Category: NHL

The Tale of The Finger-Friendly Ladybug

Bug, JSL, NHL, Photos

Over the weekend, I took NHL and JSL to the park.  As I pushed them in the swing, I looked down on my and and saw a tiny creature longing on my knuckle.  Yes, a ladybug was using me as a rest stop during a long trip in the air.

I didn’t have my DSLR with me (when will I learn not to leave it at home?), so I tried to get some photos of it with my Droid.  While pushing my boys.  But not while using the hand that the ladybug was lounging on.  Somehow, I made this work.

ladybug1

Eventually, though, my boys got interested in what I had on my hand.  NHL wanted nothing to do with it, stereotyping it as a "bug."  I explained how ladybugs were "good bugs" and ate the bad bugs that would otherwise destroy plants.

JSL, meanwhile, wanted the ladybug on his hand.  We carefully moved his finger nearby.  After it tried running from his approaching finger, it finally went on his nail.  He was so happy (and this let me take an even better photo of it).

ladybug2

Sadly, the ladybug soon fell off of his finger as he walked across the park.  It recovered quickly and flew away, leaving JSL sad and missing his little friend.  Thankfully, we’ll always have a photo of his park encounter to remember the tiny visitor by.  (Yes, I might just have to print out a photo of that last photo for JSL.  He’s taken to loving putting together photo books to remember occasions.)

How would your kids react if a ladybug landed on your hand?

GE Kids Day Animal Encounters

Animals, Fun, JSL, Memories, NHL, Photos

My boys love animals. So when we went to GE Kids Day in Albany’s Empire State Plaza, they loved seeing the different animals that were there.

First up were some bears.  Ok, perhaps these weren’t real animals, but they still loved seeing the Care Bears.

IMGP0323

They also liked seeing some of the other costumed animals roaming around.

other_costumes

Onto the real animals, though.  As we approached the two by two petting zoo, we saw this cute turtle and rabbit pair.

bunny_turtle

From here, we moved on to some goats who were quite happy that kids were offering them leaves to eat.  It was like an all-you-can-eat-goat-salad-bar.

goats

Moving on from the goats, there was a red kangaroo that was taking it easy in the hot, midday sun.

IMGP0383

Then, there was a black and white lemur whose screech was quite impressive.  (Sadly, he stopped screeching as soon as I got my camera set on video mode.  Mischievous little lemur!)

lemur

A blue and gold macaw was sitting pretty on a perch.

macaw

Prowling around their cage were a pair of coatimundi – omnivorous animals that are related to raccoons.

IMGP0395

There were also a few lizards and an alligator that NHL and JSL got to pet.

lizard

After the petting zoo, we moved onto an animal experience of a different kind.  NHL and JSL got to ride a pony.  NHL has ridden one before, but this was in kindergarten so he likely doesn’t remember it.  This was JSL’s first pony ride.  They both donned helmets and one after the other got atop Zoe the Pony for a ride.

pony1pony2

Alongside the pony ride were some baby chicks, goats, and sheep to look at as well.

babyanimals

Given that the boys and I made lots of new memories and that this experience has deepened the boys’ love of animals, this was a wonderful way to spend a day.

Age Appropriate Geekiness

Books, Geeky Pursuits, Movies, NHL, Video Games

NHL is a budding geek.  I’m sure of it.  He loves superheroes and playing video games.  He also likes reading.  Although sometimes the prospect of starting a new book seems to overwhelm him, once he’s into a book, he will pour through it until he’s finished with it.

I decided that he was old enough to be introduced to some of the science fiction that I loved growing up.  So I found my old copy of Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot.  I figured this would be good since it is just a collection of short stories.  We could read them together and go story by story.  NHL liked it, but didn’t want to continue after the second story.  I think they were too slow and cerebral for his taste.  So I’m on the search for other science fiction and/or fantasy books that would be more his speed.

Meanwhile, I’ve also been thinking about some of the classic movies that I grew up on that he would enjoy.  Back To The Future is definitely on the list.  I think he’d get a kick out of Marty McFly’s adventures through time.  I told him about the trilogy and semi-spoiled it by saying they go to the Old West in the third movie.  He suddenly got very interested.  (He did ask if they went back to the time of the Dinosaurs.  He seemed disappointed that Back To The Jurassic wasn’t one of the movies.)

