. He even had the kids go through the scientific method (not that he called it that) by starting off each demo with a problem, and having the kids brainstorm ideas. So cool. The boys and their friend sat in the front row and raised their hands to answer every question, which they never do when we go to these types of things. Little Brother was so excited he kept bouncing in his seat, slowly moving it backward until it was practically in the lap of the lady behind him, and I would have to go apologize and pull him forward. He was laughing so hard he didn't even notice. My strongest endorsement: I brought knitting with me, and I never pulled it out.