Slow Down, Gym Shoe!

Sleep Out Saturday!

Some of you may know that i spent several years being homeless. So did Little Bear's dad. In fact, thats how we all became a family... Anthony and I were both eighteen years old when we met, as two homeless teenagers staying in an adult shelter. We were the youngest people in the shelter by a decade, and we stuck together like glue. We called each other brother and sister. Later that year, Anthony went to jail for supposedly helping to steal a car. (I don't really think he did it, since he never even learned how to drive well enough to get down the driveway until many years later!) While Anthony was in jail, I became friends with Diana. Anthony got out of jail, and Diana often drove me to visit him where he was staying in the city. Eventually, the two of them fell in love, got married, Anthony adopted Monkeyboy, and Little Bear was born!

Anyway, every year on the first Saturday in November, the county where I live has this event called Sleep Out Saturday, where a lot of people agree to sleep outside for one night and experience a little bit of what homeless people experience. Monkeyboy, Marcus, Sarah and I did it last year. This year Monkeyboy and Sarah didn't want to do it, and Marcus lives in the city now... but Little Bear really wanted to try it! So I brought her with me.

We do Sleep Out Saturday through a church near our house, where Little Bear and I also sometmes attend services. (I actually discovered this church through last year's Sleep Out Saturday, and once we moved to this town, we were only a few blocks from it, so I decided to start attending.) At this church, the high school youth group does Sleep Out Saturday, but they invite the entire church community to participate too. Except usually nobody ever does. So it was just the youth group, plus me and Little Bear! It was very cool though. The youth group leaders and kids made Little Bear feel very special, and it really was a great experience.

When we first got there, we had to set up our spot to sleep, out in the front yard of the church, using cardboard boxes. Here are some pictures of the dwelling we pulled together. I used three boxes to make a sort of two-room box, where Little Bear and I could lay next to each other, and see each other through a window, but have our own space. Little Bear also had a "living room", the big blue box that the high school kids had decorated.

Next we watched a movie called My Own Four Walls, which is a documentary where kids who are or have been homeless talk about their experiences. Did you know that the average age of a homeless person is nine? And in the county where I live, its eight? Most people think of homeless people as being adults, especially with addictions and mental illnesses and what-not. There are many homeless adults, including people with mental illness or addiction, but the number of homeless children greatly outweigh them.

After that, we did a project where each person got two dollars, and we had to go to the grocery store and try to buy enough food for a meal. Little Bear and I teamed up with some others in the group, pooled our money, and had a feast of PBJ sandwiches, chips, carrots, and chocolate milk. The object of that project was for the kids to realize that healthy food actually costs more than junk food. A lot of the kids wanted to get something from the dollar menu at McDonalds, but they had to realize that a person can't live for very long on the Dollar Menu alone! They also had to realize that, for a homeless person, actually having two dollars to spend on a meal might be a rare luxury!

We went to a rally where Sleep Out Saturday participants from all over the county gathered. It was pretty boring for Little Bear... a lot of listening to speakers and just walking around... but one cool thing was, they taught us how to do the dance to that Black Eyed Peas song, "I Got A Feeling." Remember how on Oprah the Black Eyed Peas played that song and everyone started dancing? That was the dance we learned! Little Bear loved that. Plus. at least she got a free T-Shirt!

When it got late at night, we made S'mores outside. Well, probably most homeless people don't make S'mores on a regular basis, but... it was fun!
 
 

Little Bear adored this one group leader, "Z" (thats her actual nickname) who spent a ton of time with us.

Little Bear stayed up pretty late!

Here she is in front of the Sleep Out Saturday sign...

--- running around the tents trying to hide from me...

---and just sitting around.

Eventually she got tired and wanted to crawl into her cardboard box. I gave her about four hundred blankets and tried to make her as snuggly as possible, and she fell asleep quickly. Here's Little Bear tucked into her box!

