Supposedly they wiggle a little if they're alive

One of my poems, The Fly Fishers, was recently published in the sports edition of The Poeming Pigeon, which is a Portland, Oregon literary journal.  When I was invited to attend the reception and reading for the issue I was published in, I told Robert, "we're going to Oregon!"

While it isn't feasible to go to every poetry reception/reading, I knew I needed to go to this one, and I'm ever so glad I did.  Robert and I have made a few attempts to travel to Oregon, but each attempt has been foiled in some way or another.  I've never been to Oregon and have always felt a pull to go.  I usually trust my gut, and thankfully, it's usually right about things.  

This was one of the best trips I've ever taken.  It was incredibly short but we made every minute count, and I am thrilled Rachel and I got to experience our first Oregon trip together.

I have so many things to share!  I don't even know where to begin!

As we got closer to the end of our flight we saw some beautiful views.

When a coworker asked what we planned to do in Oregon, I realized I hadn't planned anything and we were leaving the next day.  It must have sounded crazy to talk about how much I've always wanted to go somewhere but not have a specific destination planned, especially as a person who plans every minute of every day.  I told my coworker I knew we were going to the beach but wasn't sure where.  I am blessed with wonderful coworkers.  She didn't give me any crap or funny looks.  She just launched straight into librarian mode and jotted down two must-see places in Oregon - Powell's Books and Cannon Beach - and told me the beach was going to be cold.

We got in late Friday afternoon and had just enough time to go to Powell's Books, which was overwhelming and expensive, but truly a wonder to behold.  I found several books to check out at the library later, the most extraordinary licorice I've ever had (a weird but somehow appropriate thing to find at a bookstore), and a couple magazines (one a northwest poetry journal!) to read on the plane ride home.  

The next morning we woke up a little before four local time and drove to Cannon Beach.  We were simply too excited to sleep much knowing we were just hours away from going to the beach.  Cannon Beach was otherworldly and gorgeous.  I thought the ocean would be the highlight of visiting Cannon Beach but I was wrong.  I didn't realize how many critters and birds call Haystack Rock a home - sea slugs, anemone, starfish, even puffins.  Scattered around the beach were knowledgeable people ready to help us spot the creatures that were trickier to find (ocean rangers?).  Exploring Cannon Beach with two of my favorite people was an extraordinary moment in my life that I'll never forget.

There were sand dollars everywhere! We left them alone because we weren't sure how to tell if they were still living. Even after looking it up, I'm still not sure.  Supposedly they wiggle a little if they're alive.

This may be my new favorite selfie. We got completely distracted and were cracking up about something and it captured the best of us. Look at Rachel!  Doesn't she have the best smile?  And I look so much like my brothers, Rusty and Scott and also my grandpa too.  Robert's light is shining through like it does sometimes, that magical light that only unicorns and lovely, selfless, nerdy heartthrobs have.  

After Cannon Beach, we still had plenty of time for exploring before the poetry reading so we moseyed along the coast for awhile and got out to walk a few times.

We stopped in Tillamook, Oregon for smiley face pancakes at a cozy diner called Dutch Mill.

Next up was the poetry reading in Milwaukie, OR.  It was one of the best readings I've been to.  Several poems were dotted with humor, and a couple poems really stuck with me. I'll post a few from the journal on Poem Bouquet in the near-future.

I can only hope this is how I look during storytimes and well, everyday life in general, because it's how I feel most of the time - a little anxious and uncertain, but mostly gobsmacked by how awesome life is and all the amazing people it's filled with.

I'm holding the journal in the next picture.  It's a journal that comes out twice a year and is always themed.  The pigeon on the cover never changes, but its hat and the things it holds changes with each theme. It's a true piece of art.  If you look closely behind me, there's a flock of baby geese.  Definitely not pigeons, but a still a nice nod to The Poeming Pigeon.

It seems as if Portland likes licorice and wall murals about as much as I do, because every time I turned around I was met with both. It was my first licorice ice cream experience.

My tongue was still black the next day though, so it may just be a one-time experience.

On Sunday we went on a quiet early-morning hike at the Marquam Nature Park.  I wasn't expecting much because it was in the middle of the city, but it was pretty secluded and packed with beauty.  If you look closely there's a spider on the back of the snail.

