Life at a "Swell's" pace

After walking through downtown Hot Springs, Arkansas the night before and spending the night in Caddo Valley we all decided the following morning to head over to the Mid-America Science Museum located at 500 Mid America Blvd. directly in Hot Springs. I remember going to this museum as a kid and it seemed to be a huge place with tons of things to do. Going there as an adult and taking my own son brought back a lot of childhood memories and we all had great time, for sure!

The time that we were there, the museum was doing a shipwreck and pirate display.

There was information about pirates posted everywhere.

We took a shipwreck voyage in a simulator.

It was pretty bumpy......but interesting.

Sound waves vibrating water.

The hurricane south of Arkansas had brought a lot of wind and rain the day we went to the museum. It was pretty wet the whole day.

Skylar got to pretend he was a building support structure.

How gravity works.

Flash shadows.

Skylar and Will.

This setup was a mess. We got stuck, sweaty, and lost, but it was hilarious at times while we were all in there. It was so comical watching my brother climb through the tunnels, haha.

This is what it looked like from the miniature model. We climbed through all of it!

Will climbing through the tunnels.

Skylar leaving me behind, ha!

Skylar wasn't sure if he should cross the bridge. We had to climb through without any shoes on too.

Determining Will's weight. We ran out of bags. HA!

Taking a leap of faith and drinking out of the toilet water fountain.

The sign states: "This exhibit challenges your mind to separate what you believe this common bathroom object is normally used for from what it is here: A drinking fountain."

Melted glass.

The Tesla Coil: Copper electrode sphere that ultimately produces lightning with sphere, spark, coil, and power supply. It was created and invented by Nikola Tesla in 1892. The one at Mid-America Science Museum is the 'World's Most Powerful Conical Tesla Coil' and is registered with the Guinness World Record.

Weight verses arm strength.

Marble run. Skylar really liked this one.

Experiencing Hurricane-force winds.

Sailing the SS Republic.

Operating a robot retrieval arm to pick up sunken treasure.

Creating a tornado with your own strength.

Gold and doubloons recovered from the wreck of the SS Republic.

Skylar checking out the Koi.

Huge mason bee hive.

Trying to defy gravity with a marble.

What a fun and educational day!

Eco-Tip: Turn off lights in rooms that you or someone else isn't using. Why have a light on when there is nothing to see in the room. If you must have some sort of light showing in a room, invest in a small watt night light. For this and other tips on going green visit, The Earth and Me Go Green.

Well, it's about that time when the close of the tomato growing season comes to an end and boy did we have a great crop this year. It's amazing how many tomatoes we actually grew and I have had a blast coming up with different ways to add them to certain dishes, or actually just eating them like an apple on some occasions.

Look at all of them!

If you had a great crop of tomatoes like we did, your house probably looks like ours, canning, drying, cutting, and preserving as much as you can before the colder weather hits. Besides the dehydrating and canning, here are few more ways to add tomatoes into your daily meals.

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes:

Toss tomatoes and peeled, whole garlic cloves in extra virgin olive oil, just enough to coat them, and roast in the oven at 400°F. Roast until the cherry tomatoes start to swell and break the skin a bit (15-20 minutes). Remove from oven and allow to cool some before serving. Add these on top of angel hair pasta or fettuccine.

Tomato Sandwiches:

Spread toasted potato bread with a butter-mustard (1 tbs. of butter mixed with 1 tbs. of mustard), layer on tomatoes and sprinkle with a dash of sea salt to your liking.

Tomato/Feta Salad:

Toss together romaine lettuce, artichoke hearts (chopped), tomato wedges, fresh lemon juice (to taste), and Feta cheese. Sprinkle the top of the salad with fresh, chopped chives and serve.

Stuffed Tomatoes:

Recipe HERE!

ENJOY!

Eco-Tip: Join a reading group. This may not seem like much of an "eco"-type tip, but reading is one of the best things you can do for yourself. You did well by reading this tip and this blog to begin with. :-) Reading is the gift that keeps on giving, and there is no better time than to start now. If you aren't sure what books to start with, why not start with the monthly selection for the SNORTH Reading List.