Just Another Day At The Beach

Tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock

It's ending.  Quickly.  School starts next week, so we're feeling compelled to cram as much summer into the few remaining moments.  Thus... the beach.  Again. 

Our Famous Son

Michigan Tech Mind Trekkers amaze crowds


August 26, 2011

By STACEY KUKKONEN - DMG writer (skukkonen@mininggazette.com) , The Daily Mining Gazette


HANCOCK - Colby Aho stood at one end of the water mixture and looked at the end toward his mother who had her camera in hand.

It's sink or swim time.

"Ready!" he shouted, leaping onto the watery substance and running to the other end without sinking.

Aho, 7, of Chassell, was joined by dozens of other children Thursday evening taking the opportunity to run on top of, or sometimes sink into the mixture.

Thursday was Family Night and the opening night at the Houghton County Fair in Hancock. The Michigan Technological University Mind Trekkers, a hands-on science and engineering show produced by the Center for Pre-college Outreach at Michigan Tech, had shows of their own at the fair, featuring 80 activities including the opportunity to walk on water, feel their hair stand on end by touching an electrically charged orb, see ice cream made in 60 seconds and breathe "dragon's breath," among others.

"It's a non-Newtonian fluid that doesn't act like a regular liquid," said Gwendolyn Fleming, a Tech student and part of the Mind Trekkers crew.

When force is applied to the liquid, the density changes and becomes squishy and can be walked on as long as the feet move very fast.

"If you stop moving fast enough and move too slow, there's not enough force so it's not as dense and you'll sink into it," she said.

Before letting kids run on top of the mixture, made with water and cornstarch, a group of Mind Trekkers gave running and sinking demonstrations. After sinking into the mixture, Fleming said it is very hard to pull the feet out of the mixture.

"You have to go really slow to pull them out," she said.

Fleming also demonstrated how the mixture worked by gathering a gob of the goop and rolled it into a seemingly round, hard ball in her hands. However, once she stopped rolling it and applying force, the ball quickly turned into liquid in her hands.

"This is my baby," she said of the activity.

Nearby, a group of Mind Trekkers challenged kids to poke holes into balloons with sharp skewers and not pop them. Grant Cox gave demonstrations Thursday evening.


"What you do is you blow up a balloon and coat the skewer in vaseline," he said.

The skewer is then punctured through the darkest spot on the balloon and poked through the other end. The experiment works because the vaseline helps create a seal around the hole, he said.

"Balloons are made up of polymer links of molecules and in the dark spots there's a higher concentration of polymer links," Cox said. "If you tried to do it on the side of the balloon it would just break up the polymer links."

Throughout the year, the Mind Trekkers have taken their show on the road to Washington, D.C.; Detroit; Knoxville, Tenn.; and Green Bay, but they have never performed a show locally.

"It's a phenomenal organization with the travel and outreach they do," Cox said.

The Mind Trekkers have also performed in Traverse City, Escanaba and Iron Mountain and have been invited back to Washington, D.C. for the next USA Science and Engineering Expo in April 2012.

The idea behind the organization is to spark an interest in science in children and get families involved.


© Copyright 2011 The Daily Mining Gazette. All rights reserved.

County Fair

It's that time of year again!  The fair!  We went to Opening Day, this year, and I'm so glad we did.  Crowds were about half of what they are on the weekends, which alone would make the early trip worth it.  On top of that, though, the all the rides were $1 a piece, AND Michigan Tech had this awesome "MindTrekker" program for the kids!  The boys were so enthralled with the uber-cool science experiments, we actually had to cajole them away in order to use our ride tickets.  Wowza.  It was just such a pleasant night - kids were well-behaved and happy, the weather was perfect, there was lots to do and see.  I may have gone a little overboard with the photo shoot of the evening, given that we were having so much fun.  For your sakes, I will try to be discerning in choosing which of the 158 photos to post, but I'm really not promising to limit myself too much. 

My favorite quote of the evening occurred when the boys and I were in one car of the ferris wheel, and Dad and Reagan were in the other.  The boys were scared.to.death., and Reagan turned around, smiled, and waved to us.  Quinn looked at me incredulously, and said "See, Mom, she's not scared because she doesn't know that she's about to DIE."

AHHHHHHHHH.  What a great way to end the summer!!!

On Your Mark..... Get Set............

20 pounds of blueberries picked, cleaned, sorted, bagged and frozen (thanks for joining us, Grandma LaVerne!).

Blueberry pie baked, blueberry muffins cooling, 10 jars of blueberry syrup canned and stored.

Piano lessons scheduled, cubscouts organized, swimming instructor found.  Religious ed materials previewed.

Paper, pencils, protractors, crayons, markers, glue, scissors, and folders purchased.

Size 8 t-shirts, sweatshirts, sweatpants, jeans, and dress pants ordered and awaiting arrival.

Postcard from 2nd grade teacher received.  Mrs. Hietala, are you ready for us???

Calendar updated.  It's already full through 2012.

I feel like an ant, busily preparing for winter.  Squirreling away food, clothing, and activities for use during the long dark days. 

Life is about to get BUSY.  I'm gearing up.  I'm nervous.  I dread the morning panic before school, the fatigue after school when forcing boys to do homework.  The busy-ness.  I look forward to being able to actually clean my house for the first time in 3 months, and possibly have it stay clean for a few hours a day while the boys are at school.  I vow to be organized this year: to find a way that boys do not lose 10 pairs of gloves, 5 hats, 3 boots.  To make lunches ahead of time, lay out clothes the night before, have homework located and in backpacks long before the bus pulls up to the house.  I vow to be in control, and not get lost in the hectic schedule.  I have so enjoyed this summer, and it's schedule-less days.  I'm missing it, while it's still here.  And I'm nervous about the fall.

Our life is transitioning again, but it's a familiar transition.  It occurs to me that we're starting this annual pattern that will flow until the children graduate highschool.  It's life.  Our life.

I'm taking a deep breath.  Gearing up.  The race is about to begin!

Soccer Game #2

Not that I plan to document every single soccer game, but the season just started, and it's fun to feel like I'm from Sports Illustrated as I watch.  The boys did great, the Copper Kings are 2-0 so far.  Rob and I had to have a little talk with the boys, as they were trash talkin' a little too much near the end there - rubbing it in to their opponents that there was NO WAY they could win, as the Copper Kings were so far ahead.  Uhhhhhhhhhhhh.  Not very sportsmanlike, boys.  When I explained to them that winning wasn't everything, that it was important to Dad and I that they learn to play the game well, pass the ball, gain good skills, their reply was "you get a better medal at the end if you win, Mom."  It's all about the medal, you know.  Great.

Grandma and Grandpa treated the gang to ice cream afterwards.  Ice cream season is quickly coming to a close, and I'm going to miss it ;)