After our hike we had enough time to squeeze in a visit to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry before flying home.  We toured the USS Blueback Submarine, learned how to properly touch a python's belly, and played with all the interactive exhibits.  I highly recommend a visit to this museum if you have children and/or act like children.

What a trip!  I can't wait to go back.

And to think I was insecure about kissing the goat

Last week I had two storytimes.  Two!  Because my coworker was on vacation, I gladly took her baby storytime in addition to my toddler storytime.  I had so much fun!  Because I had two storytimes this week, there will two whole storytime posts!  Happy birthday to you!

We'll begin with baby storytime!

After the last time I subbed for baby storytime, I vowed to do some more research, and I am proud to say that the research paid off.  

We began storytime with the hello song - good morning to you sung happy birthday style.  After our hello song, we did the Five Little Hotdogs fingerplay, which was one of the big hits during fall storytime season.  I had planned for this storytime to be mostly about food as well, but more about that in a minute.

We sang Lisa Loeb's ABCs song, which gave a big brother a chance to show off during my first storytime.  We had some yucky weather and iffy road conditions so my first storytime was small - two familes comprised of two babies, a toddler, and a mom and dad.

For the first storytime, there wasn't any need to do a quieting down fingerplay because they were very mellow.  My second group, which turned into a family storytime due to the weather and schools being closed, had about 15 kids ranging in age from babies to a couple seven-year-olds.  They not only needed the first quieting down fingerplay, but we also took a lot of deep breaths.  

The first book doesn't really have anything to do with food, but I happened to read it for the third time just days before storytime and knew I had to include it.  The book, Littles, continues to grow on me each time I read it and is a real heart-melter.  

After Littles, we read How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food (but only in the first storytime), and it was the favorite book.  The second group was way too rowdy to sit through two books in a row so we moved on to the next thing on the agenda.

This is where the storytimes turned into two completely different experiences.  For the first storytime I did something I've always been curious about but have never had a chance to try.  I found two lap bounces I instantly fell in love with - "Acka Backa Soda Cracker" and "A Hippopotamus Got Up On a Bus" and spent an afternoon practicing them with our goat puppet.




There was one large problem, however.  Each time I came to the part where I needed to kiss the goat I'd look around to see if anyone was looking, and even if nobody was, I would nearly faint with anxiety and start the rhyme over.

Because there were two babies and a shy toddler, it was the perfect opportunity to try the lap bounces.  The toddler belonged to dad, who was holding his baby brother.  The dad included big brother in both lap bounces even though he had his hands full with the baby and big brother was sitting next to him.  After dad lifted the baby, he tickled big brother.  When dad gave the baby kisses, he also gave big brother kisses.  But the most beautiful part happened during the hippopotamus lap bounce.  Dad squished both kids at the same time, and baby and big brother lit up the entire room with their smiles.  It was amazing.  Meanwhile the mom and her baby were having a blast.  

And to think I was insecure about kissing the goat.  Thankfully, during the storytime, when it mattered most, I was able to kiss the goat with no problem.  

I believe I can officially say I have graduated to the puppet-kissing tier on the sky-high ladder of youth services.

After the lap bounces, I handed out scarves and we did the popcorn rhyme.  We also waved the scarves around and played peek-a-boo a bit before reading our last book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar.



We finished up the first storytime with the fabulous slide-and-find board book version of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, which we sang to music until the battery died on my laptop.  Thankfully, no one was upset that we had to sing the rest of it without music. 

In the second storytime we most certainly did not do lap bounces.  Thankfully (lots of gratitude in this post), I saw the patrons signing up for the second storytime and quickly modified my storytime.  

We did some scarf warm-ups (waving, brushing the floor, fluttering like a butterfly, putting it on our heads), the popcorn song, and finished with the wave/flap/twirl song.  Instead of wadding the scarves in our fists like we did last season, we tossed our scarves high and caught them when we "stopped" after each verse.  It was a lot of fun.  