In the middle of the night, though, Little Bear got cold, so we went inside and slept in the sanctuary with a few other people. We slept well for the rest of the night. Here is Little Bear when we first woke up in the sanctuary! It was cool because we woke up to the sunlight streaming through the colorful stained glass windows. Little Bear said she wished there were stickers that you could put on regular windows to make them look like stained glass. Do you think that kind of thing exists?

We went downstairs and ate breakfast with everyone...

Then we did one more group activity.

The minister was there to talk to the kids, and he talked about how all of the kids in the group had a built-in safety net. He said that no matter what happened to them, they would always have an entire crew of adults they could call to ask for help... the youth group leaders, and others around the church. He promised them that, no matter what sort of dark, terrible, sludgy, gross, icky experience they were going through, there was nothing that could happen to them, or nothing they could do, that would be so terrible that the adults around the church would turn their backs on them. He gave all of the kids his personal cell phone number, and encouraged them to program his number and other adults' numbers into their own cell phones or write them down on cards to put in their backpacks, so they would always be able to call someone for help if they needed it.

Then he explained that a lot of times homelessness occurs when people do not have a safety net.

The kids got rolls of toilet paper, and on each ply they had to write the name of someone they could go to for help if they needed it. They had to try to think of lots of different people, so they would realize that if one person couldn't help, the next person on the list would, and so on.

Earlier in the week, when we were first talking about Sleep Out Saturday, Little Bear had asked lots of questions about how I had become homeless and about what happened to children if their parents couldn't take care of them. I told her that some kids went to foster homes if their parents couldn't keep them safe at home. But I told Little Bear that that would not happen to her, because she has many, many people who would quickly step up if something were to happen to Diana. I reminded her of her three grandmas and two grandpas, her multiple aunts and uncles, and family friends. I assured her that someone would always be there to care for her.

This must have sunk in for Little Bear. Because at Sleep Out Saturday, she suddenly put her arms around me and said, "You'll never be alone again, Nicki! You have so many people who love you, including me!"

Does that not make you want to cry???

Anyway. Sleep Out Saturday ended when church began. At our church the little kids go into the service with the adults for the first fifteen minutes, and then get released to their Sunday School classes. In church we sat with Z, who is now Little Bear's bestest friend on Earth. After Little Bear went off to Sunday School, I started thinking about the idea of home, and the idea of church. In the video we had watched about kids who were homeless, a lot of the kids had talked about how they loved school because it was the most secure place in their lives. And I started thinking how church could be like that too. I was so happy that we did Sleep Out Saturday because I thought it was good for Little Bear to learn about homelessness and to just have the experience. But I was also happy because, even though Little Bear and I have been attending that church on and off for a few months, actually spending nearly twenty-four hours at the church and sleeping and eating there and everything seemed to introduce Little Bear to the church itself. I feel like now there are a lot of people there who know us, and who already adore Little Bear. When Little Bear ran off to class, I was thinking how now she could walk around the church on her own with the other kids, and I could ask people, "Have you seen Little Bear?" and they would know who I was talking about and they would have seen her. 

I kept remembering how the minister had promised the youth group kids that they had that built in safety net of people they could trust. And I want that, I want that for Little Bear and Pufferfish. And myself, too, you know?

 So this is sort of a rambling post. And I don't exactly know how to end it. So I'll just end it like this... THE END!
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 

Pumpkin Patch, Part Deux

We had so much fun at the pumpkin patch that first day, that, the next day, when Little Bear and Rafael had a half day, we headed back for some more fun! I was just going to buy a few tickets and stay for an hour, but it turned out to be Wristband Day, where unlimited rides were offered! So we stayed quite a while, and blew a ton of $$$$, but it was worth it!

We rode the ponies again! Here is Little Bear on her pony!