Beetlejuice was on TV the other night and I loved seeing the Maitland’s try to cope with being dead, the new family in their house and "the ghost with the most" living in their model’s graveyard.  Part of me thought that NHL would like this movie, but then I saw the "gory/scary" parts.  They aren’t really bad.  Nothing approaching "horror movie" level, but just gory enough to scare NHL.  (He has this thing about blood.)  Perhaps in a few years, he’ll be able to handle it, but not now.

Of course, given his love of video games, I’m definitely going to take NHL to see the video game movie: Wreck-It Ralph.  He might not get all of the cameos (like Q-Bert), but this movie definitely looks like it has the right level of geekiness and age appropriateness.

 

What age appropriate geeky books/movies would you introduce to your child?

Age Appropriate Geekiness

Books, Geeky Pursuits, Movies, NHL, Video Games

NHL is a budding geek.  I’m sure of it.  He loves superheroes and playing video games.  He also likes reading.  Although sometimes the prospect of starting a new book seems to overwhelm him, once he’s into a book, he will pour through it until he’s finished with it.

I decided that he was old enough to be introduced to some of the science fiction that I loved growing up.  So I found my old copy of Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot.  I figured this would be good since it is just a collection of short stories.  We could read them together and go story by story.  NHL liked it, but didn’t want to continue after the second story.  I think they were too slow and cerebral for his taste.  So I’m on the search for other science fiction and/or fantasy books that would be more his speed.

Meanwhile, I’ve also been thinking about some of the classic movies that I grew up on that he would enjoy.  Back To The Future is definitely on the list.  I think he’d get a kick out of Marty McFly’s adventures through time.  I told him about the trilogy and semi-spoiled it by saying they go to the Old West in the third movie.  He suddenly got very interested.  (He did ask if they went back to the time of the Dinosaurs.  He seemed disappointed that Back To The Jurassic wasn’t one of the movies.)

Beetlejuice was on TV the other night and I loved seeing the Maitland’s try to cope with being dead, the new family in their house and "the ghost with the most" living in their model’s graveyard.  Part of me thought that NHL would like this movie, but then I saw the "gory/scary" parts.  They aren’t really bad.  Nothing approaching "horror movie" level, but just gory enough to scare NHL.  (He has this thing about blood.)  Perhaps in a few years, he’ll be able to handle it, but not now.

Of course, given his love of video games, I’m definitely going to take NHL to see the video game movie: Wreck-It Ralph.  He might not get all of the cameos (like Q-Bert), but this movie definitely looks like it has the right level of geekiness and age appropriateness.

What age appropriate geeky books/movies would you introduce to your child?

The Day I Became Doc McStuffins

Disney, Fatherhood, NHL, Toys

TurtleMy kids love the new Disney Junior show, Doc McStuffins.  They love the characters, the songs, and even the lessons about staying healthy.  Of course, the fact that the show has a plethora of toys for Doc to interact with doesn’t hurt.

I’ve written before about Doc’s father, but the other day, I felt like Doc herself.  The kids were getting ready for bed.  They were in their PJs, nighttime allergy medicine was taken, teeth were brushed and they were climbing into their beds.  As NHL picked out which toys he wanted to cuddle with that night, he let out a cry.  Something was seriously wrong.

I came to see what was the matter and he explained that his turtle’s leg was coming loose.  This was a turtle that he had won at the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration Dinoland party.  I checked the turtle out and immediately saw the problem: A busted seam.  It was bad, but completely fixable.  I reassured NHL, took the turtle with me, got my sewing kit and got to work.

Stitch

Pretty soon, the leg (fin?) was fixed.  The stitching might not have been as clean as the original, but I reinforced mine so that it would last.  Plus, it’s not really that noticeable unless you really look for it.

My only disappointment was that, in hindsight, I wish I had taken some photos of the busted seam and the sewing in progress.  My mind wasn’t focused on "This is a blog post in the making", though.  Instead, it was mainly focused on "I’m fixing NHL’s stuffed animal the way Doc McStuffins would fix a toy."

Yes, I channeled my inner Doc to get his toy feeling better.  And, yes, I was a little disappointed when the turtle didn’t leap up post-toy-surgery to sing "I feel better!"  Still, The appreciation from NHL when he saw his turtle was fixed beat any magical turtle serenade.

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