Though we did the finger fiddle and took lots of deep breaths, everyone was pretty wound up and we just barely made it through The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  

After we read The Very Hungry Caterpillar, I made a rookie mistake and told everyone we were going vote on whether we would read Brown Bear, Brown Bear or do the hokey pokey.  I asked everyone to raise their hands if they wanted to read Brown Bear, Brown Bear and breathed a sigh of relief when everyone raised their hands.  Once we finished Brown Bear, Brown Bear however, and I began packing up, the older kids began asking me about the hokey pokey, and as their hokey pokey demands grew louder and louder, I knew there was only way for me to make it out of the room alive.  So we did the hokey pokey.  

It was almost as exhausting as kissing a goat.  

Ms. Neck Fat and her sidekick, Ms. Death by Cuddles

There's been a proper amount of puppy cuddles going on here due to the cold and snow and ice.  Josie is sweet and rambunctious and a queen manipulator.  Her way of giving affection borders on assault.  Her favorite human is Rachel and she likes to watch Madam Secretary when she's calm.  She also loves to play ball.

Margo is a bit of a jerk with knowing, piercing stares.  She likes to carefully rip all the fuzz from tennis balls and leave the destruction everywhere.  She's faster with the commands than Josie and doesn't have a favorite human at the moment.  Sometimes she looks at us as if she's saying, "I'm not sure I understand you or like you enough to try."  She is, surprisingly, a cuddly thing who calmly leans against our legs and takes all the petting she can get.  She appears to like Jeopardy and enjoys watching it reflected in the window rather than on the screen.

They both love walks, having their teeth brushed, and mutilating toys when they're not lying on their backs making out with them.  Rachel also insists that they like her music, which is punk and screaming metal so I have my doubts but do not wish to risk my hearing to find out.  

This is Josie with Rachel, and yes we were watching Madam Secretary.

I believe this is Margo with Robert, but I'm not sure.  How they look at us is one way to tell them apart.  Their faces and stares are entirely different.  Margo has enough neck fat to cover at least two heads (she inherited the famous waddle from my side of the family), crooked lower teeth, and a white splotch on her tail.

In this next picture, Rachel was with Josie and Ella was my cuddle buddy (she's usually my cuddle buddy of choice).  Ella is looking at me as if to say, "look at what I have to put up with."

This next picture is how Rachel and Josie like to cuddle.  They both like to maul and suffocate whoever they're cuddling.  I'm sure this is one of the reasons they are each other's favorite.

mostly peaceful except for the open grave

Rachel, Ella, and I spent Sunday morning at one of my favorite places to hike.  It was a momentous occasion because we took Ella off-roading in her wagon for the first time!  Rachel was the spotter and let me know whenever a root or rock, or in one instance, a tree, was blocking the path. It was tough, but Ella loved it.  There was only one steep hill and I went down backwards with my arms wrapped around the wagon.  Ella stood up then, and it took some coaxing to get her to settle back down, but she did. It turns out she's not a huge fan of the trust game.

It was quite the adventure and I think all of us will happily do it again.



This was before we went off-roading. Ella walked quite a ways before she wore herself out.

Here we go!

Each wheel was absolutely caked in mud and leaves but only took seconds to clean.

The next picture isn't for the faint of heart.  If you cannot handle gore you may not want to read any further.

While we were on our hike we came across a gruesome massacre.  A vicious, appalling display of pumpkin brutality. Some died peacefully with smiles still on their placid, orange faces. Others weren't so lucky. Some were torched, stomped, and even thrown, their sticky innards trailing a long, rolling path to the pit of their death.

Naturally, I went into the pit and poked around a bit.  It was very squishy and smelled surprisingly like nothing.  

you put your motion stability sensors in and you shake them all about

This week's storytime was all about one my favorite things - food!  After our hello song, we did the five little hot dogs rhyme.



The first group enjoyed it, but a little girl in the second group loved it.  Every time we came to the BAM part of the fingerplay she giggled loudly.  After one of our quieting-down fingerplays we read...The Very Hungry Caterpillar!  And not just any copy of The Very Hungry Caterpilllar, but a gigantic copy of it that my library system just happened to have in their big books collection.  The Very Hungry Caterpillar was the first group's favorite thing.  Two toddlers even correctly guessed a few foods the caterpillar was going to eat next!