Pufferfish really wanted to go on the swing ride!  Little Bear and Rafael are both scared of most rides, but Rafael really wanted to go on this too, so I figured if it was tame enough for Rafael, it was probably tame enough for Pufferfish! The lady running the ride said it was fine, too. So I put Pufferfish in a swing, much to the chagrin of Little Bear, who started crying and wanting Pufferfish to get out.

So, as we're waiting for the ride to start, this lady next to me starts commenting on another small child who was being put on the ride. She said, "If that lady puts that little one on this ride, I'm going to freak out!"

"Well, she's on it," I said, pointing out Pufferfish. "The lady said its really okay."

I guess I wasn't clear enough that Pufferfish was with me, because the lady rolled her eyes and said, "I know, that is insane! She could slip out so easily! And this ride is really scary!"

"Yeah, I guess you're right," I said, and tried to change the subject.

The ride started, and both Rafael and Pufferfish were having a good time and smiling and laughing! I waved to them, but I guess the lady next to me assumed I was just waving to Rafael! Was she surprised when, after the ride stopped, I immediately went to Pufferfish and took her off the swing!  

Everyone loves the bouncy house!

Me and Pufferfish on the glider ride!

I was really impressed because, after Pufferfish and I got off the glider ride, Little Bear wanted to go on! She said she'd bring her little sister too. I could tell she was scared, and before it started I told her that she could still change her mind and get off. But she said she wanted to stay on... and as you can see, she had a great time!

afael chose to go on the glider as a solo rider

They also loved the elephant ride! 
 

After all the excitement, the big kids were kind of bored with the choo-choo train!
  
 
 When it was almost time to go, we split another elephant ear and drank some sodas, to make sure our blood sugar was plenty high for the long ride home! Then, as our final event, we rode the hayride! The ride is a haunted hayride at night. During the day, they take you through the woods, and everything from the haunted hayride is hanging up but not moving or anything. There were tons of witches, ghosts, monsters, trolls, bats, etc, and a few oddballs such as Big Bird and Mickey Mouse mixed in! The kids loved riding along and trying to spot everything they could. Here's an odd self-portrait I took of me and the girls on the hayride!
 

 
 I've always thought that summer is my favorite season, but now I think maybe its fall! Its so colorful, the weather is perfect (except for rainy days like this) and there are tons of festivals and hayrides and stuff to go to!
What is your favorite season?

By the way, only one person has entered my giveaway so far. It ends on Sunday, so if you want to get it on it, act now! Otherwise, I have a feeling I know who is gonna win the circus playset! ;)

The Last Few Days

Pufferfish and I have been very busy the last couple of days! We had some events with our playgroup. Yesterday, for instance, we went to the zoo! (Thanks to Shari from Two Times The Fun for tipping me off about the Museum Adventure Pass... I was able to "check out" a zoo pass from the library, so I just had to pay for parking!) Before I left the house to go, I remembered to run inside and grab my camera... but I didn't notice, until I got to the zoo, that the batteries were dead. So, no zoo pictures. You'll just have to take my word for it! But it was the perfect zoo day! It was not too chilly at all, just sunny and cool, there were no crowds, and the animals were totally active! We only stayed for a few hours. Pufferfish was happy as a clam!

Then today, we went to a pumpkin farm with the same playgroup! I do have pictures of that. Pufferfish is actually starting to get to know the other little kids in the group (most of whom are little girls between one and three years old) and she looks for them and says their names. She doesn't really play with them, though. She gets really clingy when there are new adults around. One of the moms has mentioned that Pufferfish and I should go to her house for a playdate with her daughter, who is about a month older than Pufferfish. I think that would be cool for Pufferfish to have a playdate with just one other kid and one other adult... maybe she'd feel more comfortable and not be so clingy and overwhelmed!
The other people at the playgroup probably think I have a disease or something because I am always hacking my lungs out. I've got another sinus infection. Last night my sinuses were so bad, my nose filled completely up and I couldn't breathe at all. When I tried to breathe, I gagged, and I had to run to the bathroom and puke! That happened about three times. My muscles have been so sore, too. Part of it may be from lugging Pufferfish around all day, although I doubt it... I carry her around so much, it doesn't make sense that it would suddenly start causing me pain! My back hurts a lot, too. Am I getting old, or what???

