A day off of School

"Oh, the fun of a long weekend!
No school for days!
No homework, book reports, waking up early!"
Grace looked at me with a confused expression and said,
"Umm, Mom, could you quiet down while I'm constructing my volcano!"
Only Grace! Only my darling, constantly inquisitive, always thinking red-head!
She had decided that the best activity for a day off of school was an extensive Science project.
First, she made clay...flour, water, lots of salt. She wrapped toilet paper rolls with duck tape, made a cardboard base and began forming the clay into the shape of a volcano. Each piece of clay needed to be rolled out and then placed around the toilet paper tube she had created as the center. Once the volcano was constructed, it had to sit overnight to dry. Perfect! Tomorrow would be Saturday and her project could continue. Who needs morning cartoons when you've got a volcano to finish. Lucky for Grace, friend, Darby was happy to get involved. Donning paint shirts and aprons the two painted the volcano. They decided to only use shades of brown and once the direction of the light was determined the two little artists began painting the volcano in according to the light and shadows. Grace added a little bit of red at the top for lava remnants and orange in the cracks. The discussed which volcano it should be while painting and while I never heard the end result, I believe one of the Hawaiian islands was chosen because of Darby's Mothers time spent there. Once the paint was dry, Noah and Bowie decided they would like to pause the Wii and help Little Red Hen, I mean Grace with her volcano. Makes sense! It was time to make the volcano explode. With the center tube full of baking powder, Grace poured vinegar and a small amount of ketchup in and Mom stood back. Thankfully, nothing spouted onto the ceiling but the kids still loved it and we're allowed to make it explode two more times and THAT's IT! It is now Saturday evening and the kids don't go back to school until Tuesday. Perhaps I should find that perfect spot (?) for this volcano to make room for whatever could be brewing up next from the fantastic red-head in the other room!