We had a lot of fun guessing colors and counting, and though no one was quite sure about the sequence of the days of the week, we still talked about that a little too.  After The Very Hungry Caterpillar I passed out not one, but two scarves to each toddler and we pretended to be butterflies.  We also did a cute song - Popcorn Kernels:



and I changed up their favorite song last week to fit the scarf theme:

Everyone can shake shake shake X3
Everyone can shake shake shake
And now it’s time to stop

Everyone can flap flap flap X3
Everyone can flap flap flap
And now it’s time to stop

Everyone can twirl twirl twirl X3
Everyone can twirl twirl twirl
And now it’s time to stop

Everyone can wave wave wave X3
Everyone can wave wave wave
And now it’s time to stop

Each time we stopped I wadded up the scarves in my fists really fast, but everyone had different ways of stopping, which was really cool.

After we packed away the scarves, we read Every Color Soup by Jorey Hurley and made pretend soup together.  We went over both colors and types of fruits and vegetables in the first storytime, which was a little too much.  So in the second storytime I mixed it up and let them guess one of the two things so they didn't get completely overwhelmed.  The first group was losing focus by the time we got to Every Color Soup, but the second group loved Every Color Soup as much as The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

We finished the food theme with Laurie Berkner's song, "I Feel Crazy So I Jump In the Soup."



This wasn't the first group's favorite, but a mom in the second group enthusiastically shouted, "That is such a great song" once the song was over.  We finished with a butterfly version of the hokey pokey and our goodbye song.  This week I asked everyone to help me think of different parts of the butterfly.  They guessed wings, antennae, feet, and my favorite, ears.  At the time I wasn't sure whether or not butterflies have ears so we went with it.  I looked it up just now and it turns out butterflies have something called "motion stability sensors​," which are on the wings, sooooo my apologies to all the butterflies out there for misrepresenting your anatomy in the name of Hokey Pokey.  I'm rather glad we didn't know about "motion stability sensors" at the time, because that would have been a mouthful.  But no matter, the most important thing is that everyone got their hokey pokey fix for the day.

Interestingly enough, I feel like there are two favorites from this week - "Five Little Hot Dogs" and "I Feel Crazy So I Jump In the Soup."  Which one shall I pick for next week?

I know you're wondering which one fits next week's theme the best.  Neither one!  Next week we are going to zoom and vroom and read books about vehicles.  But no matter.  There's always room for soup diving or greasy hot dogs. 

no tails were harmed during this hokey pokey

Because Robert's surgery was during my storytime last week, I asked a coworker to sub for me.  This week I came back with a roar.  Literally.  This week's theme was dinosaurs.

Something I failed to mention in my last storytime post is that I am not changing my hello/goodbye songs and the fingerplays I use to quiet the toddlers down before reading a book.  These things will stay the same throughout the season. 

Dinosaurs!  There are simply too many awesome dinosaur books to choose from, but thanks to Robert, I was able to pick two special ones for this storytime - We Love Dinosaurs by Lucy Volpin and How Does a Dinosaur Choose a Pet? by Jane Yolen and illustrated by Mark Teague.

After we sang our hello song, we sang Raffi's "If You're Happy and You know It."  Each week I like to pick everyone's favorite thing and carry it over into the next week.  The Raffi song was such a hit during my second storytime last week it was obviously the keeper.  This week the first storytime liked it but the second storytime didn't care for it at all.  In fact, they looked at me like I was a lunatic when I made the ringing noises.  

After Raffi, we did one of our fingerplays to quiet everyone down and read We Love Dinosaurs.  The first storytime loved it more than the second.  At this point I should probably mention that my second storytime was a train wreck.  "Train Wrecks" would have been a much more appropriate theme this week.  More on that later.



After our first book, I brought out the shaker eggs and did three activities with them.  The first was the warm-up activity I mentioned last week.  The warm-up activity was not a hit.  The second activity, however, was absolutely adored by both storytimes.  

It's a little song that goes like this:

Everyone can shake shake shake X3
Everyone can shake shake shake
And now let’s make a stop

Everyone can tap tap tap X3
Everyone can tap tap tap
And now let’s make a stop

Everyone can clap clap clap X3
Everyone can clap clap clap
And now let’s make a stop

Everyone can wave wave wave X3
Everyone can wave wave wave
And now let’s make a stop

This second activity is the keeper for next week, which is going to be very very interesting because we are using scarves for the next storytime.  I know what you're thinking.  "How the heck are you going to pull that off?"  You will just have to wait and see.

