Our Neighborhood

I've been watching (and participating a little bit) in a discussion on a homeschooling message board in which some of the parents believe in "free range" kids. These parents believe that those who practice "fear-based parenting" over being overprotective and are causing their children to form insecurities, over-dependency, timidity, and fearfulness that is out of proportion to the situation. They believe that the risks to a child playing alone outside, even elsewhere in the neighborhood, are so small that it is a non-issue.

I'm one of those overprotective parents but I see where it has come from. I was sexually molested for six years as a child by a neighbor so I'm very cautious about who I let the kids visit without my direct supervision and even more cautious about who I let the kids spend the night with. It's a very small number for both. Further, I've lived in my current neighborhood for 10 years now and the things I've seen and heard about within blocks of my house has caused me to become even more cautious with my kids (ie. no playing in the front yard without supervision). I believe I wouldn't be so careful if I lived somewhere else.

Here's why:

In the 10 years, I've lived here I've seen or heard about...
-- Saw 2 gang members beating the crud out of another gang member in front of my house. Turned out the house on the corner was a known gang hangout.
-- Saw a drive by shooting one block away
-- Twelve year old Zina Linnik was kidnapped from her yard 1 mile away and murdered
-- A meth house was closed down around the corner (I can see their garage from my house)
-- A drug house was closed down around a different corner (an odd guy used to hang out on my street and visit that house often)
-- Our local elementary locks up its playground after hours due to drug and alcohol problems.
-- Saw many drug deals in our local grocery store parking lot.
-- My neighbor was shoved to the ground and had her purse snatched 1/2 block from our house.
-- The neighbor behind me had his garage broken into.
-- The neighbor next to me had their house broken into.
-- Our car has been broken into twice.
-- Our car has been totaled by a drunk driver and damaged in a different hit and run drunk driving incident while parked on the street in front of our house.
-- We've had windows smashed out of our cars on a few occasions.
-- We've seen car accidents end up in neighbor's yards due to excessive speed and failure to obey stop signs. Thankfully, their kids were not in their yards at the time.

But, I think I've posted about this before. This time, I also found some crime stats for you. The listed crimes occurred within a 1/2 mile radius of my home within the last 12 months:

Child luring - 1
Aggravated Assault - 17
Non-aggravated Assault - 54
Robbery -25
Arson -1
Motor Vehicle Theft - 80
Theft - 249 (this is broken down into categories)
Burglary - 110 (include residential and nonresidential)
Vandalism - 228
Drug Possession of Meth - 7
Drug Sale/Manufacturing of Meth - 2
Drug Possession Other - 50
*Drug Sale/Manufacturing - 9
Weapons Violations - 21
Warrant Arrests - 166
Fraud/Forgery - 43
Criminal Traffic - 257
Liquor Law Violations - 9
Telephone Harassment - 8
Intimidation - 42
Possession of Stolen Property - 15
All other crimes - 23 (includes failure to register sex offender)
Total crimes within 1/2 mile of my house within the last 12 months - 1,417...and these are only the reported ones.

*Concerning the drug sales, they must not be looking in the right place because my husband and I have witnessed more sales than this in just our grocery store's parking lot alone.

There are also two level 3 sex offenders living within 1-2 blocks of my house. One broke into a house and raped the woman, threatening to kill her and her 3 year old son. That wasn't his first offense. He also has a long history of other, non-sexual crimes. The other was convicted of indecent liberties with a 9 year old girl. Previously, he was convicted of child molestation of 4 and 7 year old boys. He has other crimes on his record as well.

In addition to the level 3 offenders, there are three level 2 offenders within 1/2 a mile of my house. The information doesn't give a closer estimate as to where they live. Their convictions include child molestation 1 and 2 and attempted rape.

In addition to the level 2 and 3 offenders, there are 39 level 1 offenders within 1/2 a mile of my house. Again, the information doesn't give a closer estimate of their address. Their convictions include child molestation 1 and 2, sexual abuse of a minor, rape of a child (1,2, and 3), indecent liberties, child pornography, assault with sexual motivation, statutory rape, lewd conduct with a minor, etc.

We have become more lenient in the past year. The 9 and 7 year old can go outside (on our side of our short block) together without a parent...but I watch them pretty closely from the window. I also let them go to the car get something completely alone...but I'm pretty stressed if they take too long. I've let my 9 year old walk to a friend's house 2 blocks away while I watched from the corner and they watched from their end.