Part of it may be anxiety and lack of sleep... Lily (the puppy) has been refusing to get completely house trained, so now she's not allowed to sleep upstairs with me anymore and she's supposed to stay in the cage except for when she's eating or going to the bathroom. Since she yelps when she's in the cage all alone, Clover (the mama dog) has to go in the cage with her too. The dogs have a really calming effect on me and I always have a lot of trouble sleeping without animals... in fact there is probably only a handful of nights, in the past ten years, that I have not slept with a dog or cat in my bed! I do a lot of tossing and turning and mind-spinning without them there! I'm going to start working double time at housetraining Lily so maybe hopefully in a few weeks she can sleep with me again! Any tips on housetraining a five-month-old puppy who doesn't want to be housetrained? She is okay with peeing, but not with pooping. She will poop outside okay, but then, as soon as she comes in, she poops again inside! I think I may have figured out a trick... if I get up earlier in the morning, I can stay outside with them longer, and she will poop twice out there. She did this morning. In the mean time, I'm just gonna try Tylenol PM before bed, to help me with my muscle aches and my anxiety about the dogs!

Okay, enough about that... Do you want to see the pictures of the pumpkin farm?

While we were waiting for the others in our playgroup, Pufferfish saw a woman take a picture of her toddler in this spot. Once the mother and toddler were gone, Pufferfish turned to me and said, "I stand there and you take a picture of me!" So, here is the picture!

Here is another pose Pufferfish copied off of another little kid! She always looks so glum in her pictures!

Pufferfish in a pumpkin train! 
 

Look at Pufferfish driving the tractor!

Pufferfish went on a pony ride! I was excited that she actually wanted to do it, since last year at about this time I tried to take her on a pony ride and she freaked out!

Another kid's mom took these pictures of me and Pufferfish on the pony ride!

Pufferfish went on a train ride! Can you see her on the left?

There was a little country store there, with a loft that had lots of Halloween stuff to buy. Pufferfish and I went up to explore the loft, and on our way down, we encountered this little cutie! Do you think we'll have bad luck now?

After the other kids and mamas went home, Pufferfish and I stayed and got an elephant ear to share! It was so good! Here is Pufferfish in front of the elephant sign!

It was a really awesome place... so awesome, I'm thinking of going back tomorrow! Little Bear and Rafael have an early release day from school tomorrow. They don't get off until 1:45, which means I won't even pick up Little Bear until nearly two, but we could still go out there for an hour or so!

Anyway, I love ya, I miss ya, bye! Don't forget to check out my giveaway!

Hanging With Sarah

Things are getting somewhat back to normal around here... although we're still all a little shellshocked! Sarah has been my Godsend this week. Her school is under construction and doesn't start up until next week, so she's been hanging out with me all week. She's good company and keeps me from retreating to the corner in a trembling heap! She also helped me with the picking up of the older kids. Little Bear and Rafael go to different schools that get out at the same time, so getting them both is pretty hard! So I would drop Sarah off at Little Bear's school early to wait for Little Bear, then go pick up Rafael, and then go back for Sarah and Little Bear. Then we'd all go to Monkeyboy's school and wait for him to get out, and thhen wwe'd all go back home. (By then, my car would be bursting with kids!)

On Monday, Jimmy had Pufferfish for the day, so Sarah and I had some kidless time1 We went to Sweet Tomatoes for lunch. Its one of Sarah's favorite restaurants, because she's a vegetarian. (Being a salad bar, Sweet Tomatoes offers a ton of vegetarian options!) Sarah and I barely ever have the chance to do something without a mess of little kids with us, so our lunch out was really cool!

