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Birthday Magic at Farrel-McWhirter Farm Park
The Farrel-McWhirter Farm park is a Redmond city park that also happens to be a working farm. Bunnies, goats, chickens, pigs, cows, horses, and ponies
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The birds and the bees of butterflies
We got our six-year-old a butterfly habitat for her birthday. Essentially, it’s a mesh enclosure that comes with a gift certificate for caterpillars. The caterpillars were quiet at first, but after a few days, they got active and started spinning themselves into their cocoons. Ten days later, butterflies emerged. So we took them to the park to give them their freedom. We unzipped the lid to free them, and waited for them to fly away. And waited. But they seemed quite content to hang out in their little habitat sipping orange juice. Eventually, one flew away, and then another. But the remaining two were just hanging out on an apple…
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Pacific Science Center Tropical Butterfly House
Hot, humid, and swarming with tropical butterflies of all colors and sizes, the Pacific Science Center Tropical Butterfly House is a touch of the tropics right here in Seattle – and a great way to spend the afternoon with your favorite kid, or kid at heart. Gem was so taken with the idea that a butterfly might land on her that she stood completely still for what felt like F O R E V E R (and probably even longer for her) waiting for one to come and say hi. The rules were very strict: NO TOUCH! However, if a butterfly lands on you, well that’s their choice. It took…
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Dinosaur Parking
We are fans of dinosaurs in this house – note the picture on my little girl’s sweatshirt. When we saw this dinosaur parking sign, we just had to stop and get pictures. What made you smile this week? WW linky is on page 2.
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Sea lions sunning in Seattle
sea lions sunbathing in Seattle's Elliott Bay, view of the Space Needle in the background
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A sudden gradual change of seasons
Autumn always sneaks up on me. Back to school sales start when the temps are still in the 90s. The thought of wearing leather, or wool, or flannel is laughable. The sun sets a little earlier, but not so early as to impact my day. And the trees might start to take on a little more color, but I’m never really sure whether it’s because fall is coming, or that we just went six weeks without rain. *Seattlites don’t really want outsiders to know that it rarely rains here in August and September, so shhhh…. let’s just keep this between us. We live on a little lake, populated by ducks…
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Feeding the birds
Our favorite activity at the Woodland Park Zoo is the bird feeding room. $1 for a stick of birdseed translates to more than your money’s worth in little girl giggles. So far, we have not been able to get our act together and get to the right place and time to feed the giraffes – or the elephants. I have a feeling that might even eclipse feeding the birds. I’m trying very hard to focus on the fun and adventure right in front of me and not let myself get jealous of everyone heading off to BlogHer, or my husband’s adventure to Istanbul. Some day…
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Monday morning, from 10 to 11
The magic happens every day, even on a Monday morning, but I don’t always take the time to stop and notice. In just an hour of paying attention: The air is the perfect temperature – not so warm or cold as to demand attention. Watching an artist become The little one exploring – getting familiar with Mother Nature And Mother Nature says hi right back. A mama bird feeding her chicks… A perfect rosebud… Mother Nature reclaiming a chair… I find the magic every time I look for it. I just have to remember to look. Every day is a gift. ww linkup is on page 2
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The most fascinating animal at the zoo
Camels, tigers, polar bears… what animal at the zoo would most capture a toddler’s attention? Could it be a squirrel? Dee took us to the Alaska Zoo during our recent visit, and Gem was captivated by this little red squirrel. He didn’t move a lot at first But I promise he was real see… They played peek-a-boo and hide and seek for a while Then one last peek as we said good bye.
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Dandelions
I love dandelions. They are such simple, earnest, friendly, happy flowers. I understand that people tend to despise the weed, but they warm my heart. They’re like children; they may make a mess of the yard, but really they just want to make you smile. Besides, their greens are yummy. These bear cubs thought so too. They were making quite a nice meal of Dandelions right alongside the highway. (We were a little east of Whitehorse, YT, here.)