The third shaker egg activity was a bust.  I won't even talk about it, because it's extinct to me.  Haha, how do you like that pun, dad?  (My dad is my biggest blog fan).

After we put the shaker eggs away, we did another fingerplay to settle everyone down before reading How Does a Dinosaur Choose a Pet.  Much to my surprise, both groups liked the first book better.  

When we finished the second book we sang this song, which is sung to the tune of  "I'm a Little Teapot":

I’m a mean old Dinosaur  

big and tall 

here is my tail

here is my claw.  

when I get all hungry 

I just growl

look out kids

I’m on the prowl.

This song was a bust so we did not sing it during the second storytime.

We finished up with the dinosaur hokey pokey, which was, surprise surprise, loved by all.  One grandma used her toddler as a tail when we were lifting our imaginary tails and "heaving" them in.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw a toddler swinging into view, then out of view.  It took me a second to realize what grandma was doing.  Don't worry though, no tails were harmed during this hokey pokey.

Overall, the first storytime was a success.  And though the second storytime was a train wreck due to the near-constant crying of three out of seven toddlers, I had a small compliment that was nice to hear.  One of the parents commented about what a tough job it was (to facilitate a storytime) and I responded by saying it was a lot of fun.  She told me I had a great attitude, which was a sweet thing to say.

I did not do a flannel board this week because I lost the rhyme somewhere.  Seriously!  I can't help but wonder if I lost it on purpose somehow...

This week I also tried carpet squares.  I'm not sure how I feel about them yet.  It took a lot of reminding to keep the toddlers on their "islands."  And towards the end, when everyone was losing focus, they started twirling their "islands" around and wearing them on their heads.  So I'm not sure what to think just yet.  

Something I learned this week came from a librarian from another branch.  She said it usually helps to encourage everyone to take a few deep breaths if they're not quite settled down and ready to listen to a story.  I'm definitely going to try this next week even though I'll probably get the "what's that crazy lady doing" look again.

Next week's storytime will be all about food!

brothers

This past week has been just been so stinkin' special and silly and momentous.

First, I was surprised with a visit from Jason, my brother who lives in Texas.  We hung out for a few days and had a blast.  

Taking Ella for a wagon ride was my favorite part of the visit.

The day after Jason left, Robert, Rachel, and I flew to Arizona to visit my two brothers who live there, Scott and Rusty.  We all went to Pinetop, AZ for a few days of tomfoolery and relaxation.

This is terrible, but I only took a few pictures on this trip.  I was having so much fun I totally forgot. Thankfully, everyone else took lots of awesome pictures.  

This describes our trip perfectly:



Robert and Rusty couldn't resist an abandoned wagon.



Prep & Pastry. Terrible service but excellent breakfast.  Thrilled to hang out with my brothers.



Horseback riding!!  As I scrolled through dozens of horse pictures to pick out my favorites it was way too tough to narrow it down.  I finally decided on these two because both Rachel and Rusty looked like it was their very first ride and they couldn't wait to get the party started. 





During our ride, one of our guides rescued a baby elk who was stuck in a clump of bushes.  Seriously! The elk was so stunned after the rescue he just stood there while we trotted past.



We spent a couple afternoons on the lake in various watercraft.  Here we have Scott, Autumn, and Kristen flying a kite while kayaking.  Multitasking at its best!



We had two three-person kayaks, two one-person kayaks and a pocket-sized pontoon boat.  We switched spots about twenty times and had a blast. Here is Heather, Izzy, and Rusty.



The last night of our trip Rusty and Robert rigged up a way to take a picture of all of us.  Basically it was a phone inside of a coffee cup that they placed in the rafters.  

From left to right: Heather holding Harper, Izzy, Rusty, Rachel, Robert, me, Scott, and Kristen holding Autumn.



Before we left for the trip Rachel was earnestly wrapping up her essays for her first college application.



And during the trip she submitted her first application.

I'm not sure how I'm supposed to go back to my normal life after that amazing week.  I'm still smiling like a dang fool, high off all that brother love and family time.