She is 10!

My baby turned 10.  I still don't think it's set in.  I can't help but think back to the day she was born and seeing her little face for the very first time.  Can she really be my incredible 10 year old girl?  Even though it is incredulous that she is now a decade old, I don't get the feeling that time has flown by.  I think we have done so much and seen so much and I have been there every single day watching her grow into the fantastic human being that she is, I don't feel as though I've missed anything.  

For her 10th birthday, she chose to spend it with her family.  She wanted to go to the amazing Science Center in Calgary, so we did!  But first, she opened a few gifts from her family.

She plowed her way through this book and finished it in 2 or 3 days!!  She decided the movie might be a bit too grown up for her though...

She also got a few books from the Dear Canada series about various epidemics or major events in Canada, which she thoroughly enjoys.  She has been fully immersed in WW2 books over the last little while, which fascinates me, considering she is...10.

She fell in love with her brand new hoodie and has barely taken it off since she received it!!

The Telus Spark Science Center is incredible and I'm so glad we had the chance to visit it!

My gorgeous curly haired girl waiting at the Science Center to see the IMAX movie about space and our planets.

Adam and the girls fully enthralled with the movie!

After we watched the movie, we went to the hands on children's section where there was so much to see and do!  We spent hours there playing and learning and experimenting.  This particular display was to show the difference between what you would remember when you were 90 and what you might forget when you were 90.  It was fascinating to see what the girls chose to write on their papers.  There was a reading board on the side that showed proven facts regarding what people remember and forget as they age.  For example, you wouldn't necessarily remember daily events, but you'd probably remember major events or milestones.  I think we all know this, but it was fun to test our brains and discover what we really thought would stick in our minds.

 Marin's answers were hilarious.  This is what she figured she would remember when she was 90:

And this is what she figured she would forget:

This was the station that both girls were desperate to spend time in!  I am sure Calli could have spent the entire 4 hours here, just making up outifts!  

There was a huge box of fabric pieces in all shapes, sizes, colours and designs and they got to choose their favourites and pin them on the mannequins.

Marin's finished product on the left and Calli's on the right.

Next, we headed over to a station where there were all sorts of electronics that we could take apart!!  There were tools to smash and unscrew different items.  

Marin spent a LOT of time at this spot.  She was fully fascinated.

I still have no idea how this one worked, but Calli could dip the "brush" into the paint pots and write her name on the board and it would produce different instrumental sounds.  It was pretty neat!

 Adam and Marin discovered another station where they could connect circuits and make things move or light up.  Marin figured it out quickly with Adam's help and was soon creating circuits and making motors turn little fans or wheels.  

This spot was one of my favourites.  This was in the room about weather and climate.  This amazing wall had jars of colours where kids had spent time observing the Alberta skies at different times, then re-creating the colours of the sky in the jars and labelling them with new names!  After living here for nearly 4 years, I can see that each of those colours is real.  I think we've seen them too.

Calli loved this rock polishing station.  It showed how rocks can become smooth in rivers, oceans or lakes by constant motion and it provided different "polishing" grades with the use of sand paper.

 Calli tried out her legs on this treadmill, but had a hard time getting it to go fast enough to start the wheel from illuminating and turning!

Calli, the cool cat testing out one of the many hula hoops hanging around in the lobby area of the center.

She asked for steak for supper, so Adam put on his chef's hat and made the best steak he could for her, which she thoroughly enjoyed.  Afterwards, we made our way to Dairy Queen for a birthday ice cream.  Calli chose the candy cane waffle bowl which she declared was the best thing she'd ever had. (besides the steak)  We sang Happy Birthday to her and she told us it was the best birthday she's had yet!