We haven't been letterboxing since November but the girls were inspired to create a new box for Wolfe's Neck Farm with some of their 4-H friends. L. was put in charge of designing and carving the stamp and just finished it.
Keeping the design simple helped L. when it came time to carve out the stamp. She also had to remember to write the letters/numbers backwards so the impression came out correctly. She decided to make a second stamp because she enjoys carving them so much.
We're headed back to the farm in a few weeks to hide the letterbox (and a geocache) and we'll let you know the details when that's done. But this weekend we're plan to go hiking in the mid-coast region (still working out the details today).
In preparation for our first hike of the season, the kids just went through our backpacks to restock the first aid kit and inventory our various supplies (binoculars, GPS, candy/gum, etc.). They also included an extra pair of socks in their packs so we don't run into the same trouble we did last spring (L.'s not interested in wearing gloves for socks again).
Spring hiking in Maine requires a sturdy pair of boots and the acceptance that you're going to get a little muddy. But the best part of hiking at this time of year is --- there are not that many bugs!
We went to Merrifield Farm in Gorham yesterday (they have maple sugar cotton candy and it's our favorite maple treat) and several different family members took photos. It's an eclectic mix of shots from our time at the farm. (G. and I also took some video ... including the muddy mess and clean-up.)
The first order of business was picking up our free ice cream topped with maple syrup.
Then we listened to a farm staffer explain the process of boiling sap in the "old days." (see video below for part of that explanation)
The oxen wagon ride.
Then G. got a hold of the camera ...
'Taffey' and 'Bell'. G. took a photo of their name plates above their stall so I'd be sure to get their names correctly.
'Cow Licks'
Hopefully Toddy won't be too jealous that G. was photographing another cat.
It's not suprise that G. likes animals, Fino was playing with them at the farm too.
Then Fino had his turn ...
Snow jumping.
The long line I waited in to buy some maple syrup and other sweets.
We went to the Pirates game last night to take Seen Team pictures and enjoy the game. We also recorded some video so we could fulfill the request for a video clip of the the P-I-R-A-T-E-S chant from SVRA (or at least I think we did). I didn't have the best vantage point to record the guys but with kids in tow, you can only do so much moving around at a game.
L. helped me out with the pictures for Seen Team which I very much appreciated. It was a little tricky at the last game for me to manage the roll of stickers while taking pictures walking through the Civic Center stands. Well, and I chat with people too so it gets tricky to multi-task. Basically, I'm spoiled having L.'s help with Seen Team most of the time.
Seen Team pictures
(BTW, we had several people ask us to take their pictures for Seen and we LOVED that so keep on asking when you see us -- we'll be at the April 1 game next).
G. had the video camera most of the time and we have several new video clips on MaineToday.com's YouTube channel. We caught a few of the shoot-out goals at the end (we caught 3 out of 4 before we had a memory card "full" message) and some goalie saves by Coleman. G. got a little carried away with the video and I'm still sifting through it all.
I wanted to mention the "Pirate for a Day" poll that is underway. There are 3 Pirates fans hoping to win the contest and be a real Pirate for a day so take a minute to watch the videos and vote! Vote for your favorite Pirates fan
Yesterday the kids and their friends were learning about aerospace and made several paper airplanes to learn the theories of flight.
The kids had fun but I admit that I chickened out with taking the crew (there were 7 of them) outside. It was way too slushy and muddy to deal with 2-3 airplanes per kid when they had varying degrees of throwing accuracy and tolerance for mud. I think it was ultimately a good call for my sanity.
Anyway, I took some photos and videos of them working on the project and when I sat down to make a quick video for YouTube, I was given some unsolicited advice from G.
"Mom, that song is not good," she told me looking over my shoulder when I was experimenting with music for the photos (she's not a fan of U2 or other "rock" music).
"Yeah, Mrs. Almeida, that one isn't very good," her friend A. replied.
So we did some searching through our iTunes music list and G. chose a song from "Lilo and Stitch."
"That's a much better song Mom."