On Tuesday, Sarah went with me and Pufferfish to a farm, which I will tell you more about in a few days when I finish up my Tot School entry. (Our theme for the week was farms!)

And on Wednesday, we went to the Children's Garden at the Arboretum! Check out these pics!

Today was the best day ever... I got to go to Six Flags! But I'll write more about that when I get the pictures!!!

The bottom line is, we're all struggling, but at least trying to keep things somewhat normal... it just seems to be taking a while!

Sweet And Sassy!

I wanted to do something special for Little Bear to celebrate what, in a few days, will be her first day as a first grader in  new school. I had heaard about this place called Sweet And Sassy, which is basically a salon and spa for little girls. There is one only a few minutes away from where we live, so I thought it would be a great place to take Little Bear! I was hoping to have them put some permanent coloring in the front of her hair and to let her get a mini-manicure.

Unfortunately, I don't believe in calling ahead, because calling people causes me so much anxiety for some reason! So I was basically just counting on everything to go well. When we got there, I was dismayed to find out that they didn't offer hair coloring, and that all of the stylists were booked solid so even a manicure wasn't an option for Little Bear!

Fortunately, the lady who greeted us, Michelle, was very helpful, and managed to make the visit very special and fun for Little Bear anyway. 

First, Michelle painted Little bear's nails! Little Bear had never gotten such a professional polish job! Michelle sprayed Little Bear's nails with some "sticky stuff" that she said would make the nail polish stay on longer, and then painted her nails with the bright neon green color that Little Bear had picked out.She added a sparkly topcoat, and then sprayed some stuff on it that would make Little Bear's nails dry faster. Pufferfish, who was watching wistfully, got the same treatment! Check out these fancy hands!

(Pufferfish's hand)

(Little Bear's hand)

Since they couldn't style or color Little Bear's hair, Michelle told Little Bear she could make it glittery. She braidd Little Bear's hair (since she wasn't a stylist, she explained,she couldn't actually brush it or use any other tools, but she did her best) and then sprayed it thoroughly with glitter spray. Then she gae Little Bear a couple of glitter stars on her cheek! And, of course, Pufferfish got the same things!

Michelle was so nice to the girls, and Little Bear loved her so much, she kept spontaneously hugging her!

Since I didn't have to pay for an actual manicure or hair styling, I had some money leftover, so I let Little bear make her own personal bottle of lotion. We did this once before at Club Libby Lu... there are a bunch o huge bottles of different colors and scents of lotions, and bottles of glitter and stars, and you can layer these things into your own bottle however you'd like. Little Bear lved making her own personal, crazy blend!

I also bought a bottle of the glitter spray, which I thought was the kind that Michelle had used on the kids' hair. (Later, when we tried it, it didn't seem to show up as well as the kind Michelle used, but you can also use it on your skin, so its pretty cool stuff either way!) And I got them a couple of those really tall lollipops. Plus, another employee wrapped up the bottle of lotion and the glitter spray in fancy bags, and gave them each  balloon!

Here is a direct quote from Little Bear: "It's fun, it's cool, and it's a girl's favorite place! Michelle, thank you for doing my nails! You're good at it! I wish that you could live with us!"

I think it was a perfect outing for Little Bear and Pufferfish! We'll definitely be going back there... maybe we'll bring Tigerlily next time, if I can afford it! But next time we're definitely going to make an appointment!

An Overview Of The Week

i haven't blogged for a few days, so I thought I'd give you an overview of the past week1

Monday: Sarah, Monkeyboy, Little Bear, Pufferfish, Rafael and I went to the DuPage Museum of Natural history, which is on our passport program. They have historical displays on the first leel of the museum. But the best part is the basement, which houses a huge model raiload that actually works! You can stare at it forever and try to find weird things in the display, like the Batmobile! The basement also has a huge toy room with a measurement theme, where kids can measure themselves and pretend to cook and build bird houses. We were a little disappointed to find that our favorite exhibits, the antique washtub and washboard and the giant antique bikes, which we loved when we visited the museum last year, were no longer on display. So we didn't stay as long as we did last time!