So, I ask you...am I being too overprotective considering where we live? What limits or freedoms would you allow given these stats?

And, does anyone have a house in the country that's in decent shape that they are willing to just give to us outright? LOL

Busyness and the Dentist

I've been missing in action for a week now. My absence started because I was gone for four days and the last three were just life getting in the way.

Yesterday felt like a never-ending list of tasks. I had an appointment with the endocrinologist followed by a trip to the grocery store on the way home. Then we had 45 minutes to prepare and eat lunch before leaving again for the dentist. We came home and had an hour and a half to finish up school for the day (the kids started very early...for us) before Sam needed to leave again for taekwondo. Josh fell asleep on me, preventing me from getting dinner together. After Scott came home, I ended up going back to the grocery store for some easy-to-prepare food. Then I came home, cooked, we ate, and then we settled back to watch Lie to Me. I also got some reading of my own in there somewhere. It was one of those days where it seems like "nothing got done" simply because you didn't have a moment to do the day-to-day stuff.

The dentist visit went well, though.

Sam went first. He's not scared of the dentist in the least. They cleaned his teeth, gave him a fluoride treatment, and the dentist took a quick look-see. It was determined that the small cavities he has on his baby molars have not grown in the past year so they are still on a "watch". If he continues to brush them well, they'll stay small and not require fillings. The goal is for the cavities to stay small until the teeth fall out on their own. I love how noninvasive our pediatric dentist is; if he can avoid any work on the kids, he will. He certainly isn't looking for ways to pad the bill! We discussed Sam's new tooth that came in way behind the rest. It came in that way because there wasn't enough room for it to come in where it was suppose to. Mika has the same problem only her tooth never came up because it was busy trying to force a path through the tooth next to it. It was recommended that we pull the tooth next to it to make room for it so it can move forward. Having been through this with Mika, I knew pulling a baby tooth wasn't a big deal (if Mika can handle it, anyone can). He said the teeth would shift to the left a little but that was a better alternative than doing nothing. He also said we could put sealants on his adult molars. So, that was scheduled. It also looks pretty clear that Sam will also need braces when he is older.

Mika survived the ordeal with a different hygienist in one of the other chairs; she's super sensitive (fearful) so the dentist is always a tear-inducing ordeal no matter how gentle they are. All she needed was a short (5-10 minute) cleaning, a fluoride treatment, and a quick look by the dentist. She had no cavities and no need for any other work. We talked again about the fact she'll probably need braces due to lack of space for her adult teeth and an overbite.

Josh shocked us all for his first trip to the dentist. After Sam was done, he hopped into the chair without a problem. He was a little concerned when the chair rose and laid back. I just told him it was ok and to lay down. He put on his "eyes" (sunglasses to protect his eyes from the light), held the spit-section thingy, and opened his mouth. He let them clean all of his teeth, then they painted on the fluoride. He was first for the dentist check and declared perfect; he had no cavities and nice, clean teeth. I was both surprised by how well he did for being barely 2 but not surprised because he's Josh and isn't fazed by much.

The hygienist and dentist both thing I'm doing really good at keeping my children's teeth clean. If only they knew...

Two Words

Josh has started putting together two words. It's been a fun week because it is so cute what he's decided will be his first two-word phrase.

Hi, Daddy!

Hi, Mom!

Hi, Cat!

He'll walk into the room and shout out an enthusiastic hello. I think he likes putting the two words together as we hear it pretty frequently. We've been trying to get him to try other combinations...with no luck at all.

Of course, he keeps up laughing with his interesting vocabulary which I shared earlier this year. Here's a couple more of his favorite words:

ho-by = butterfly

nana = either banana (which he loves) or Anglina Ballerina

har = scary

high = I want you to push me on the swing

down = I want off the swing now.

wah-er = water, which he loves to point out in any of its forms

honey = candy or Winnie-the-Pooh

Barber = Barbie (he loves Barbie movies)

Parents teaching kids to break rules and laws

There are times that I just shake my head at parents I see out and about in the world. I wonder what they are thinking or even if they are thinking at all. There are many examples but one that I've been seeing lately involves trespassing.

