Hello Summer!

SOLSTICE: Yesterday upon realizing that today would be the first day of summer, Annabelle said she thought MPA needed to have a sunshine-themed craft to commemoriate the date. Specfically, she decided it should be a paper plate that is turned into a sun. So, today I went to the store and bought paper plates. She and CeeJ colored them and then cut triangles out of tissue paper to use as sun rays. Annabelle decided that she needed a blue background for her sun, and that led to clouds, a bird with a nest, and even some swirling wisps of wind.

CJ was slightly less enthusiastic about the project. ...

THE GREAT OUTDOORS: Though the day dawned gray, by 11 a.m. the sky was looking lighter. We decided we'd better go for a run while the getting was good.

I'd read online this weekend that the sockeye salmon were returning to the Hiram Chittenden Locks. You know we had to go check it out! CJ and Bee biked the 4 mile (round trip) journey, with Christian, Kirby and I were on foot, huffing and puffing along side them. The sun actually came out during our trek - hooray!

When we got down to the ship canal Christian spied some Canada geese goslings. For baby birds they were damn big!

There were lots of tourists at the Locks today. And fortunately, there were also lots of salmon in the fish ladder!

We humans weren't the only ones interested in the fish. A big blue heron was standing on the shore, scanning the water for lunch.

A sea lion was also swimming about, looking for an easy fish fix. His (or her) plans were thwarted, however, by a worker at the locks who (quite surprisingly to us and others standing around) threw a small explosive into the water. The huge BOOM that followed temporarily scared the heron and the sea lion away, but the seagulls came in droves. They seemed to know that BOOM kicks the tail of tiny fish, dozens of which could be seen floating on the surface soon afterward.

We continued westward along the sea wall and I saw another heron, this one carrying a twig, set down in a nearby tree. I spied the nest it was building and could see another heron was hanging out in the nest. Cool!GREAT LITERATURE: This afternoon the kids took it upon themselves to cozy up with some reading material on the couch. Their pick: a Nintendo publication about the history of Mario.

I know there are oh so many other things that would be more enriching and educational, but there's also value in reading for pleasure, and they were definitely enjoying the magazine, so I left them alone.

MC BEE BEE: Late this afternoon I was out on the porch, painting some trim. I heard Annabelle speaking in loud, harsh tones, but I couldn't make out her words. After about a full minute of it, I'd heard enough.

I figured CJ was on the receiving end of a rant from his sister, so I climbed down the ladder and stomped in the house, ready to give her hell.

But first, of course, I asked Annabelle what she was yelling about. She clammed up, so I asked CJ, "What was she saying to you?" He wasn't much help either. Finally Annabelle offered, "I was just rapping."

Oh. Really?

"Yeah, she was rapping," CJ vouched. "We were making up raps about Super Mario."

Oh. Of course, then I felt bad for having marched in there with my hackles up. So I apologized and slunk back to the front porch and my paint.