After the museum, we walked to downtown Wheaton to visit the Popcorn Shop and get our fill of penny candy. We sat over by the fountains and had s little feast. You may remember that the last time we went there, Little Bear ended up falling ino the fountain! This time, I just saved some time and let them go wading!

 

 

Tuesday: Our theme of the week was the ocean. So Monkeyboy, Little Bear, Pufferfish, Tigerlily, Rafael and I went to this place called Living Sea Aquarium. Its basically a pet store where you can buy reptiles and tropical fish. But they also have small sharks, giant goldfish, and stingrays! the best part is, if you're there at two o'clock, you get to help feed the stingrays! All the kids got to take a turn at that! Then, at home, i hid seashells (which I had bought a whole basket of at the Dollar Store) in the backyard for them to hunt for. The seashell hunt was a big hit, and they got to keep the seashells they found!

 

Wednesday: Jimmy took the little girls to the city to see their grandparents. So Monkeyboy, RaFael and I went to the Wild Wednesday event at one of the local nature centers, where we got to meet a red-tailed hawk! (Every Wednesday we get to have a new animal encounter!) We also walked around the lake, searched a dried up creek bed for snail shells, and went fishing! (Unfortunately I left my phone in the car, so I didn't get to take any pictures.}

Thursday: Jimmy took the little girls to the city again! Monkeyboy, Rafael and I met Tigerlily and her mom at a near by park, where they had a Kidz Club event going on. We got to see a magician! Afterwards, the kids hunted for frogs and fed the ducks! 

Friday: I had court in the morning for my stupid traffic ticket, so Jimmy watched the kids. When I got home, Tigerlily, Little Bear, Pufferfish and I made tie-dyed T-shirts! We also made crayon and watercolor resist paintings of fish in the water while we waited for the shirts to dry.

It was a pretty good, full week! I've been trying to take Monkeyboy with me and the little kids as much as possible, to help him feel included and to get him out of the house, since he doesn't really have any friends here yet. Marcus (one of our former unofficial foster kids) came to stay for the first half of the month, and Topher and Brittni also came to visit for a weekend, but other than that Monkeyboy has been on his own. He's actually been a good sport about coming along on our journeys, and he even helps out a whole bunch with the little kids! Rafael adores him. I usually get him an Arizona Tea at some point in the day when he comes with me, which he thinks is his payment for helping out, even though I usually get drinks for myself and the other kids as well. Monkeyboy loves nature. He could spend hours hunting for toads, bugs, snail shells, or whatever, and he knows a whole lot about fishing. He seems to always forget that he loves nature, because he gets preoccupied with his video games, but if you manage to get him out of the house, he's really in his element!

Anyway, next week we're going to be doing an insect theme, and hopefully the kids will love that too!

And now, for a few strange moments, courtesy of the little kids!

Little Bear: (talking on a pretend telephone) "Hello? Yes, my Auntie Nicki is here. What? Oh, no, she is not paying for your taxi! Goodbye!"

*****

Rafael: "Boys are gross and girls aren't."

Me: "Who told you that, Rafael?"

Rafael: "Nobody! I saw it on the news! They said, 'Boys are gross and girls are not.'"

Hmm...

Buy My Books!

