Tuesday, August 31, 2010

School Supplies


Matthew starts school on Thursday. Universal Pre-K has a surprisingly long school supply list. I totally understood the need for markers and crayons, but the tube sock requirement threw me. As it turns out, the children will need tube socks and gardening gloves to make puppets later in the year. I have had ZERO luck in finding child-sized gardening gloves, since we are approaching the fall season and the stores are now stocking life-size Santa Clauses next to the pumpkins in the gardening department. Hopefully they won't make the finger puppets until spring.

Nolan starts three-year-old preschool on September 14. His school supply list is much, much smaller. Actually, it is non-existent. Except for the whole toilet-training requirement, which resulted in another trip to the store. We can all hope Reese's Pieces are a powerful motivator!


Friday, August 27, 2010

Lepidopterists: Con Men

One of our Monarch caterpillars

I love butterflies. I think the transformation from caterpillar into butterfly is one of the coolest miracles of nature. I wanted to share this experience with my two boys, and being too cheap to purchase a kit, went on a nature hike to collect milkweed leaves and Monarch caterpillars.

I decided to look online for various butterfly kits, just out of curiosity. After reading many of the kit descriptions, I came to a conclusion. Lepidopterists are con men. Or amazing marketers- same difference. To other moms, the process is amazing. But there are a few facts you ought to know about butterfly larvae, and they're not all pretty.

The Kit Claim:

Behold the amazing caterpillar as it grows!

Yes, the caterpillar grows at an amazing rate. What the marketing literature won't tell you, however, is that these little larvae molt quite frequently. Then they turn around and eat their old skin. Apparently, caterpillars find themselves delicious.

Also, not all caterpillars are cute. Swallowtail larvae look like bird poop for the first few stages of their lives. Lepidopterists call these stages "instars." This is a very cute word for describing how many times your caterpillar has decided to eat its own skin.

Be sure to clean the frass on a regular basis.

Frass? Frass sounds so cute. Frass sounds like something a Fraggle might create. Don't be fooled: frass is caterpillar poop. And these little larvae poop a LOT.

Watch as the caterpillar forms a beautiful jade chrysalis!

Soon your larva (fat from eating leaves and it's own skin) will stop pooping and eating. Then its skin will split open, and a green casing will enclose it. The caterpillar's head case will pop off, often falling to the floor of your container. If you have many larvae, there will be little caterpillar heads all over the place.

The caterpillar will magically transform into a beautiful butterfly!

This part is completely true. The process is magical, and butterflies are beautiful. What actually happens inside the chrysalis, however, is kind of gross. The larva encases itself, and then starts producing enzymes. The enzymes completely dissolve the caterpillar, until it is nothing but liquid. That green chrysalis is holding larva soup. The butterfly rebuilds itself from something akin to stem cells in the bath of dissolved caterpillar.

While the butterfly is assembling itself from the liquid larva it once was, it is trapped in the chrysalis. This means there is no place for *ahem* waste products to go. When the butterfly ecloses, there will be a little puddle of brown goo that comes out with it. You can guess what this puddle is- days' worth of butterfly poop.

Watch as your butterfly emerges, and set it free.

This part, as far as I can tell, does not omit any important information a mom might want to know about raising butterflies. The butterfly will emerge, pump vital fluids into its wings, dry out, and fly away to a happy nectar-filled life.

We are eagerly waiting for our own caterpillars to finish eating themselves, pop off their heads, form a chrysalis, dissolve into goop, and become amazing butterflies.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

When I'm the Mommy


Nolan has recently discovered there are perks to being The Mommy. The Mommy appears to have no bedtime, gets to drive, and gets to operate cool gadgets like cell phones and computers. Nolan's favorite conversational topic centers around this very topic.

At bedtime, when he is restricted to his bedroom, he tells me, "When I'm the Mommy, I go downstairs!"

When I caught him mashing buttons on the computer keyboard, he told me, "When I'm the Mommy, I play on computer!"

I found him trying to get into the car in the garage. His defense: "When I'm the Mommy, I drive car FAST!"

I've been finding these little conversations humorous, but his latest one left me perplexed. I wasn't sure what the child was saying to me as we walked in the mall.

"When I the Mommy, I have big booms."

I tried to figure out what he was saying. Brooms? Something that goes boom? Rooms? What was he talking about?

"Nolan, I'm sorry. I don't understand what you're saying."

An exasperated Nolan looked at me, then shouted at the top of his lungs:

"When I'm the Mommy I have BIG BOOMS. I have BIG BOOMS and wear a BRA!"

