Duck, Duck, Goose

I never really liked the game Duck, Duck, Goose as a kid.  But here are a duck and a goose that I have loved from the beginning.  Another great discovery made at the public library. Which bird are you most like?  I aspire to be as in the moment as Goose, but my know-it-all, competitive streaks make me worry that I might actually be most like Thistle.  Definately something to ponder and strive for in the New Year. 

Two picture books.

And a bunch of board books.

I'm the Messiest Thing in this Ocean

Well, I would be if I lived in the ocean, but instead "I'm the messiest person that lives in this house!"  If you don't know Kevin Sherry's books about the giant squid yet, you may not hear these comparison's in the giant squids low booming voice (read perfectly by Miss Sarah of the Issaquah and Sammamish libarary storytime fame).  But at our house these days, I like to bellow my challenges to the little ones in my deepest echo-y voice- "I'm the fastest toy picker-upper", "I have the cleanest teeth in the ocean", "I give the tightest hugs in the ocean".  These are met with the comeback that tops all comebacks,"No, I am the . . . ."  And works everytime, well, until next week when we'll be on to the next strategy for getting them to do what we want.

Anyhow, we just discovered the second book about the giant squid, I'm the Best Artist in the Ocean, in which the shark wants the squid to stop painting because he is making such a HUGE MESS.  And the giant squid, continuing to bask in his own brilliance and talent, hears him say that his work of art (done on the side of the blue whale and strangely similar to Picasso's Guernica) is a "MESSTERPIECE". 

I love it!  A new word which perfectly describes the state of my house at the moment.  My messterpiece is the result of cleaning the garage by moving things into the house, then cleaning the closet by moving things out into the hall.  However, the mess paid off yesterday in a whirl of creative activity which was only possible because I have saved all sorts of stuff most sane people would recycle.

Let me set the stage.  Hot, hot, day.  Looking for something to do in the shade since the usual activity of riding bikes and pushing tricycles in circles on the hot pavement seemed unthinkable.  Wading pool. Neighboor kid and friend went inside to build a pirate ship out of cardboard.  Hmmm.  Gears in my brain turn.  Craft foam, popsicle sticks, duct tape, bubble wrap, miscellaneous lids and plastic containers, scissors, pipe cleaners, yarn, toothpicks, straws are all easily accessible right in the middle of my hallway. Some of those things float.  DING-DONG.  Want to come outside and build boats with us?

So here are some messterpieces of the floating variety. Aren't they cool?

 I can hear the giant squid now, "I built the coolest, most-floatyest, least-sinkyest boat in the ocean, err ahem, in this wading pool."

Worm Farming 101

Nothing like learning how to do something by just doing it.  And nothing like starting a worm bin to make a mess!  Our inspiration came from a new favorite book, Winnie Finn, Worm Farmer by Carol Brendler.  This endearing girl earns money to buy herself a new wagon by starting a worm farm and sharing the compost with her neighboors.  Winnie Finn is a worm expert, I on the other hand knew nothing except what I read on the last page of the book. 

I bought a cheap storage bin, top soil, and chicken manure.  Then we collected newspapers (just the black and white pages) and ran them through our paper shredder.  I ordered a pound of red wigglers and when they arrived we assembled their new home.  It was an exercise in layering.

First, newspaper "bedding". 

Second, soil and manure mixed together.

Third, more shredded paper and some water.

Finally, worms! 

Sawyer was super excited to "feed" the worms so I let him add some kitchen scraps.  Winnie Finn claims that worms like egg shells, and we also shared some pieces of overripe peach and corn husks.  Who knew that his first "pet" would be a bunch of worms.  He is taking their wellbeing very seriously which makes me more likely to consider an actual pet in the future. 

So far, so good.  No worms have escaped that we know of.  And it's pretty cool to see the tracks where the worms have been moving against the side of the transparent container. Unfortunately, the fruit flies are abundant when you open the lid.  Guess I need to read a little more about what happens next!

Go Fly a Kite!

Or try one of my other top ten picks for what to do next time you are in Seaside, Oregon.  I've been going there since I was itsty-bitsy.  My daughter (who is somehow almost one already!!) has already been there five times.  Anyhow, you would think that doing the same stuff would get old, but somehow it never does. 

1.  Read a Book.     I saw one wise woman laying on a beach towel with a blanket over her, head toward the ocean, reading.  Looked pretty cozy!  Yes, I know, some of you are thinking that people should be wearing bikinis at the beach in June, not blankets. Yet somehow I still prefer a blanket. 

I have made some good finds at Beach Books, including Beach by Elisha Cooper.  It has amazing illustrations that kids could pour over all day if you are patient enough to let them.  My other recent beachy pick is Bears at the Beach by Niki Yektai which I found at Under the Big Top Toys.

On this trip I managed to read a book in three days.  That has to be some kind of record for a person with two little kids.  I started and finished Novella Carpenter's book Farm City while curled up in bed with a little person snoozing away and a view of the ocean.  And our favorite storytime reads courtesy of King County Library were Dunk Skunk by Michael Rex and Not a Stick by Antoinette Portis.  Both are simple enough for young children to read along with you. We had to laugh when we were at the beach and noticed that I was telling Sawyer, "Be careful with that stick!" and he looked at me and said, "It's not a stick, it's a rocket!"

