National Sea Monkey Day, 2013

STEP ONE:  Purify the water.  Madison added the packet yesterday, and began thinking up names for our new pets:  Cupcake, Rose, Watermelon, Bubbles, Winter, Nicolas, Madison, Rosalinda, David and Hernando.

STEP TWO:  Add the eggs.  That was today, National Sea Monkey Day.  In just five days, we'll have some new friends in the house! 

STEP THREE:  Stir gently.  Madison has been watching videos of sea monkeys online with Mommy, and is pretty excited a bout having these little guys in the house!

We've tried sea monkeys before twice now - one time was very successful, but that was before Madison.  The last time we tried it out, something was amiss.  We didn't have that many hatch, and they didn't stick around too long.  Undaunted, we're trying again - why?  Because today is National Sea Monkey Day.  Madison is excited about these new pets, as she was quite anxious to put the eggs into aquarium.  And what an aquarium it is!  If you look closely, you can see the luxuriant pink castle these sea monkeys will get to live in.  It'll be like a fairy tale come true for these guys, especially after waiting all this time, confined inside that small packet #2.  

Today we went for a small trip after school to go get some more red mulch for the front yard, but when we got home, Madison was in the mood for some puzzles.  She did two, to be precise, sitting comfortably at the kitchen table, putting her mind to work.  Needless to say, Mommy and Daddy love this kind of activity.  First of all, it doesn't involve a video screen.  Secondly, it's rather quiet!

Mommy made delicious chicken pot pie for dinner, and afterwards, we spent quite a bit of time reading some of those books from the library.  We did a lot of children's books, such as Angelina Ballerina stories or a story called "Pinkalicious," which featured a girls' soccer team that dressed up in pink and used a pink soccer ball.  The moral of the story is that girls who dress in black are generally the villains.  Unless you're Black Widow.  Then you're cool.

We also read from a Disney "graphic novel."  That's code for "comic book."  It was a collection of comic books put together to make a larger story, actually.  These I remember from my childhood, and I remember them as being rather good.  This one was no exception.  It featured Micky and Minnie, but Daddy largely remembers the ones growing up as adventures with Scrooge McDuck.  It was noted a few years ago that the movie "Inception" was probably based on a Scrooge McDuck comic (look those two terms up for further reference), which is to say that these comics were not strictly for smaller kids (like the Mickey Mouse Club).  It's not that the content was too mature - it's just that things were a little more complex.  Which is where Daddy found himself tonight, as he attempted to read some comics to Madison tonight.  How surprising that Daddy had to paraphrase a few things in order to communicate the whole story to her.  Still, she enjoyed it immensely, as did Daddy.

Speaking of which, tonight we popped in a DVD that was found recently:  we were at Goodwill, and found in great condition a copy of the Beijing Olympic Games Opening Ceremonies.  With Madison (as she drank her evening milk), we watched a bit of that, and are still completely amazed.  Still the best ever, and will likely hold that title for many Olympics to come.

We've got a busy day tomorrow, as we start out with a field day for Madison.  Also on the menu:  lots of work for Daddy, and as a bonus, a trip to Hartsfield to pick up Ye-Ye and Nana.  It'll be crammed with activity, and as we get closer and closer to Summer Xtreme, things are only going to pick up speed.  Madison will have a great time, but Daddy and Mommy will be in serious need of a rest afterwards!