That Time When Peggy Blew Stuff Up

Hello Internets! (I feel like I need a fancier greeting here..please submit your suggestions in the comments!) So remember that time when I told you we were going to make bouncing bubbles? Yeah, we didn't. Because I live in the Land of Bipolar Weather, it rained all day. And snowed in some places. And was a million and twelve degrees in other places. Who says there's no diversity in Utah??

So Bouncing Bubbles are still forthcoming. In the meantime, today we planned on making these cool exploding bags:

Okay, pardon my digression, but when I was making these I was thinking of my sweet friend Alise whose amuma (our ethnicity is Basque, amuma is what you call your grandmother in Basque) has the thickest Basque accent and one time she got in her car after Alise's dad had moved the driver's seat all the way forward and she scolded him saying, "What you try to do? You try to 'splode me???" HA HA HA!! Oh Amuma Gloria. Anyhoo..back to the pin.

So how fun does this look? I'm telling you, you need to go visit Crystal over at Growing a Jeweled Rose. I used her idea last week for the Squirty Sidewalk Chalk and this week, she does not disappoint with this Exploding Bag o' Paint (my words, not her's!) So we were planning on doing this when one of my friends asked if her kids could come play with us. Fun! Then I was trying to make plans with another friend (you remember Alisa, don't you Internets?) so I suggested she bring her boys over and we could have a big Explodabag party! I love a party. Of course she was in so we got to work!
First, Don Diego and I prepped everything. There were going to be 9 kids here and I wanted everyone to have fun so we decided to do 3 bags per kid. Once again, I failed to get a Materials Shot (Sorry!) but the materials are seriously things I am certain you have onhand..zip up sandwich bags, vinegar, cornstarch, food coloring (again, go for the Neon stuff..seriously a HUGE difference!), baking soda and paper towels.

 So I put a sandwich bag in a 2 cup measuring cup to stabilize it while I added the necessary contents and I added a heaping spoonful of cornstarch (no measuring here, kids! Flying by the seat of our sploding pants!)

I added enough vinegar to fill the bag about 1/3 way full

Some food coloring...

And gave it to Don Diego to squish and mix up. We set those aside, our friends came over, we had pizza and sent the kids out to play while we mommies made the Baking Soda Bombs.

This is Alisa's menacing "I Make Bombs" Face

Those BYU fans are a lot more dangerous than

they appear! Don't let them fool you. Trouble. 

Every. Stinkin. One. Of. Em!

Then Hercules wanted in on the action. That's

Athena hiding behind the straw.

So to make the Baking Soda Bombs, we put about 1-1/2 tablespoons of baking soda in a square of paper towel (I cut the sheets of paper towels into smaller squares) and then folded them up, enveloping the baking soda. We put them in a neat little pile and took them outside along with the bags Don Diego and I had prepped.

The kids grabbed their 3 bags and we were ready to play!

Look at those weirdos! I blame the fathers. Their mothers are

angels. Lovely and delightful angels!

 So at first I just opened the bag just a scosh and dropped the BSB in and super fast zipped the bag back up and handed it to a kid to place where they wanted it in the driveway. 

Thor got to go first because today is his birthday. Everyone

say "Happy Birthday, Thor!"

So we tossed it on the ground and watched it expand and expand and expand until...

...it (in a semi anti-climactic way) popped! Okay, if you think these are going to shoot into space, you will be disappointed. There are no explosions (sorry NSA to have freaked you out for nothing with all that bomb talk!) the bag just pops open and the stuff gushes out. So we did that for awhile...

 B-Diddy trying to fast seal up his bag before it explodes!

But then Thor brought me a bag to zip that he'd already put the BSB in and I couldn't zip it in time! GAAAA! It sploded me!

Well then we decided that was really the way to do it..well...Don Diego had some fun throwing his in the air just before it exploded but sadly I got no shots of that..

Our "other daughter" who happened to be

across the street with her brother and came

to play with us helped Poquito Tito

VA and Hercules

I tell you, this was a blast. (Snort! See how I did that there?) It was so much fun and it taught the kids some science and Don Diego will just have kittens if we don't do it again. This is what the driveway looked like after the adventure

Mmmm..okay. Maybe it looks a little like a My Little Pony crime scene...

Anyway, here is what some of the kids had to say about it when I asked them if they thought the pin was a success:

501: It was good!

B-Ditty: Awesome!

Bitty: It was great!

Thor: It was fun!

Hercules: It exploded all over my leg! It popped on the sidewalk!

Athena: Me spilled on my foot. It scared me!

Don Diego: Epic!

Mademoiselle: When you put dust in it, it explodes! I like it!

Poquito Tito: (says enthusiastically) SPODED!! (He's clearly been hanging out with Amuma Gloria)

So there you have it, Internets. 9 thumbs up. (12 if you include the Mommies. I think we had as much fun as the kids!) I'd say that's a success!