A Couple Things

1. Tomorrow, I'm leaving for science summer camp for a week. Actually, I'm going to a Gordon Research Conference on tissue repair and regeneration. The conference is being held at a picturesque little college in New Hampshire. We are staying in the dorms so it kind of feels like summer camp. I get to give a talk about my research (new ways to repair blood vessels). 

Never been to New Hampshire before. It should be fun.

2. I'm going to miss these two.

3. My anniversary is on Saturday. Did you know that we got married in Las Vegas?

We've been married six whole years. Here's to sixty more!

We Heart Chattanooga

In an effort to explore the great state of Tennessee and get away for Memorial Day, we took a weekend trip down to Chattanooga. What a great little city! We had so much fun visiting the Aquarium and the Creative Discovery Museum and just walking around the downtown area. 

The aquarium was great. It was way more than just fish exhibits. They had a butterfly garden, penguins, snakes, and flying squirrels (which are native to Tennessee -- who knew??) among other things. 

Here, Harper is reaching out to touch a butterfly in the butterfly garden. 

She made a friend at the penguin exhibit. This little guy kept swimming up to investigate her through the glass. 

The Creative Discovery Museum was awesome too. 

They had lots of different exhibits for kids to explore. I think Harper liked the doctor's office the best. Here, she is bandaging up an injured baby doll's leg. 

Some of the coolest parts of downtown Chattanooga are the interactive play fountains. Harper had a great time splashing around and cooling off.

"Mom, I know you told me not to get my skirt wet, but I just couldn't help it!"

We had a great time in Chattanooga. Harper especially loved it and as we were driving out of the city to come home, she started crying and yelling that she wanted to "stay in Chattanooga ALL DAY LONG!" Because it's only 2 hours away from us, I think we can make that happen again soon!

3 Years Later

I took this picture Memorial weekend 2008.

Three years later...

Life is good. 

Payoff

Remember these guys? Look at them now! I can't really take any credit for them. Rob is the main gardener in this house. But, I certainly do enjoy the benefits of his green thumb.

Pink Bunnies and Chick-fil-a

Only a mom who truly loves her kid would venture into a Chick-fil-a on Kid's Night. It's crazy. But you know what? Harper loves it. So every Tuesday night, we go.

In addition to free kids meals, Chick-fil-a brings in special guests to entertain the kids while they eat. Tonight, Sonnie was there to do face and arm painting. It was actually pretty cool.

Harper decided to get a pink bunny on her arm. It actually wasn't her first choice. She initially picked out a skull with flames coming out of his head. I nixed that one. (That's ok to do, right? I'm not crushing her creative freedom or individuality, right? I mean seriously, it was a skull with flames!). After some negotiation, she decided she wanted a tinker bell. However, when she got up in the chair and Sonnie asked her what she wanted, she said a pink bunny. Go figure. It is never a dull moment with this kid.

Anticipation

I'm starting to get excited about the humble garden that's taking shape on our deck. 

Physics Friday

While it's well known that I prefer green science (ie. biology) to any type of physical science... every once in a while, physics proves itself to be not as lame as I like to think it is.



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