We have a park just 2 blocks from our house. The park has been largely unused in recent years simply because there isn't anything there to draw families and younger children. There's a nice large expanse of grass, dotted with beautiful mature trees. There's an old baseball diamond, a large grassy field, and a basketball court sans nets. There are a couple of swings, often broken or wrapped around the bar overhead so that they are too high for children to reach. There is the old, usually locked bathrooms. And finally, there's the tiny, old, broken-down, unusable play structure. It doesn't draw a lot of people.

So, the city decided to give the park a much needed updating. They've been putting in new bathrooms, a brand new playground, new picnic benches, new or improved walkways, and some much needed parking (the park currently has none). Still to be completed is the installation of new lighting to improve safety, for we live in a not-so-good part of town. While it appears done, it isn't. For now, a temporary rent-a-fence still encloses the entire construction area, complete with a small tractor.

Rather than being patient (and yes, it is hard to be patient), families have decided to trespass. Nearly every decent weather day, we see families inside the confines of the fence, playing on the new equipment. These parents are literally sliding a section of the fence open and slipping through with their children...trespassing...breaking the law.

Another example is at our local elementary school. There is a lower play area and an upper field with a track and play structure. The upper field is open to the public during non-school hours. The lower blacktop and play area is fenced and locked after school hours due to alcohol and drug use on the premises. Rather than respect the locked fence, parents are holding the gate open (it is locked with a chain) so that they and their children can slip through...trespassing...breaking the law.

What are they thinking? Do they even consider the long term consequences of teaching their children that trespassing and breaking the law? How will their children learn that it is not okay to break established rules and laws? Of, if the parents believe that some laws are ok to break, how will their children know which ones are ok to break? When these kids grow older and start to rebel and break the parents' own rules, do they even have a right to complain? I mean, they were the ones that taught their kids to break the ruls in the first place? And finally, since it impacts everyone in society, what can those of us who are law-abiding citizens do about it, if anything? After all, these children who are being taught to break the law may very well decide that trespassing on our property is acceptable.

Wapato Park

The kids and I got some school work done this morning so we could head out to the park to enjoy the weather. We spent two hours at Wapato Park and it turned out to be a good time.

After letting them play in the playground for a while, I talked the kids into walking around the lake. Along the way, we talked about why they couldn't swim in the lake, not even put their feet in. It's hard to fathom not being able to wade out into your ankles but such is the results of cutting off the water flow, making it a stagnant petri dish. Then to further the damage, Tacoma tried chemical treatments on the lake and caused even bigger problems. There was a time when the lake was a prime spot for fishing and swimming, but those days are now gone.

Not everything about the lake was negative though. When we got to the north side of the lake, we saw 7 turtles sunning themselves on a log. They were quite cute sitting there with their necks stretched out. We joined up with another family and walked along with them; Josh and a three year old girl were mimicking each other and held hands for a short time. It was very cute. When we got to the west side of the lake, we came across another log covered in turtles. There were 14 of them this time, all stacked partially on top of each other. Then we looked up and noticed a bald eagle soaring in circles above the water. Soon another bald eagle joined the first. We watched as the lazily floated with the air currents for a while. We finished our walk 30 minutes later and headed back to the playground.

After reaching the playground, the kids played for another hour. They found another girl, age 7, to play with. Her family took her out of school early for a family picnic at the park. They followed each other around, running around trees and around playground equipment. They swung. They talked. They exchanged phone numbers.

Finally, it was time to go home. Josh, who was way past his nap, wanted to "wing" more and wasn't happy about going home.

A Peaceful Evening with Wife Swap

We were without Scott last night. At first, as the night approached, the house seemed too quiet despite having the tv on and three kids in the house. It was just his presence that was missing.

We ended up having a really nice evening. The kids and I ate an unhealthy dinner (mac & cheese and red grapes), followed by an unhealthy dessert (chocolate peanut butter shakes). I like to spoil the kids when dad's gone. ~smile I enjoyed the quiet evening with the kids.

We also watched Wife Swap and discussed the two families.

Wife Swap was rather interesting and we had some good discussion/comments about it. The episode featured a deliberately "poor" family and a deliberately "wealthy" family.

The "poor" family was actually rich in every other way. They made the decision to live in a small log cabin (complete with the mud/straw cement between the logs) without the trappings of modern life, including electricity. They shared bathwater and then used that to flush their toilet. Dad was a fiddle player and mom was a square dance caller. They spent less energy on making money so they could spend more energy on being a family. They took care of the family farm animals, dipped their own candles, and completed crafts by headlights/candles in the evenings. I thought it was wonderful how involved the father, especially, was with this family; he actively participated in family activities that many dads stay away from. It was obvious that this family was close.