Oh, my.

He's gonna be bummed when he finds out boys don't get big booms!

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Hiking Chautauqua Gorge

Matt and his friend A. on a log

There is a gorge near our town with a river, waterfalls, and deep swimming holes. Just the perfect thing for a summer day! Thunderstorms were predicted, but fortunately we were only hit with a momentary deluge. Unfortunately, shale is quite slippery when wet, and the gorge has a lot of shale. This led to some minor injuries:

The scenery was totally worth any bruises, though! Everyone had a marvelous time swimming, hiking, and frog-catching. Summer in Western New York is truly magical.

Matt and Dennis check out a waterfall

Matt prepares to play in the swimming hole

Nolan checks out a little frog

Friends in the swimming hole

The boys by the first set of falls

Wordless Wednesday: Summer Friends

Friday, August 13, 2010

Box City

Welcome to Box City, the craftiest town on Earth! The founders are rather young, but they are experts in design and architecture:



With some spelling help from mom the Town Mayor, the buildings received their official signs:


Shortly after its conception, Box City was ready for the populace to move in.

The town inhabitants are rather pleased, as the taxes are low, crime non-existent, and services abound.


Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Graffiti Artist

Nolan's love of markers isn't diminishing. He has been coloring quite a lot lately, something I readily encourage. What I do not encourage, however, is coloring on surfaces other than paper. This is a lesson Mr. Nolan hasn't quite learned yet:

This is the hallway leading into the kitchen. Decorated courtesy of Nolan- he calls it Dollar Store Marker on Drywall. Nolan's current desire to use all markers/crayons/pencils on the wall is just a wee bit exasperating. He had to attempt to clean up his mess, though I suspect he enjoyed using the soapy sponge to smear the marker around.



As a side note to other parents: the cheap markers that come in a pack at the dollar store are not washable. Spend the extra $0.50 and get Crayolas. Trust me.

The end result: this stuff is NOT coming off!

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Disneyland, July 18, 2010 (Day 2)

We woke from our deep slumber and headed out for Day 2 in the parks. My cousins weren't with us on this day, but Grandma and Grandad were waiting for us at the giant "California" sign just outside of the parks. We entered California Adventure and headed straight for the giant Redwood Creek Challenge Trail playground. The entire area is themed like the Sequoias, and has slides, climbing nets, logs, and other play equipment right up the boys' alley.




After getting some wiggles out, we headed over to the Toy Story Midway Mania ride. This ride is amazing- you wear 3-D glasses and shoot darts/balloons/rings at different targets. The effect is quite real and both boys absolutely adore this ride. The line was a little long, and we had some difficulty with Nolan trying to turn the queue chains into swings. Fortunately, we were soon on the ride and having a great time.

We had arrived in the park a little late, which was fine because we all needed rest more than anything else. As we were late getting into the park, it was time for lunch after the Midway Mania ride. We had some paninis and pasta at the Wine Country Trattoria.

There are very few rides at the park that suit Nolan's height- many of the attractions require a child to be >40 inches to ride. Because of this situation, we headed over to the Bug's Land area and rode the few kiddie rides available- bumper cars, lady bug spinners, and a balloon style spinning ride. The kids loved this area of the park, but there are (unfortunately) not many rides in the area.


The next "must-see" item on our list was Turtle Talk with Crush, a very cute little show in the Hollywood Backlot. The kids enjoyed this show quite a lot, and after it was over, they were pretty wiped out. We decided to head out of the park at this point, because it looked like they were nearing the meltdown point.

My parents left for home, and we went over to Disneyland to check on the photopass system for Matt's Jedi Training Academy pictures. We found that they store the photos for 30 days, so we picked up a card- we can order online if we decide we like their pictures.

While we were in the photopass office, Nolan saw the rockets and began to clamor for a ride. He was so enamored that we couldn't tell him no- we got into line and took the boys on their first rocket ride. Nolan was beyond thrilled- he kept yelling, "I'm FLYING!"

The boys seemed to be in chipper moods, so we risked a visit to Toon Town and Mickey Mouse's house. This was the only Disneyland item we missed from the day before, and the boys absolutely loved Toon Town.



We saw Mickey's house, and the Big Cheese in person- Matt was thrilled, though Nolan was creeped out by the overgrown rodent.



It was a little difficult to pry them away from the area as we were truly preparing to leave the park, but the experience was well worth the difficulty.

Both boys are still talking about Disneyland, and have already asked if we are going back "tomorrow." Alas, they will have to wait a while before we get to go again!

