Ho Ho H2O

SANTA DELIVERS: As expected, Santa came 'round last night. And, as one might also expect, CJ was up at 6ish ready to see what Santa's visit brought.

Club Penguin action figures dominated Santa's bounty this year, much to the kids' delight.

After the present frenzy and breakfast, we hit the water.

CJ was happy splashing around, but he still insists on a life jacket. You know him - safety first!
Annabelle, on the other hand, is apparently part seal. She was swimming under water ...

And she was jumping off diving boards ...

Can hardly wait to see what she does tomorrow.

This afternoon we played Scrabble with some new and inventive rules - including that the words don't have to touch. Or be real words. ;)

Santa's Coming Tonight, Tonight!

IN THE SWIM: After a 7 hour drive yesterday, we woke up this morning to a sunny day in Siletz, Ore. Not too long after breakfast, the kids hit the pool. Annabelle was very adventurous, willing to put her whole face in the water in attempt to swim. I think tomorrow she'll make a real leap forward toward genuine swimming. Meanwhile, CJ is happy to be in the pool, but he's not a bit interested in submerging his face. Oh well, in time. ...

EDIBLE ART: After swimming, the kids (including Rick) were treated to a cookie decoration session. Nonnie and Co. had baked up gingerbread men, Christmas trees and ornaments and there was an array of frosting and sprinkles for embellishment. Here's Rick's victim, er, creation ...

CJ went for a more traditional approach ... and, if I'm not mistaken, he has already eaten all three of the cookies he decorated.

FERN GULLY: After the cookies, we went for a bit of a nature walk with Kirby in tow. I was trying to point out to the kids the differences between the naturally growing plants and trees at our place as compared to Nonnie and Bops', who live along a river with lots of large trees and, therefore shade and water-loving plants all around. There is lots of fern and moss. We'll have to take a closer look tomorrow with Nonnie present, as I know she will be able to enlighten us about the flora and fauna.

SURPRISE VISITOR: Just before dinner tonight, there was a knock on Nonnie and Bops' back door. And who should it be but Santa Claus himself, stopping by to drop off a couple of early presents.

The kids were mightily surprised. One of the presents Santa brought the kids was a puzzle of the United States. After dinner tonight, I opened it up and spread the pieces out for CJ. I told him I'd be right back to help and when I returned just a couple of minutes later, he'd already got a good jump on most of the border. Go CJ!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL: And to all a good night. This Santa's helper has some work to do! Happy Holidays!

Octopus's Garden

SOMETHING'S FISHY: Ever since they saw the episode of the "Kirby Right Back at Ya!" cartoon called "Dedede's Raw Deal," the kids have been semi obsessed with going to a sushi restaurant. But not just any sushi restaurant would do - it had to feature a conveyor belt with moving sushi, like the one in the cartoon.

Well today was their big day. I told Kennedy, who loves sushi, that we'd take him there for lunch before he had to head back to Bellingham. Rick was available, as well, so off to Sushi Land we all went! Fortunately (and perhaps it's a first) reality actually exceeded expectations hatched while watching the cartoon. The conveyor belt circles the whole restaurant - it must be around 60 feet in all. Along it move dozens (perhaps hundreds) of colorful little plates with tasty works of art. We sat down right across from a sushi chef's station, and had an excellent vantage point to all sorts of savory wonders being created.
Almost as soon as we sat down, CJ snatched octopus off the belt. Perhaps not surprisingly, he loved the IDEA of grabbing octopus in a sushi restaurant. The eating part - well HELL no.


Though neither one was keen on really chowing down, they had a blast playing with their chopsticks, and they did each sample a spring roll and some endamame.
Later, CJ asked me when sushi was invented. I gave him the lazy, "Oh, hundreds and hundreds of years ago" answer. He wouldn't accept such vague generalities, which I find either annoying and awesome, depending on what mood I'm in. ;)

Well, according to Sushifaq.com, "What was to become sushi was first mentioned in China in the second century A.D." Apparently, sushi was originally a way of preserving food. The site says fish was placed in rice and allowed to ferment, which allowed an individual to keep the fish edible for some time. Makes sense to me. Of course, sushi has evolved. The sushi we eat today has its roots in the early 19th century, when Hanaya Yohei conceived a major change in the production and presentation of his sushi. Instead of wrapping the fish in rice, he placed a piece of fresh fish on top of an oblong shaped piece of seasoned rice. This style is called ‘nigiri sushi’ (finger sushi) or “edomae sushi” (from Edo, the name of Tokyo at the time). Interesting (and tasty!) stuff.

MONKEY-SEA, MONKEY DO: Today, we had to head out to Toys R Us at Northgate. (I know, I know, heading for one of Seattle's biggest shopping destinations just a couple of days before Christmas = crazy.) But it had to be done. You see, a person can't score the near mythical Sea Monkeys just anywhere. As far as I can tell in my travels, Toys R Us at Northgate is the only damn place in Seattle that has 'em, and we really needed (yes, NEEDED, not wanted) to get them for a young 'un on our gift list.

Once in the car, the kids were holding the Sea-Money habitat (just add water!) like it was the Golden ticket! Naturally, they were both curious to know, just what IS a Sea-Monkey?

I told them I thought they were brine shrimp - that I remember hearing that somewhere at some time.

Once home, we looked it up. According to their official Web site:

Sea-Monkeys® are a true miracle of nature. They exist in suspended animation inside their tiny eggs for many years. The instant-life crystals, in which the eggs are enclosed, preserve their viability and help to extend still further their un-hatched life span! Sea-Monkeys are real Time-Travelers asleep in
biological time capsules for their strange journey into the future!