The "wealthy" family was actually very poor in every way except money. They designed their nice, large house around a chandelier. They bought their spoil, ill-mannered children every toy imaginable, all of which were stored in the basement with little room to actually play. Mom was extremely shallow, rude, condescending, and uninvolved with her family. She said she spent $30,000 a year on her wardrobe and probably $20,000 a year on the kids' clothing. She spent money on several cosmetic procedures (breast enhancement and several lip plumpings) without first discussing it with her husband. The lips looked obviously fake and ridiculous! She booked her hair appointments for an entire year at a time and spent 2 hours a day primping, followed by another hour primping her preschool-aged kids who wore hair gel and had their blemishes covered with make-up. In the evenings, she went out partying with friends while her husband, home from work, did the laundry (it was beneath her to do herself) and took care of the children. It was really sad!

My kids recognized immediately that the poor family was a much happier place to be. They saw that money doesn't buy happiness. They saw how sad it was that the wealthy kids were being raised to value money and expensive things over relationships and family. It was a good discussion. We had a good laugh at the fact that she called people who shopped at thrift stores "losers". Guess we are losers! We don't mind one bit.

Goodwill

When my father came to visit last weekend, he gave us a little bit of money which we promptly designated for some much needed children's clothing. Most of Mika's and Sam's jeans are too short. Most of Mika's shirts are too short, but that usually can't be helped as she has a very long torso. Neither of the big kids have any summer clothing at all; they haven't been too happy about wearing warmer clothing on our warmer days!

So, we took Papa's money and visited our local goodwill in hopes of finding some summer clothing that fit. We were incredibly blessed and found much more than we usually do. Here's what we brought home:

Josh
- Seahawks jersey
- Scooby Doo shirt

Sammy
- 3 pairs of shorts
- 2 t-shirts
- 1 athletic shirt (that super sleek "duo dry", "power core" material)

Mika
- 4 pairs of shorts
- 1 hooded summer top
- 2 tanks

We averaged $3.85 per item...which isn't too bad, especially considering that they were all in near new condition. Two of the items were actually new with tags.

We also discovered that Sam really, really likes that sleek, smooth athletic material, whatever it is. Now I know what to look for when shopping for him. I've never seen him react so favorably towards clothing.

First Bike Ride

Josh, wearing Sam's much too large helmet, riding on Mika's bike, rides for his very first time. He loved it and didn't want to stop. Unfortunately, Mommy's back didn't hold up for long.

Bowling

We're really enjoying bowling as a new family activity. It's not too terribly expensive and it's something that almost any age can do.

We go every other Thursday because my kids get free bowling and coaching at our local alley. Scott and I play three games while the kids are on their own lane with the coach. We've really come to enjoy these evenings for the most part.

Mika is seen as having rare natural talent. She's not scoring really high but she has great form, can get the ball straight down the middle of the lane, and picks up spares more times than you'd expect from a child her age who has only been bowling a handful of times. All three coaches (one of which is a retired professional bowler) have told us that she should continue with bowling and join junior leagues when she's in high school. They've mentioned bowling scholarships as a very real possibility if she keeps with it. Right now, that's the plan.

Sammy is having a harder time with it. His slender 55lb body just gets tossed arounds by the ball. He is hard on himself; he expects to be good at things instantly and thus gets frustrated. When playing, we really make a fuss over every pin he knocks down to help boost his spirits. I expect him to get better once he is older, taller, heavier, stronger. For now, I'll be buying him a wrist brace because he's experiencing some pain in his wrist when bowling and I don't want to risk any permanent injuries.

Tonight, we took my visiting father bowling for fun. The first game was typical for me, a whopping 72 points. Whoo hoo! LOL Then, the second game I figured something out. One of the coaches taught me how to pick up the 10 pin. I've been able to pick up the 9 or 10 pin every time ever since. So, I decided to try to same strategy on every throw but aiming just a bit more to the left. It worked! I scored a 147 the second game. It's quite exciting to double your score!

What I'm doing is starting all the way to the left side of the lane and aiming the ball towards the right to hit near the head pin. It's a little bit of a strange way of bowling, but I don't care if it works.

