Moseying along...

While it may not seem we are up to much these days, we've been managing to do some pretty interesting things! For example, we had a field trip to the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. It was an awesome tour! We toured much of the facility, saw all the interesting lab equipment, looked at various objects through a high powered microscope, took a short hike up Mount Burdell (next time we'll make it to the top), made ice cream with liquid nitrogen, and best of all, the kids got to feed stem cells! Yes, they got to participate in actual scientific research... they donned sterile gloves, which were then further sterilized; sucked the old food (full of cell waste) out of the petri dishes; and injected fresh food into the dishes, all the while being careful to keep everything within the sterile feeding area. These cells will be made into brain cells for Parkinson's research. Totally cool!

We also finally saw the final Harry Potter movie. I am not ashamed to say there was more than one tear shed during the film. Now we are just waiting for October, when JK Rowling's Pottermore site will be up.

In addition, the kids have been on a painting spree, and there has been a lot of swimming. They have very distinct tan lines now. And park days, the most recent at the beach with M in attendance for once.

We decided to go ahead and wait until the 29th to officially start back up. I ordered a few more odds and ends, and am on vacation from work next week, so we want to really enjoy that week with all the summer fun we can have. I do have classes starting up that week, but only one morning.

In other news, I have actually started applying for jobs again... I do have one currently, but the variable hours and constant threats of layoffs are getting to us as a family. I have a very good lead on an excellent job that I would more than love to have, working with a former coworker. It is a secretarial position, with regular, part-time hours, no weekends, and a few weeks off in the summer. Oh, and good pay! I also have feelers out for a couple of similar positions just in case. We'll see where the world leads me next.