Hmm. Nothing about their TRUE origin there. Digging deeper, however, we discover:

Sea-Monkeys® are a unique species of brine shrimp, known by the scientific name
of Artemia NYOS. We not only unlocked the most elusive secrets of their life
cycle, we created new formulas to keep them alive under conditions found in the
average home—an accomplishment never before achieved! Finally, after years of
crossbreeding, we developed a hybrid. These amazing new hybrids grow larger and
live longer than any "natural" variety of brine shrimp. Resulting from the most
exquisitely sophisticated “aquaculture technology”, by true pioneers in this
science, only the utmost resources of a leading marine biological research
center working for a span of many years has made this project a complete
success.

Wow, high tech hybrid brine shrimp, they are. The Web site reports the Sea-Monkeys may live up to two years. Funny, when I was a kid, I recall them living maybe two hours. ... Anyway, it says they should grow up to be between 1/2 to 3/4 an inch in length during their first four weeks. After they're a month old, they'll supposedly start breeding "and have more adorable babies."

PLAYGROUND POW WOW: It wasn't sunny, and it was a little chilly, but we managed to sneak in a play session this afternoon with a favorite play pal, Connor. We met at Lawton Elementary since it has a covered play area and rain was a definite maybe.

For a long while, the kids played warring octopuses (sushi inspired, perhaps?). At one point CJ took a break in the action to come over and ask me, "What does an octopus eat?"

Well crap, I have no idea. "Um, sea creatures," I volunteer, feebly.

I'll trust the folks at University of California - San Diego when they tell us, "Octopuses eat shrimp, lobsters, crabs, and snails. They eat by grabbing prey into their eight arms. Using their parrot-like mouth, they shred prey into small pieces that will fit into their mouths."

Yikes. Note to self: Add "octopus" to list of creatures to avoid.

After playing in the school yard, we ventured uphill to the adjacent city park. It will soon be renovated, which will give us yet another great place to play. There's a lot Seattle gets wrong, but their parks are first rate.

OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS: To grandmothers' houses we go tomorrow. That's right, with approximately 72 percent of the state of Washington population, we will be traveling on I5 (and other highways and by-ways) tomorrow. First stop, Vancouver USA, then on south and west toward the Oregon Coast area.

In other words, MPA will likely be offline tomorrow.

Winter Wonderland

ADVENT OF WINTER: Today is the shortest day of the year (at least as far as the sunrise-sunset measure goes), and boy did we pack a lot of fun into it! It was a Monday, and that means Field Trip!!!

Disclaimer: This was not a super educational outing. But when I got to thinking about it, I recall from personal experience (both as a kid and a chaperon) oftentimes field trips are basically just a chance to get away from the bricks and mortar and out into the "real" world. Such was the case with today's adventures.

MOVEMENT & MOVIE: For starters, Annabelle had another special dance class this morning: "Ballerina's Christmas." I'm not sure what all it entailed, but am told by Annabelle that she and the others were doing "real ballet dancing." Not sure what it is she's doing every other time I take her to ballet. Hmm. ...

Meanwhile, CJ was at an Imax 3D movie at the Pacific Science Center. On the bill "Santa vs. the Snowman" According to its Web site, in the film, "Tradition is turned on its head when an innocent and lovable Snowman discovers Santa's Village and reaches in the workshop window to pick up a shiny, new flute. What ensues is an all-out, riotous battle for Christmas, with the Snowman and his minions squaring off against Santa and his elf army for the rights to the worldwide gift delivery franchise of the jolly man in red."
It got six thumbs up (from CJ, Kennedy and Christian who all saw it together).

Bee finished ballet at noon and we two ripped over to the Seattle Center to meet the guys at the ice skating rink where CJ & Bee would be donning ice skates for the very first time in their young lives.
As we approached the rink (in the basement of the Center House), it was clear that every single Boys and Girls Club in the greater Puget Sound area had, likewise, decided to go on a field trip to ice skate at the Center today. Oh well. ...

The fearsome foursome (everyone but me) got booted up and hit the ice. It was a teeming mass of barely-in-control (and some clearly out of control) humanity. The ice, much like Seattle streets, was lumpy and bumpy, full of potholes and fissures. So CJ and Annabelle stumbled and tottered around and poor Christian and Ken labored to keep them upright.

Fortunately, the group scored a slider/walker/really-bad-skater frame. Annabelle use it for a few laps but then graduated from it. CJ then grabbed on and it never left his grip until we left the rink. ; ).

From there, it was 605 feet upward, to the top of the Space Needle. There, we found a 21st Century St. Nick sitting in a rad rocket sleigh. CJ and Annabelle climbed aboard and while Annabelle was enchanted by Santa, CJ, however, was more interested in his cool ride. There were buttons and switches and a video display panel - things Santa just couldn't hold a candle to in CJ's mind. The photographers were trying to get CJ to look at the camera. He'd respond by turning his face toward them, but there was basically no getting his mind and eyes off the dashboard. It was pretty funny.

Next, it was on to a cookie decorating station. The kids got to frost and embellish (and eat!) rocket shaped cookies.

Next, we actually enjoyed the view for a few minutes before heading back down to the ground. Here is a shot of Christian and the kids looking out toward our neighborhood, on the Magnolia peninsula:

LET'S TWIST AGAIN: Once we got home, we swung into Christmas dinner mode. We were celebrating our holiday dinner with Kennedy and Rick tonight. While I was prepping prime rib and stuff, we let the kids open a couple of presents early. One was a Twister game (thanks G&G!). Rick spun the pointer and hilarity ensued. I think CJ and Annabelle learned some new yoga poses tonight. ;)

At one point Christian walked into the room and said, "I used to play that when I was a kid."

Annabelle looked at him and (innocently) asked, "Do you think you can still do it, Dad?"

It was a very fun and full day. Tomorrow we might even crack a book. ...