We'll be taking a break from the kids' coaching because Mika has an art class for the next six Thursdays. Can't wait to get back to it.

Tumwater Falls

Yesterday, I wrote about our family field trip to the McLane Creek Nature Trail (aka the beaver ponds). Well, that walk was short enough that we decided to also stop by Tumwater Falls while we were in the area.

All the photos that do not have the kids or dog in them were taken by Mika, my 9 year old. I found out that if you give her a camera, she's more than happy to go on that walk.


The first thing you come to is a couple of moderate waterfalls at the beginning of the trail. At least one of them is man-made with the now defunct Tumwater Brewery on the other side of the water. This photo shows the view downstream from the upper falls.

On the left, you'll see a wall. The walkway is just on the other side of the wall. The ground of that walkway is mostly grates, below which are salmon ladders. It would be a great place to visit when the salmon are heading upstream. It is not a great place to take a dog who is freaked out by walking on grates. LOL

We walked downstream and crossed the bridge that you see in the background. It offers a great view of the of the upper falls. Then we walked down the stream on the right side of the river, across a bridge at the bottom of the trail and back up the left side. It's a beautiful, and short, walk.


At the bottom of the trail, you can cross a bridge that goes over the waterfall you see in the background of this photo. Then you can walk down a flight of stairs to this landing where you get quite a bit of spray from the waterfall. It's nice on a hot day.


Coming up the other side, Mika got this photo of a little falls on the opposite side. We walked by it, and she got a photo of the upper half, but we forgot that there was a lower half to this falls as well. The trail goes right over the middle.


This little fall was on our side of the river coming back upstream. The little falls along the way are just as nice to look at as the swift, roaring river and larger falls.

At the beginning of the trail is this totem pole. I read the plaque last year but don't remember what it said it was there for.


There's also a small park area near the parking lot. It has sand/dirt and two concrete boats to climb on. The kids loved pretending to walk the plank.


My kids found another child their age to play with. They had a grand old time running through the grass.


Meanwhile, our dog, Zach, chilled out next to me on the grass watching the fun. He was pretty tired between the two trips. He normally stays home so this was a big day for him. In fact, he passed out in the car using Sam's backpack for a pillow.


Mika found a stick and pretended to be an elf from The Lord of the Rings. She brought her "bow" home with her for future use.

When we got home, we hung out in our front yard while the kids played. It was such a fun day that Josh crashed about 7:00-7:30pm which is pretty early for him.

The Beaver Ponds

We recently covered rodents, including beavers, in our science text. We've been waiting for a nice enough day to head south about 30 minutes to the beaver ponds, formally known as McLane Creak Nature Trail. My family hadn't been there; I've only visited once before, about 14-15 years ago. Today was are first day of really nice weather so we seized the opportunity and headed out.

The trail consists of two main loops: the shorter one goes just around the large beaver pond and is only about .6 miles long; the longer one goes across McLane Creek and is about 1.1 miles long. What the website I linked to doesn't tell you is that a log bridge on the longer trail is permanently out, preventing you from being able to walk the entire loop. Because of this, we only got to see about half of the long trail before we had to turn back. It was worth the walk though.

Along the trail, we found signs telling about various plants and animals in the area. This is the first one we found along the boardwalk next to the larger pond.


Here's a nice photo of the larger beaver pond. As you can see, the trees still think it's winter around here.


Scott ended up carrying Josh most of the way. He fell asleep on the way and was still a bit too sleepy to walk. Once he woke up, he refused to hold hands. Some of the boardwalks don't have rails and we didn't feel comfortable letting him walk without holding hands. When we got to the end of the longer trail, he got down and immediately decided to climb up onto this "bench" next to the rail to look over at the "wa'er". The water was McLane Creek, a spawning ground for salmon in the late summer/early fall.


We saw lots of these yellow flowers. Most of them weren't open yet. We're hoping someone can tell us what kind of flower it is. Someone on a message board I frequent told me it's a Western Skunk Cabbage which explains the skunk smell we kept smelling.


We headed back to the shortcut trail and came to a bench where we got to see plenty of interesting things, like this turtle sunning itself on a log in the middle of the pond. (Look closely at the center of the log. Clicking the photo should get you a larger version.)

