The science fair was a huge success�and we are all very glad it is over. AJ is glad because he was getting a little tired of writing up his experiment. I am glad because now I can focus on finishing my two papers for next week. Mr. Spy is glad because the rest of us are not as stressed.

AJ did amazingly well. He is often nervous of speaking to strangers, but most of the time he was happy to explain his project and help other kids try his experiment. The judge who came around to talk to him about his project and award the ribbon and certificate given to every child was kind of not paying attention. AJ had to explain three times about how the project worked and the guy still didn�t get it. He gave me a look that said, �I can�t believe how slow some grownups are!� He�s going to be hell on wheels as a teen.

They kicked off the science fair with a show by Mad Science which was a lot of fun and involved dry ice and weird colored liquids and kids pretending to be atoms and bonding or bumping into one another. They run an after school science extracurricular at AJ�s school that begins in the first grade. AJ is all ready to sign up right now.

There were some terrific projects on display. We had fun looking at them. The boy across the street was running around in a labcoat and safety glasses. He showed how he could get an egg (hardboiled and peeled) to suck into a glass bottle by burning a piece of paper inside the bottle. This had the advantage of involving both fire and stinky smells and was well populated by boys all night long. AJ�s experiment, which involved eating Life Savers, was also very popular. My favorite was one done by a third grader showing how dams enabled the generation of electrical power. It was a simple model, but really effective. A local engineering firm had set up a working model rollercoaster next to a table piled with literature on choosing a career in engineering, which needless to say was wasted on the kindergartners who just wanted to play with the big toy. The Mad Science people had a table of experiments too. One involved magnets. Another showed them how to use popsicle sticks and brads to build a robot arm and a third showed the kids how to put a stick through a balloon without popping it.

The place was packed and the kids had fun and Mr. Spy got invited to a weekly lunch with other work-at-home dads in our neighborhood at Hooters (�the wings are great�at least, that�s what we tell our wives.�) Ain�t suburbia grand? I am of the opinion that Mr. Spy would rather admit to liking hooters than chicken wings any day of the week.

AJ went to sleep in his skeleton pajamas and seems to have dreamed of science. Before breakfast he had pulled out his copy of we had manufactured a model solar system out of assorted household objects (an exercise ball, a lemon, a pea) and drawn up a chart on which to map the daily temperature for the next couple of weeks. I was relieved to see that the focus on the project hasn�t dampened his thirst for scientific knowledge at all. Then again, this morning�s inspiration may have been due to the fact that he received his own pair of rubber gloves, safety glasses and a giant badge reading �junior scientist� at the fair. He put them on before we built the solar system, �just in case the pea gets squished.� Good thinking AJ.

And after conducting my own scientific research, I have decided to follow Dr. Geek�s advice (which has yet to steer me wrong) and order the cheapest of the iPod Nanos rather than the Shuffle, which I hope will be waiting for me upon my return from Pittsburgh, like a carrot on a stick. It will be silver and shiny and will have my name on it. After all, running season is almost here. Maybe this will inspire me to dust off my shoes.

5 people said it like they meant it