Day 60- Made the Solar System

Build the solar system.

Well I wasn't going to count this one originally, but to took so long I had no other option.
So remember when the International Astronomical Union, or IAU decided that Pluto wasn't a planet but a dwarf planet? Well it made ALL those models of the solar system inaccurate.

My daughter's daycare provider was teaching her about the planets this week and took out her old solar system hanging mobile and cut Pluto off. The whole thing flopped over.

Being the super amazing teacher she is, she went out and bought another. Then she remembered how long it took her to build it the last time. She asked me if I would ask my hubby if he would put it together, since my hubby LOVES puzzles.

Not thinking at all, I said, "Sure, he'd love it."

Epic fail

I got home and said, "Hey baby, guess what? You've got a new project." I handed him the box.
"I don't want to do this. Are the planets painted?"
I poked my head into the box, "Nope." Now the guilt started. I hate it when people volunteer me for things and I'm constantly do that to my hubby. "I'll paint the planets."

Again I don't know what I was thinking.

As you can tell by this blog, quality control isn't something high on my priority list. I also have zero artist ability. I'd like to think a long time ago I was sort of crafty... you know arts and crafty not "Crafty" the Beastie Boys song. Sadly, as I've gotten older those skills have vanished.

Event:
I started to paint at 7:30 on Saturday morning. I pulled out all the materials. None of the plastic planets were labeled and they came in two different colors. I've been watching The Universe and other space related TV for a while and I know a little something about the planets. You would think that the inner planets would all be the same color plastic and the outer planets would be a different color. nope.

Also one was missing.

And so was chart with information about the plants.

Sigh.

So I had to rely on the box to give me some sort of hints as to how I was supposed to paint it. The box got it wrong, which annoyed me. It had Mercury all sorts of cool colors. Nope, it looks like the moon so I painted it gray.

Then I moved on to Mars for no real logically reason, and Venus and Earth. While I was painting Earth it seemed to be missing a large part of the western hemisphere. Look, if there was a planet model people would notice if there was a glaring mistake on, it would be earth.

It took me two hours to paint the inner planets and to call the daycare provider about the missing planet. I had dropped it on the walk to my car.
I took a break for a while, and returned to the project with the new planet and a new zest for the project.

That zest quickly vanished when I stopped and looked at all the detail that was on Saturn and Jupiter, and then I also spent time trying to remember how to mix paint to get brown. (red, yellow and blue makes brown in case anyone was wondering)

Another hour.

Then everything had to dry.

Then I had to paint it all with glow in the dark paint.

I opted again to paint the sun in glow in the dark paint because just didn't make any sense to me why the sun would glow in the dark.

Sunday I decided I would start tying the string on to the planets. AT this point I should point out I'm not impressed the with quality of materials the kit has provided me. For the record fishing line is nearly impossible to tie into a knot and you have to do it twice.

Then I labeled all the rods with the correct location of the planets.
I'm not impressed with my work.
My two year old probably could have done a better job if I had allowed her to.

Reaction:
My daycare provider was very grateful for everything I had done. She thanked me and told me how busy she was this weekend and she had run out of time.

Would I do it again: Never-- I've put together one solar system I'm not doing another. Science you are not allowed to demote anymore planets for the next sixteen years. If you're planning on demoting please wait until my kid has graduated high school... thank you
Cost: Nothing expect my patience.
Effort: You're kidding, right?
Time: 4 -5 hours over two days.