#19

Whew, what a day!

I just got done cleaning up from our first ever family STEAM night.  STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math.  Each teacher came up with an idea and families went around the gym to various stations doing the activities/challenges there.  It was a huge success!

Everyone had a punch card, one sticker/stamp per station.  Once four stations were visited, people could turn their cards in for a door prize.  We drew every half hour.  My challenge was to build a pyramid of red plastic cups and put a Lego guy on the top, without using your hands.  You could use any combination of: two straws, a rubber band, a cotton ball, 1-2ft of string (per person).  Almost every group found a different way of doing it! Some groups tried the super deluxe extra challenging challenge.  The cups started out in a stack and they had to unstack them and then restack them without the use of their hands.  Regular= they could start with the cups already separated on the table.

Other stations: building a bridge of paper and popsicle sticks strong enough to hold a bunch of washers, making a house of gumdrops and toothpicks so the 'wolf' (a hairdryer) couldn't blow the pig (paper) out of the house, "Noah's Ark" where you build a boat of tin foil to hold as many plastic animals as possible, marble painting, making a paper structure strong enough to hold a stack of textbooks.  The robotics team from Mankato West also came and did robot demonstrations for everyone.  You could even try driving the robots yourself!  And there were a few self-guided kit stations for people to try on their own.  We served pizza for supper and had tables set up in the hallway as a 'lunch room'.

The book fair was open too. We had a few grandmas working; they said they had fun.  We sold $250 of books! That puts a hefty dent in the $800 goal of ours.  Hopefully the rest of the week goes just as well.

I bought a pair of flats that are supposed to be the best/most comfortable flats in the world.  I figured they'd be good to wear today since I'd be on my feet a long time.  Ehhh, maybe they're not as comfortable as they appear or maybe I need to break them in more.  My feet are sore.  I think this pair may be a little small; they pinch my toes a bit.  I was hoping they'd stretch out (the company doesn't sell half sizes), and maybe they still will.  Should I let them naturally stretch (they're made of leather) or should I try to stretch them out without my feet in them?  Since I wore them already, I don't think I can exchange them for a larger size...