We also saw mallard ducks and two rough skin newts in the water. We found out that it was a good thing we didn't try to catch the latter; they're very poisonous. One-thirtieth of the toxin on their skin can kill an adult human if ingested. You can also suffer some skin irritation if you touch them. So you definitely don't want to catch it, get the toxin on your hands, and then forget not to touch your mouth.


Look closely at the center of this photo (below and just to the right of the evergreen) and you'll see one of the beaver lodges. There was another one closer to our side of the pond but we didn't know about it before going and didn't see it.


Here's Mika checking out the turtle and beaver lodge with our binoculars.


Towards the end of our walk, we found this smaller beaver dam creating a smaller beaver pond. It was much closer and easier to see. Not far from here, we also found some older beaver chew marks on some trees.

Unfortunately, we didn't see any beavers. I've read that early morning is the best time to see them and we were there in the afternoon. It also requires quiet patience which isn't easy when you have a 2 year old with you.

If you live locally and choose to visit, I recommend finding a restroom BEFORE you get there. The bathroom at the trailhead is a pit toilet, and today it was extremly underserviced, if you know what I mean. There was no way I was going to use it. Ewwww!

By the way, here's a recent, interesting news article concerning beavers. A beaver dam on Whidbey Island (north of us a few hours) burst sending a 10-foot cascade of water, trees, and debris into eight houses. It caused quite a bit of damage.

Super Strange

Scott and I like chatting with people on Twitter. (Don't worry if you don't know what Twitter is or if you don't use it, it's not that important for this story.)

Anyway, this website is like an instant messenger, only what you type is seen by everyone who "follows" you. So, this guy who goes by the name SSCarver followed my husband today. The similarities between this SSCarver guy and my husband are just...well...uncanny.

They both have the same first name: Scott
They both work in the IT field.
They both are Christians.
They both have glasses.
They both have longish buzz cuts.
They both have goatees.
They look like twins...well, at least brothers.

Take a look and see if you see the similarities.

Tell me what you think!

Here's Scott.

And here's Scott.

Some of you will know which one is my husband.

Babysitting Adventures

A friend asked if I could babysit last Thursday for the entire day. She was going to Texas and hubby still needed to go to work. I said yes, thinking I'd be watching the entire crew of four. I was surprised and relieved, actually, when only two kids arrived. It made for a much easier day than I had anticipated!



I figured seven kids running wild with nothing on their to-do list but free play for eight hours was not the best plan. So I planned some crafts and activities to help keep them all busy. We went ahead with those plans even though we had fewer kids.

First on our schedule were Magic Nuudles. Just add a little bit of water. The kids were busy sculpting with these colored, starch-based packing peanuts for about an hour. The only problem we ran into was the dog trying to eat, and choke on, the peanuts. So, we had to kennel him for a while.


Since we used the dining room table for the Magic Nuudles, the kids ended up eating breakfast at the school room table. Kind of backwards, huh? Breakfast burritos are a favorite in this house. They are filled with seasoned fried potatoes, scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, and sour cream. They were all treated to chocolate milk, too. Well, all except for Josh, who doesn't like chocolate milk. Strange kids...he likes milk, he likes chocolate, just don't mix the two.



Our last craft of the day were these adorable masks. They are made of balsa wood and were only a dollar each at JoAnn's Fabrics. I painted the frog for Josh using colors of his choice; it's not finished in the photo. The frog's body is yellow, the legs are green, the spots and tummy are red, and it is outlined in blue. The kids think it looks like a poison dart frog, which is fitting since he currently has poison (snot) pouring nonstop out of his nose.

The rest of the day was spent simply playing inside since the weather was cold and rainy.

I'm babysitting again on Monday. The weather is suppose to be sunny and warm (for us...63-71 depending on where you get your information). We're heading to the park with a picnic lunch. I also have Shrinky Dinks for when we are at home.

Pacific Science Center

KMPS, a local radio station, offered their listeners a chance to go to the Pacific Science Center last Monday for only $1 admission. Not one to let a low cost outing go by, I printed up the coupons and the kids and I headed up to Seattle.

The last time we were at the Pacific Science Center, Josh was quite a bit younger. It was interesting to watch how he responded to everything this time.

Mika and Sam loved this giant, moving scorpion. Josh, on the other hand, was terrified of it. There was no way he was getting close enough to be part of this picture where the kids pretend to be afraid. He also didn't like the giant praying mantis or the giant, talking human fly.

