Hey, we are exactly one month away from Valentine’s Day! Oh, give me a break. It is all about my wife’s birthday in two weeks. Holidays and birthdays aside, let’s get started with my latest Thursday Rundown…

Breezy – Early yesterday morning I was in the shower when the bathroom went dark. Sloan, turn that light back on, I hollered. But she was still in her bed. Super strong gusts of wind had wiped out our power. Using our iPhone flashlights we maneuvered around the house for about an hour as we got ready and packed up necessities for the day. We then dodged fallen trees in the road as we made the 30-minute drive to my parents’ house. The four of us camped out there for the day as I used their in-tact electricity to work. The Spokane International Airport recorded a wind gust that topped 70 MPH, the second highest mark in the area’s history. Thankfully by the end of the day we returned home as the winds had died down and our power was back on.

Sloan using a flash light when the power went out in our house yesterday morning.

Hungry, Hungry Hippos – Sloan received a true classic for Christmas. One of the first presents she opened was Hungry, Hungry Hippos. Although she didn’t really know what it was at first, we played it that night and she quickly became obsessed. Sure, she has found ways to cheat but for the most part it is good, clean fun. The rounds we play get pretty intense and one evening after Sloan went to sleep, Sidney and I stayed up for some 1-on-1 matches.

Sloan preparing to play a game of Hungry, Hungry Hippos.

Soda Day – Apparently I like writing about soda on January 14. Way back in 2015, I explained why “mini sodas are the real MVP.” I reasoned that 7.5 oz soda cans help to reduce my guilt and that I would gladly pay the higher price per ounce for a serving that is smaller. I was pretty passionate. A few years later on January 14, 2018, I analyzed the rollout of the Diet Coke fruit-flavored sodas. In my opinion it was a much better play by the Coca-Cola company than its decision to rename Coke Zero. That really was a head-scratcher to me. Although I didn’t write it on January 14, if this section on soft drinks has you really interested, you can learn about my favorite sodas here.

Purchasing these smaller sodas saves me some guilt.

Easy Experiment – After being inspired by a Ryan’s World video, we did a science experiment on Saturday morning. We took a Ziploc freezer bag, filled it with water, and added some drops of food coloring. We then grabbed our freshly sharpened pencils and poked them through one side of the bag to the other. Once we pushed about five pencils through the bag we removed them and watched as perfect little spouts of water shot out from the bag until it was empty. Simple and fun to do!

Sidney and Sloan in the process of pushing pencils through the Ziploc bag.

This Week’s Meme – I once again grab a meme from the Instagram Story of my friend Lindsi to close out another Thursday Rundown. This perfectly describes the mood when Sidney and I use Google to settle our debates. When I am on the right side (which isn’t often) it sure is a sweet feeling.

Sidney and I let Google settle a lot of things in our marriage.

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I appreciate your time tonight. Remember that there is never a bad time to perform a random act of kindness. Have a nice Martin Luther King Jr. weekend and I will touch base next week. Don’t Blink.