The Polar Vortex

This past week much of the country experienced record breaking low temperatures.  I think it got down to 5 degrees on Tuesday morning here.  I had been reading about crazy things that happen when you throw water up in the air and blow bubbles in extremely cold weather.  I wanted to try this out with Emma.

We had a 2 hour delay for school on Tuesday so Emma and I had time to go out on the deck before leaving and try out the bubbles.  I didn't have any bubble solution so I made some out of dishwashing liquid and water, and Emma used a slotted spoon as her wand.

We were disappointed that the bubbles didn't instantly freeze.  In fact, they still popped in the air and also when they landed.  We were able to save a couple that were attached to the spoon, though, and those did freeze.  It was a little bit of a let down.

Here are some photos from our shoot.  It was about 8 or 9 degrees when we headed out despite how sunny it was.  Emma refused to wear a coat over her sweater while we were out.

Here is what happened once the bubbles froze on the spoon...they cracked.

And the one bubble that we transferred to the counter outside.  Completely unimpressive:

One of JC's cousin's husband is also a photographer near Valle Crucis. It was -8 degrees there on Tuesday morning, and he was able to get some fantastic photos of the bubbles freezing in the air.  This one is my favorite!



It has been crazy cold here - now I'm ready for spring!!!