Right away, we headed for the butterfly house. Mika loves walking through it. I welcomed the warmth. They take you into the butterfly house in small groups. You first stop in a room where they brief you on not harming the butterflies. No you can't touch them. If they land on you, shake your clothing and they will fly away. And definitely don't do what Josh did...try to stomp on the first one you see just a couple feet inside the door. He just barely missed it! In this photo, he's point one out. His version of butterfly sounds something like "howhi".


Josh also pointed out the koi in the little pond in case we missed them.


Here's a rare photo of me; usually I'm the one taking the photos. I'm pointing out some different butterflies on a nearby plant. They have some of the prettiest ones there.

Outside in a courtyard, they have several hands-on water activities. The kids love the water wheel. Josh wasn't quite as enthused. Of course, he's a full year under the recommended age.


I waited until after we saw most of what we wanted to do before heading to the exhibit area for toddlers. I knew Josh would get stuck here for a while so I let the older kids explore the rest of the room. They spent most of the time in the other water feature, the tidal pool.


Mika was delighted to find this little climbing wall. Josh tried really hard to climb it, too, but the hand holds and foot holds were a bit too far apart for him.

I believe this wall was in the same area as their newest exhibit, GPS Adventures. GPS Adventures was a neat little exhibit. After choosing a card, you work your way through a maze finding four stations. At each station, you follow the directions to locate the door key code. You then punch in the code at the door to be admitted into the station where you stamp your card. (If you are short on time, you can cheat and look under a flap in the door for the code but I recommend letting the kids work the puzzle.) If you are smart, unlike us, you'll look at your card and the station number and stamp it in the correct place. Along the way and at each station, you'll find all kinds of information about various uses for GPS systems, geocashing, and other equipment you might use in GPS activities (like hiking and the 10 essentials). After finding all four stamps, you take your card to an area where you match your card with a key and find out your "treasure city". You can't do this unless you stamp your card properly. It was an interesting little activity.


We were nearing the end of Mom's energy level when we found this giant table and chairs. It was a lesson in perspective. A 6 foot tall man would appear to be only 3 feet tall when sitting at this table. I used it to explain that this is one of the ways that they used to make the hobbits look so small in The Lord of the Rings movies.


One the way back to our car, we had to stop at these small statues. The kids love playing among them.

While I didn't have the energy to stay all day and see everything, it was a nice excursion. If you haven't had a chance to go there, I highly recommend going. It's a fun place for kids and adults alike.

7 Kids and 8 Hours

A friend is in Texas this week. She asked if I could watch her four kids tomorrow and Monday so that dad can still go to work. Of course, I said that would be fine...and then I panicked.

So, I've been trying to figure out what to do with seven kids ages 2 through 12 for eight hours. It's spring break so at least I don't have to worry about getting everyone's schooling done. Neither do I think eight hours of free play is a good idea either. That's way too much time to wreck a house!

Well, my kids and I hit JoAnn's Fabrics to hunt through their kids section for some kind of easy and not too messy crafts. We came home with three ideas...

1. Shrinky Dinks -- We found Shrinky Dink plastic. Each kid will get a sheet of their own. I'll print clip art if they need to trace something. Then they draw and color. Afterwards, I'll shrink them and we can thread them onto ribbon for a one of a kind necklace.

2. Magic Nuudles -- These colorful cornstarch packing peanuts can be used to build all kinds of things...just add a little bit of water. When you are done, just soak them in a sinkful of water and they dissolve completely. I bought one bag of pastel colors and one bag of bold colors.

3. Wooden Masks -- These are masks made from balsa wood and are held in front of the face with a super-sized popsicle stick. They are printed with a black outline shape that the kids can paint. We have a frog, monkey, zebra, ladybug, flower, princess, and others to choose from. I can't find a link to show you but I'll take photos after we've done them.

4. Soda-Can Bowling -- I also collected enough clean, empty soda cans so we can bowl in the kitchen.

I also talked to the dad to get some movie ideas. This family has different tv limitations than we do so I didn't trust myself to pick an acceptable movie. We have two movies to watch now; one for tomorrow and one for Monday. They are Space Buddies and Snow Buddies.

Of course, we have the Wii as well. I'm thinking we could have a Mario Kart tournament and some other tournaments. My goal is not to let them spend the entire day on the Wii.

So, between all these things and some old-fashion free play time, we'll make it through the two days.