When I worked doing child care at the CHARGE Syndrome conference, it really made me want to experience that unity and familiarity at a conference myself. Since I didn't get to go to the BlogHer Conference, I decided to try and go to the CHADD Conference in October.
I am signing up to volunteer for an eight hour shift at the conference, which means I'll get to go to the rest of the conference for free! So all I need to worry about is the hotel rooms (probably 3 nights, for $140 a night) and transportation to get there (I'll probably take a Greyhound bus, for a whopping $46 round trip! You can't beat that!)
One of the things I'm going to do to save up money for the trip is to try to sell some of the books I've self-published.
The latest one, most appropriate for selling to get to this trip, is called Why I Am The Way I Am, and it is an explanation of ADHD, by someone who has it. This book is for friends and family members of people with ADHD, who want to better understand what ADHD is and how it feels to have it.
The next most recent one, which some of you may actually have reviewed in your blogs a while back, is a book for children with autism and their friends, classmates, and siblings. Danny, Danny, Superstar is written and illustrated from the point of view of an eight year old boy with autism. The story is about how Danny and his classmates participate in a talent show.
Finally, I have written a novel, called Skye Blue. It is a sort of coming-of-age story about Skye, who has been raised on the streets by her brother, a troubled con artist who often drags Skye into his scams.
If you're a book lover, please consider buying one of these books! (I've linked the titles to the pages where you can buy them.)
 By the way, Lulu is a self-publishing company that charges no set-up fees for authors. Unlike through other self-publishing companies on the Internet, I never had to make any sort of payment to them. They even include a free ISBN number, which you'd normally have to pay about a hundred bucks for. When you buy a book, they take out the production costs, and the rest goes to me. So I feel very comfortable telling book lovers who want to get their hands on some rare and new books to try browsing Lulu.com and supporting the authors there!
Thanks for your support!

Our Passport To Adventure!

The museum association in the county where I live sponsors a really cool program in the summer, which I found out about a few days ago. Kids get a little "passport" booklet, with each place listing the name and description of a small, local museum. When kids bring their passport to one of the participating museums, they get a stamp on that museum's page. Kids who visit at least seven of the museums over the summer get a prize!

It turns out that our suburban area is a wealth of nature museums, art museums and history museums, most of which are free or are just one or two dollars for admission. The museums are places that may seem boring at first glance, but most have special hands-on exhibits just for kids.

Last week Little Bear, Pufferfish, Rafael and I visited a "history of comic books" exhibit at one history museum, and got our first stamp.

And today, we took a journey to a nature center, about a half an hour way, to get our second stamp! I thought the kids would enjoy it because it has a genuine cave Sure enough, they did like climbing into the small cave, and mostly climbing on top of the cave! But their favorite part of the nature center was the indoor section, where they could look at live animals and touch things like animal fur and beehives and snake skins.

I mentioned in my last post that Rafael doesn't really enjoy the little arts and crafts and stories and things that I usually do with the girls... so I'm going to try to fill this month with more adventure-based activities. I figure that if I can get the kids to explore a history museum for half an hour, and follow it up with a picnic at a new playground, they will have learned a little something and gotten lots of exercise and fresh air!

So anyway, here are a few pics from today!

Pufferfish explores the cave. The nature center let us check out a bag that included binoculars, magnifying glasses, and a flashlight, to help us explore!

 

Little Bear checks out some frogs and tadpoles, with her passport in hand.

Rafael and Pufferfish look at toads.

The kids insisted that I take a picture of this turtle!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh no! Little Bear is shrinking! Now she's shorter than the grass!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Standing inside the middle of a tree!

Taking a break on the observation deck.

Five more field trips to go! It looks like this will be a fun couple of weeks, after all!

We're Going to the Zoo Zoo Zoo, What About You You You

When everyone came to Pufferfish's birthday party this past weekend, Tigerlily's parents ended up inviting two cousins, Becca and Patty, to stay for a few extra days. They also ended up taking Little Bear home with them! They were braving a full house full of five girls between the ages of four and fifteen!
Yesterday Tigerlily's mom, Sue, invited me and Pufferfish to go along with the rest of the crew to the zoo. It was a great day for it... sunny, and warm but not extremely hot. We packed a picnic lunch, brought a stroller, and rented a wagon, so we had a big load! Want to see some pictures? Sure you do!

