Hippity Hoppity, Clippety Cloppety

Easter weekend was lots of fun this year.  Aside from the standard egg-hunting agenda, I also got to ride a pony named John!  

Me on Easter morning, hunting for eggs.

Me and Nan having a swordfight.  

Ribbit & Croak

At Christmas, Santa was kind and magical enough to bring me two teeny tiny additions to our unusual pet collection (I still comment and am amazed at the unique Santa magic that stopped my frogs from freezing to death in the sleigh).  


Ribbit & Croak are my aquatic frogs (and, like Penny, they shed their skin - but they eat it afterwards).  I have been doing a lot of research on various kinds of amphibians but there is not a lot of information out there about how best to care for aquatic frogs.


Despite the lack of resources, I am happy to report that Ribbit & Croak are doing well although are thus far silent and therefore not living up to their names (I was able to find out that only males will ribbit or croak and only when they are old enough to mate).  


Ribbit & Croak are bigger than when we got them and their skin pattern is much more defined.  They have survived having their tank water changed several times, without obvious trauma.  I feed them a pinch of bloodworms every night before bed (yum, yum!) and so far they seem to be as happy and healthy as Kermit The Frog ever was, and he had handlers.

We don't know if they are male or female, or when/if they might be old enough to mate.
This adds a certain element of anticipation to having these froggies as pets!

'B' is for Bartering

Dad got a new bicycle recently, which provided a good lesson on the meaning and value of bartering services for goods.  


A couple of months ago, Dad did some work for a local guy who owns a bike shop; in return for his work, Dad got to pick out exactly the bike he wanted (to augment his already sizable collection).  It was a good trade and Dad is an even happier guy than usual!


Bring on biking season!  I got a new bike too this March (thanks Grandma and Grandpa) and have been training so I reach my goal of being able to go on bike rides with Dad soon.  

Scout - 3 Ways

Spooky Springtime

We aren't sure what to make of this somewhat spooky spring (or summer!) weather.  Is this it?  Is winter over?  Should dad change the tires on the car?  

We have a front hall full of winter boots and summer hats.  We are applying sunscreen in mid-March.  We have flowers out in the garden and buds on the trees.  Here's hoping Jack Frost is done for the year...

RC Heaven

Our Shadows

Me and dad doing the remote control truck at the quarry

the dogs weren't sure what to think of the RC truck, but it sure got them excited!

Huge cliff that I was preparing to climb by myself

Climbing the cliff...

Made it to the top! (then climbed down and up again) 

Happy Dad - in RC Heaven!

Daylight Savings and other Magic

Mom tried to explain Daylight Savings to me today, but I was busy thinking about other kinds of magic.

Mom:  "What are you doing, hon?"


Me:  "Well, can you go away if I tell you?"


Mom:  "Okay"


Me:  "Well I am using my magic Budhha Cat statue to make a wish that one of my stuffy dogs will come alive so we can play.  And I have to put the Buddha Cat statue on anything that's Chinese red when I make my wish, because the Chinese red makes the cat magic.  I have tried a bunch of red things but it's still not working, so can you go away?  It usually only works when there's not real humans around.  Okay?  So go away now."


Mom:  "Okay then."

Add Water and Stir

Mom: “Hey girls, want to go to the park?”

 

Me: “Go away mom!”

 

Ella: “Yah, we’re being teenagers!”

 

Me: “And sisters forever, right Ella?"

 

Ella: “Yah!  So you can go away!”

 

Mom: (pretending to be dejected):  “okay”. 

 

The Girls:  (hilarious cackling) “We don’t need a grown-up!  We’re teenagers!”

 

Mom: (quietly)  “oh lordy”

I have some new cousins.  And one (Ella) is a girl and she is also 5.

  This is exciting for both of us.  

Who knew that you could just add water and stir...and end up with instant cousins?

In this age of complicated family structures, it's not unusual to suddenly find yourself with a step-cousin in-law but not by marriage (or is it?)

Compassion Jar

 At school last week we had a Compassion Assembly.  Students from my school have been collecting supplies for a school in Sierra Leone - so we celebrated that.  Also, my class - the only class in the school - won the prize for litter-less lunch day.  We demonstrated caring and compassion for the earth and its creatures by creating no garbage from our lunch and snacks.  We also watched a slide show with pictures of students and pictures they drew of how to be compassionate.  


When mom came to pick me up from school that day, I told her I was still thinking about the Compassion Assembly so we talked some more about what compassion means.


Now that I am 5 and I get allowance, one of the things I can do is give some of my allowance to charity - or to people who might need it more.  Mom says that because I earn it myself, I can choose what to spend my allowance on.  She says it's a good idea to spend some, save some and put some aside for charity.


So when I got home from school after the assembly I asked mom for a jar with a lid.  Then I went and put some of my allowance money in it and I told mom that this would be my Compassion Jar.  I can put part of my allowance in it if I want and then when there is a lot, we can give it to charity.  I was really proud to show mom my idea for a Compassion Jar.  


When I showed mom my jar, she told me about one of the neatest bits about compassion.  She said that when you are kind and act with compassion towards other people, that will make compassion grow in the world.  If someone is kind to you, then you feel more like being kind to others.  I thought about that for a while.


(I secretly put some more coins in my jar, then asked mom to come and see what had happened).  I showed her that somehow, because I had put money in the Compassion Jar, it had grown and there was more money in it!  Mom said my compassion was wonderful and she wanted to be part of it, so mom put some coins in the jar as well.  


Before we know it, we will have a lot of money to help other people out.  Because I  know that we are very lucky and there are lots of people in the world who don't have as much as us.

"The Begging Bear"

The R.O.M. is the bomb

On this trip we spent less time with the dinosaurs and more time looking at other exhibits.  

I went through (ran through) the bat-cave all by myself.

Moose!

Hudson and his crew

Dad's favourite animal

another of dad's favourite animals (bones)

Here's one with skin on it