2.  Make a Castle.  It's risky building castles with preschoolers around. They like to destroy them as much or more as they like to build them.  We reached a compromise, Sawyer agreed to only destroy the castles that I built for that purpose and to leave the rest of my creations undisturbed.  This strategy worked great, until Peyton crawled right into the middle and smushed the whole thing anyhow.  Darn.

This time we built our castles using a variety of recycled containers as forms.  Buckets work great, but so do old "snack pack" tubs (Teddy Grahams, Ritz Bits, you know the ones?) and plastic easter eggs.  We also went on a hunt around the beach for wood, feathers, shells, things to decorate and use as drawbridges.  The gathering was just as fun as the embellishing. 

3.  Fly a Kite.  Always fun on a windy day.  Plus lots of running in the fresh air might equal a long nap which will allow you to accomplish # 1 (see above).

4.  Ride a Bike.  Up and down the prom.  To town and back. To the swings and back. Or for a change of scenery head past the aging Tides motel at the South end along the residential streets and over to the cove.  Head up the hill to the Tillamook Head trail head (to Ecola state park and Cannon Beach) if you need a workout.

5.  Eat.  Specifically the Cheesy Shrimp Bread at Harbor Bites.  It's a fun, neighboorhoody place at the opposite end of town from everything else.  They have live music on Tuesdays and more often in the summer and you can eat, enjoy a pitcher of beer (or a soda) with your kids in tow, and then walk or ride your bike home.

6.  Ride the Carousel.  It spins pretty quickly so beginners should start with the Ostrich or Giraffe which don't go up and down. $1.50 a person.  Adults are free if they are riding with a paying child.  The train across the street is fun but it's not consistently open which can lead to dashed hopes and thus tears.  Free rides are available on the beach swings, the ones near the turn around get crowded so head to the ones that are further down the prom.

7.  Eat More.  Fudge. Tom and Larry's. Enough said.

8.  Play.  Skee ball.  Air hockey.  Pin Ball.  And what the heck- Dance Dance Revolution.  All at the arcade.

9.  Eat.  Popcorn.  Phillip's candies. Caramel or Cheese? Sweet or salty or a little of both?  Take your pick and some napkins (especially if you choose the cheese).  And beware- the sizes are decieving because they pack it up over the box and let it spill into a little clear bag around the box that they seal with a twist-tie.

10.  Play Ten Tiny Tees.  At $3.00 a pop, this is a mini-golf bargain.  It hasn't changed since I was a kid so there's plenty of chance for mastery.  The only problem is that kids under 6 aren't allowed to play on their own.  You can however play together (meaning: you hold the club, they get to help).

Oh, and a little known secret, Seaside has an awesome public swimming pool.  Non-residents pay $3.00 a person for Open Swim.  There is a warm water pool and a jacuzzi, and in the big, cold pool there is a slide, rock climbing wall, and rope swing.  And the locker rooms even have suit spinners!  There are regular Kinder-splash times for the 3 and under set as well as regular lap swim hours.  Call to check the schedule- Sunset Empire Parks and Rec.  The pool is located on the other side of the highway near Safeway, the library, and Broadway Park (which has a new play structure and a skate park).

Five Books I Discovered at the Library, Then Bought for Myself (I mean for My Kids)

1. Duck on a Bike by David Shannon
When the people aren't paying attention the duck on this farm climbs on the bike he's had his eye on. He quickly gains confidence and starts showing off for all the other animals who tell you what they think about his antics. In the end, they all get their own turn on two wheels.

2. Cha Cha Chimps by Julia Durango and Eleanor Taylor
This book has irresistable rhythm and rhyme. Plus it's useful for teaching your children how to count down from 10 to 1, and perhaps more importantly you get the chance to explain the difference between the tango and the samba . My favorite part? The mom calls the babysitter and gets to go back to da club after the babies are all tucked in. Very lively for a bedtime story!

3. Truck Duck by Michael Rex
A board book that packs humor into two rhyming words per page. One word names the vehicle and the other names the driver. Great for those who love vehicles and unexpected animal drivers. It's a lot of fun to read it as a guessing game where I read the first word and my son guesses the second part. Now he's started "reading" the whole thing with the help of the picture clues.

4. Tough Chicks by Cece Meng and Melissa Suber
We've all had those moments where we are so proud of our children's unique qualities and strive to encourage them, but yet also find ourselves explaining and defending them to those with other expectations. This cute barnyard story goes deeper than you would expect as it illustrates mama hen's unconditional love for her chicks. At first the farmer and other animals are critical and wish the chicks were just like all the others, but by the end of the story they appreciate the chicks for who they are.

5. Llama Llama Mad at Mama by Anna Dewdney
If you have been on a shopping trip from you-know-where, you'll crack up as little llama decides he's tired of shopping and decides to throw all the stuff Mama Llama has put in the cart on the floor. She handles it gracefully, an inspiration to us all (well, and a little bribery is involved)! I was a little worried my son might start pulling a similar stunt, but instead I've been able to refer to this book and use Dewdney's humor to get us through the errands.