Sue wanted us all to climb onto this buffalo statue for a picture. It was pretty easy for the first few people to get on, but it got harder as there was less and less room to grab onto and pull ourselves up. By the time I got on, Sue had to basically shove me up there and toss the baby into my hands!

They have these giant dinosaurs right now that actually move and make roaring noises! It freaked Pufferfish out! She was standing with them when I backed up to take this picture, but when it roared, she made a beeline for me and wouldn't go back! I kept telling her, "Its just a big toy, its not real!" I'm not sure she believed me!

I'm not sure this is what this photo opportunity is supposed to turn out looking like...

Was Little Bear hugging Tigerlily, or strangling her? Only she knows for sure!

Cousin Becca spent a lot of time with Pufferfish! Pufferfish is usually really shy around people she doesn't see all the time, but she really warmed up to Becca at the zoo! Becca spent lots of time carrying Pufferfish around and playing with her, and Pufferfish was happy as a clam!

The penguin exhibit is one of my favorite parts of the zoo. We never have time to see even half of the animals at the zoo, but I always make sure to see the penguins! (Plus, its right by the splash pad!)

The big girls painted the little girls' faces in the Family Center. Here is Little Bear, looking like a butterfly!

Pufferfish and Tigerlily both turned out to be kitty cats!

Pufferfish posing for a picture with Aunt Sue!

Pufferfish watering the plants. This is the first time that she's been big enough to actually squeeze the squirt bottle handle herself!

 At least we wore them out!                                                                                       

























A great time was had by all! I love going to the zoo. I'm glad its summer so we can go more often. When Diana's sisters and Monkeyboy were little, Diana's mom used to take them all to the zoo at least once a week! They would choose one small section of the zoo to visit, and spend the whole time going to each exhibit, reading all the signs, and learning all about the animals. If the zoo wasn't 45 minutes away and I didn't have to pay for parking, I would totally do that! Maybe we could just live at the zoo!

Riding the Rails!

Since we've been doing train week, today was our big chance to ride on a real train1 Little Bear, Pufferfish and I took a short train ride to a town just a few stops away. It was perfect, because Metra doesn't charge you at all for kids under six years old, and Little Bear is still five! so both of the girls were free. I let Little Bear hold my ticket and give it to the conductor, though, and she found two more tickets on the train, so now she has three tickets to keep as suvenires!
Little Bear was really scared of getting on the train, when I first told her we were going. She was afraid it would go to fast, or that it would crash. She kept telling me that if she had to go, she wanted to sit on the bottom floor. But as soon as she stepped onto the train, all of her fears disappeared, and she was having a great time! By the end of the ride there, she told me that on the way back she wanted to ride on the top deck! It was just like the paddleboating drama last summer!
Anyway, we just went a few towns away. We walked to a near by park to play at the playground for a while, and then went to Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream. The train station in the town we went to had a pedestrian tunnel that went under the tracks, so while we waited for our train to take us home, I let the girls run back and forth in the tunnel. We discovered that it was really echoey! If you stood at one end of the tunnel and clapped your hands or stomped your feet, you would hear the sound twice... once when you did it, and once when it bounced off the wall at the other end of the tunnel! A fascinating lesson in science? A great way to keep two little kids amused and stay safely away from the parking lot and train tracks? You be the judge!
They both absolutely loved our train adventure. And they were exhausted by the end! When we got back to our train station, I put Pufferfish in her car seat, and by the time I had backed out of my spot, she was passed out cold!
Anyway, here are some pics.

Little Bear and Pufferfish wait in the train station, and Little Bear proudly holds the ticket we just bought!



















Little Bear overcomes her fear of riding the train!



















Pufferfish looks out the window at the scenery!
 



















Playing in the echoey tunnel.




















Riding on the top deck on the way home!
 



















It was so much fun. I think it will be nice in the summer, at least every few weeks or so, to take short little train rides! It really is cheap thrills!

And now, for no apparent reason, here's Little Bear and Jamaya!