(She also offered her thoughts on my choice of transitions between photos which were "kinda boring" so she suggested an alternative for that as well. Stars were "a lot more fun.")
But what her chosen song has to do with paper airplanes is unclear to me yet A. approved of her choice so ultimately I was out-voted.
When A.'s mom saw the video she gave a puzzled look and then said, that it "sort of grows on you after a while."
This is what 21st century kids are like now ... computer back-seat drivers.
The kids are always snagging my camera and taking pictures (and incriminating themselves) but sometimes G. simply captures a great picture. I downloaded this one a few days ago.
No question Toddy is well loved and the most popular subjects in G.'s many photo albums.
We had some half-eaten pieces of ice cream from G.'s birthday party to throw out and Fino suggested we feed it to the chickens. It didn't take much to convince me to go outside in the snow storm with him to "record" the experiment. There were 9 girls running around the house playing games that required a lot of imagination and even more jewerly, shoes and accessories not to mention the "excited chatter" (a.k.a. screaming) that was going on.
So Fino and I braved the driving snow with the heaping plate of ice cream cake to the chicken coop to test our hypothesis that chickens will eat anything.
The experiment results were clear in about 3 seconds ...
They like it and they don't care what the temperature outside is when they eat it (about 20 degrees with driving wind and wet snow).
One variable we didn't take into account was the flying mess. It seems chickens feel the need to vigirously shake their heads from side-to-side to remove the ice cream stuck to their beaks. Yeah, being in the middle of a chicken ice cream feeding frenzy with all the splatter wasn't so great. But in the name of science, I guess it was worth an additional load of laundry.
Do chickens eat ice cream cake?
And if you're looking for more action, check out our YouTube playlist of chicken videos from the past year, including our first chicken feeding frenzy that involved one of the girls' gingerbread houses.
As I headed out the door with Grandpa to go to last night's Pirates game, L. was still in tears. She couldn't go to the big game against the Hershey Bears because she had a Snow White performance. I left her with assurances that we have tickets to 3 more games before the end of the season but she didn't care. THIS was the big game of the season as far as she was concerned (although she didn't give up chocolate this time).
And even though they didn't win, it was quite a game. The fans for both teams were really enthusiastic. Actually, I don't think I've ever seen so many visiting fans as I did last night. There were Bears shirts everywhere I turned.
Since I didn't have L. with me I decided to talk to one of the Bears fans (which I NEVER could have gotten away with if she was there) while I was walking through the stands taking photos for Seen Team. I found out there were 6 bus loads of Bears fans that came north for the game and that there were lots of other "local" fans in attendance too. I took pictures of some of the visiting fans simply because they had a lot of fun paraphernalia.
And I have to mention this because there has been much discussion about it at our house this season -- Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" song. I have talked previously about me thinking it's a weird choice to play at a hockey game. But this season we haven't heard it and that got L. thinking recently that maybe that was why the team isn't winning any of the games we attend (the last win we saw at the Civic Center was back on Dec. 18). She's serious about her superstitions.
But last night that song came on and Grandpa and I had a good chuckle. I told L. when I got home that although they played it, the team still didn't win. She wasn't willing to give up her theory just yet though. She still thought maybe she'd have to go to the next game and hear the song to make sure that wasn't the reason the team hasn't won lately.
The team did play well last night during the second and third periods (well, in my new'ish-to-hockey humble opinion). And Caron made some great saves in the goal. There wasn't a fan in the stands on either side of the rink that wasn't cheering on their favorite team. It was definitely one loud night at the Civic Center.
As I mentioned, Seen Team will be at a few more games this season so if you see us taking pictures in the stands come over and say hello. We're always looking for an enthusiastic fan for our "Fan of the Night" picture on the scoreboard!
Seen Team at the Pirates: Friday, March 23Sun., April 1Sun., April 15
[Update: video of kids' reaction to songs at hockey game shot last season] Sweet Caroline
It's a sleepy song, not a hockey song -- well, at least that's how it seems to the kids.
Look for kid-friendly trails with the little pink bunny icon
