Zucchini, Games, and Goats

Work has been extremely interesting today.

First, I unloaded 6 large and heavy boxes of t-shirts for camp next week (they were in my car, and I drive a two-door cavalier!).

Then, I rode with my boss to a community center, where she is teaching a youth cooking and nutrition class. Cooking with kids is a trial within itself. However, before we even got started cooking, we went outside to play a game and get the kids' heart rates going.

The game is Giants, Elves, and Wizards. It's like rock, paper, scissors -- except that you use your whole body to make either a giant (by putting your arms waaay up in the air), an elf (squatting down and giving yourself pointy ears), or a wizard (putting your arms in front of you and wiggling your fingers).

The game also involves a lot of running. Since we had an odd number of kids, I was volunteered to play as well. Now, dress at work is business casual. This basically just means that I'm running from a bunch of kids on wet grass in a pair of dress slacks and heels. It's a good thing I love children, because I twisted my ankle and it's all swollen at the moment.

We finally went back indoors and began to cook (vegetable medley and baked chicken nuggets).

Then, the distraction arrives. A couple from a local farm are setting up a small petting zoo right outside the building we're in for a different school group. The kids in our group went ballistic, and we eventually capitulated and I took them out to see the animals which included:

1. A pygmy goat and her baby (who was black and adorable!)
2. Two sheep, (the owner put his little daughter on one, and it bucked like a bronco)
3. A miniature horse (she was totally unconcerned with the kids and ate all the grass in her enclosure)
4. Rabbits (one of the little girls was holding one and squeezed it so tight that the poor thing's eyes were bulging)
5. Geese (mean little buggers, never mess with one, it'll chase you around for hours)
6. Ducks (they were much nicer, the kids got to hold them)

Eventually, I managed to coerce the kids (with promises of food) to come back to the kitchen, where we finally finished cooking everything.

As a special treat, the nutrition person I was working with had made them a chocolate cake. What she didn't tell them (until they had all gotten seconds) was that it had two cups of zucchini in it. Their reactions were great! One girl refused to eat her second piece once she knew it was in there. Silly kids . . .

But, it's been quite the day, and it's only half over!

Vacation Days III - IV: The Eastern Snore

It finally happened. The Internet was taken from me! We left Rehobeth and the WiFi behind and headed towards the Eastern Shore. First, however, I begged to do a little shopping. No sales tax in Delaware combined with already-reduced products in outlets is too hard even for me to resist.

So, a few books and a pair of black pumps (check em out!)later, we visited my aunt who lives in Millsboro, DE. Her stepson and his five-year-old daughter were visiting. And this girl is NOT shy, she talks and tells stories and all sorts of things without any encouragement; Her dad says she'll run up to a bunch of kids and say "You're my new best friend," without even knowing their names. So, I'm sitting on the couch beside this little girl, trying to carry on a conversation, and I ask her if she likes Hannah Montana. She says "she's okay," like she isn't really interested. Then, she sings all of Miley Cyrus' (aka Hannah Montana) "See You Again." This kid is a mess, it's even harder to deal with discipline issues when the kid is smart like this girl.

Next stop: Eastern Shore down to Chincoteague Island. Chincoteague is a nice quiet little island that looks like this picture. All marches, it's a nice estuary-like ecosystem going on around the area. Its neighboring island, Assateague, is a federal park . . . no one lives there except for rangers and ponies. Yes, ponies. Perhaps you've heard of Misty of Chincoteague? Well, she was actually from Assateague, but either way the ponies are the major attraction in the park even though you rarely see them on the Virginia side of the park. We spent about 4 hours in the park after dinner and all we saw was a lighthouse, a wedding, and a lot of seagulls.

The next day we finally get to come home!

But first I must face my nemesis, my worst fear . . .

Yes, it's the fearful Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel! I hate bridges (See Vacation Day One: Gephyrophobia) and tunnels just make the claustrophobia worse. At 20 miles long, it's the largest bridge-tunnel complex in the world. So, I turned my iPod up and stuffed a pillow over my face the whole way through (which didn't really help because I could tell when it got darker which meant we were in the tunnels). And, in keeping with the whole family driving me crazy ordeal, they stopped at the gift shop/restaurant on the bridge and made me eat lunch, knowing how much I hate the place.

Finally, we got home.

Vacation over, back to work.

Next year, I'm going to the mountains . . . family be damned.

Independence Day From the Perspective of Kids

Part of my job this summer as an intern requires me to help out with a lot of activities involving kids. Yesterday had me at a summer Bible school, teaching a lesson on citizenship. However, I got there a little early and got to sit and watch the Independence Day program the church was conducting for the kids (ages 3-14).

One of the older groups of kids gave a brief history of the founding of our country. I learned that the Revolutionary War was fought because we couldn't have tea whenever we wanted. And then Paul Revere said "the British are coming," and the first shots were fired.

However, I think my favorite part was the question-and-answer session with a sergeant in the U.S. Army. First he asked them why they were proud to live in the United States of America. Answers included:

-Freedom
-"All the good animals"
-Fresh air
-Parades

Then, the kids got to ask the sergeant questions. He began by saying "And yes, I do carry a gun, I have seen a dead body, and I haven't killed anyone." After several kids raising their hands and telling irrelevant stories, some finally began to ask questions such as:

-Do you always have to wear that?
-Where's your hat?
-Why do you wear a hat?
-Have you ever been in a real war?
-Do you get to see things that fly and things in the water?

And then, one boy raised his hand and said, "My dad has a gun he kills deer with." Sergeant Carter acted interested and asked him which type of gun he used. The boy didn't know. But one of the younger kids, a boy about four years old, spoke out, yelling "A deer gun!" so matter-of-factly like he thought the answer should be obvious.

And while they may not have gotten all the facts right, it was obvious that they were a patriotic bunch, singing "My country 'tis of thee" loudly and with many wrong words. But it was really heartwarming to see such eager kids, and I could tell the activity was very educational while being interactive at the same time.