katjamiles

I was impressed with it. It is located in a rural area (Richlands area) surrounded by a county neighborhood but it had a lot more space and animals then I was expecting. While it was mostly farm animals-and not necessarily american farms- (steer, sheep, goats, fowl, a miniature horse, bunnies, etc) they also had fun ones like: a fox, zebras, bobcat, owls, raccoon, tortoise/turtles, rodents, and a giant african porcupine! Luna loved feeding the pigmy goats and petting the animals they brought out for educating purposes (snakes, *shudders*). The zoo offers lovely scenery to look at while sitting and relaxing at the picnic tables by the pond. I saw no snack shack, though-unless it was with the ticket office in the front. As it is considered a smaller zoo, it is CASH ONLY and they do not have their own ATM at hand. A worthy note to remember is that they offer porta potties rather than an indoor outhouse. I have a thing for taking pictures of the zoo animals at every place we settle in, so I was mighty happy to go! I hope you all enjoy it when visiting! yay!

Halloween 2018...Luna adventures! This year she still wasn't all that excited about the concept (last year as Belle, she also prefered to just hang out). She enjoyed some chocolate and had fun (sometimes) with putting on her costume (stitch) but other then that...it was more of a free for all when it came to do anything. This year we tried going to a trick or treat event behind the navel medical center...the only way we got her going was the word...POPCORN ("DADNA, MAMA, HELP POPCORN!"). Heehee. The small event was cram packed with families of all ages. It boasted two "paths" of halloween fun-one little kid friendly, full of lights and activities to do, and another non little kid friendly, full of horror (and lets just be thankful I didn't have to go in that one, shall we). As the lines were long, long, long, and my family did perfect impressions of scenes from the Stitch movie; we didn't stay for anything but the popcorn and hot apple cider. However, my little stitch had great fun running around with and without other kids while there! I wonder what will happen next year!?!

This book is a new book of TJ Klune (first self published), mm author extraordinaire. This author has many awesome reads but I couldn't help but gush over this one. The author often tells of epic adventures in which the main characters have journeys that allow them to grow and evolve both in themselves as well as in the quest they partake in. The author also finds the main characters love interests that counter balance them and usually help with such quests. the partners in crime Bones consists of a burnt out journalist and a military grunt turned protector. The quest is to return Artemis Darth Vader, space princess, to her home and people. Naturally, there are battles of both the physical and mental/emotional state each character struggles with. We follow grief, loneliness, life, heartbreak and love. I must say the books that have cute and quirky kids are my favorites!

so this idea came to me as I was wandering a craft store and saw all the seashells/baskets and thought 'i prefer the desert.' The homesick baskets are baskets of natural items found in your hometown. There would be different categories that reflect them as well: desert, wood/forest & mountains, as well as beach/coastal. If I could get it, the baskets would be made from its region/hometown materials as well. Included in the basket would be the plants and gound pieces that one would think of and about when thinking of "home".

Bright ideas: people...i thought a lot about how to incorprate my degrees and what i have been doing lately...and I came up with several plans for kid care.

Centers (non profit/profit) geared towards kids of all ages having a space to play and learn. some ideas have been playhouses that encourage playtime for a small fee. other ideas are full on centers that offer places to play (ball rooms, outdoor activities, indoor activities) as well as be educated (computer/library rooms, spaces to work on learning, with or without help). 

I have also had thought of creating programs that help the community help themselves and learn/grow...

 I had an idea that combines movement and weaving! No I have not tried it out so  I don't know if it would actually work...

What you need: 1) materials to build a frame, and pulley attachments (ie, giant carabiner pulleys, hook pulleys) for weaving material 2) materials to warp and weave (fabric, rope, bamboo etc), 3) helpers to move- pets, people (kids, friends, family, co-workers, etc),

What you do: 1) build a weaving frame and attach pulleys to the parallel sides A & B of the frame 2) warp frame 3) attach weaving material to the first pulley on side A 4) helpers move the weaving material by moving across to the parallel side (side B)-be creative when weaving: hop, skip, jump, run, crab/robot walk, "drive"/"fly" 4) attach material to first pulley on side B 5) move back and forth (WEAVE) between each correlating pulley until frame is covered in weaving material

TA DA! ALL DONE and with a pretty art piece too!!!

So growing up we did a lot of sports, probably mostly because it was a good excuse mom could use to keep working and have more time for doing things child-less (an important thing to have). Also, of course, because of all the good stuff, like life skills, social skills, motor/coordination/balance skills, etc, it brings to the table. I never enjoyed the starting or ending of these sports but I always found a way to enjoy the middle.

Martial Arts kept my energy and temper from rising to quickly, I always felt the fastest when swimming (even if I wasn't), I LOVED to dance (still love it). The gymnastics and diving taught me coordination and balance (not that I was (am) ever good at it). The one sport I ended up wishing I could play but never did as a kid was Soccer. I think it was because I enjoyed kicking the ball so much (maybe I can live vicariously though my daughter now, lol).

After high school I only did some running (it was never my favorite way to exercise) or swimming (enjoyed that more) and some stretching like things (TI CHI, Yoga, Pilates, and just plain old stretching).