Disneyland: July 17, 2010, Day 1

Ah, the Happiest Place on Earth! Disneyland is the epitome of "fun" for little kids, and our boys were quite excited to go to Mickey's House. We met my parents and my cousin's family in Downtown Disney and entered the Magic Kingdom.

We knew that the lines for some of the Fantasyland rides would grow ridiculously long by mid-day, so we ran for Dumbo as the first ride. The line was only about 20 minutes long- the shortest it would be all day. Matt rode with my parents and shrieked with glee as his elephant soared and dipped. Nolan was no less thrilled in our elephant, though he was a bit sad when our ride was over and we had to leave. He was only temporarily unhappy, however, because he spied the carousel and insisted on a ride.

Peter Pan was next on the list, with a 35 minute wait. This would be our longest wait of the day, which means the park was not quite as crowded as we thought it was upon arrival. Nolan dubbed this ride "Boat With Stars," and was quite fond of it. Lunch time rolled around and we headed over to our priority seating reservations at the Orleans Cafe- Dennis and I had the Monte Cristo sandwiches on the brain, and were glad to be seated on the cool patio. The kids had macaroni and cheese, and sitting down in a cool place for lunch was a very good plan.


Rejuvenated, we headed over to Small World. The line was quite long and stagnant, which is unusual. The paramedics appearing on one side with an elderly woman on a gurney let us know the reason for the delay- the heat or the ride must have affected her badly. We were on the ride shortly after that, and the kids absolutely adored it. My cousin's baby fell asleep on the ride, lulled by the song and cool air. Our kids pointed and clapped throughout the ride- this one is definitely a hit for the preschool set.

After Small World, we went to Tomorrowland to get fast passes for Space Mountain- we were going to do the "switch off" option for parents with young children. Our fast passes were for 7:00pm, so we had some time before our scheduled ride. On top of the Space Mountain fast-pass distribution machine, we found valid fast-passes for Buzz Lightyear. Leaving my cousin's sleeping baby with my parents, we hopped on the ride with almost no wait. My parents were wonderful and really helped with the little ones, who couldn't ride some of the rides due to nap-time or height!

My cousin's one-year-old was too small for Autopia (they recently enacted a height requirement of 32"), so they stayed with the baby while we rode with the kids. Nolan is quite the crazy driver, but he really loved this one. I pushed the gas pedal and he swerved back and forth. I will not be the one to teach this kid to drive!

I had read about the Jedi Training Academy online, and was determined to get Matt to the show. I desperately hoped he would be picked, because he is very outgoing and in love with anything "Jedi." He has never actually seen a Star Wars movie, but he gets the general idea. After the "Master Jedi" had selected many children, a despondent Matt thought he was not chosen. He started to give up, but then they called out his description: "The boy in the red shirt with stripes!" Never has there been more joy for the little guy. Matt took the training quite seriously- donning his robe and practicing the moves they taught him. He fought Darth Maul (he took this a little too seriously- I thought he was going to beat the character to death with the plastic light saber). At the end of the show, he received a Jedi Training Academy certificate. He is quite pleased with it, and is convinced he is now a real Jedi!



Adventureland was calling, and we rode the Jungle Cruise with all of the little ones. The line was short, the ride was cool, and there were lots of animals for the kids to look at. Matt got the front-row seat, which he loved.

The Tiki Room followed, which was my cousin's baby's favorite attraction. He bobbed and danced through the entire show! My only regret was not getting a Dole Whip (they are delicious).

We headed back to Tomorrowland and Matt rode Star Tours for the first time. I thought it was scaring him, because he leaned over and said something to me during the ride. I thought he said, "I'm scared of this ride." Afterward, he was all smiles and said, "NO, Mom. I said I meant to go on that ride!" Matt has now entered the age of "big boy" rides, which is a rather nice phase to enter.

The grown-ups then rode Space Mountain (I wasn't ready to try Matt out on that ride quite yet), and it broke down just after we exited. I was bummed for my parents- we were doing a switch-off and they weren't able to ride because it broke down before they could get on. We headed over for dinner at the Red Rocket's Pizza Place, then went over to California Adventure so my cousins could see Soarin' Over California. This ride is incredible, and feels like you are really flying over the orange groves and ocean. Matt rode his second "big boy" ride of the day, declaring it "the most favorite ride ever!" The switch-off worked for this ride, and my parents were able to ride it after we got off.

Judging by the exhaustion on Matt's face, we decided to leave the park after this ride.

The hotel was only about 15 minutes away, and we gratefully crashed into the beds and fell asleep. Disneyland, Day 2: here we come!