The Sea Monkey Chronicles – Part IV Sea Monkeys in Peril

Connor was in big trouble for putting these little creatures lives at risk and for disobeying his father after repeated instruction. I don't really think he understood the potential consequences of his actions. He was upset to learn that his actions could kill the Sea Monkeys. I wondered if I had earlier emphasized the concept that overfeeding could be fatal.

Sad Connor

(actually, a wee bit of acting at the time of photo)

Can they be saved? Well, no. Not this time anyway. My gallant effort to save them lasted about 20 minutes. My strategy involved a baster, wine glasses, a coffee filter, and a strainer. My attempts at removing food from the water did not seem promising. A crying baby and other family demands soon took precedent. I was hopeful, but the water remained very green with food and the sea monkeys did not survive.

Lessons learned - I hope!

Next Blog Entry: The Hamster Chronicles

The Sea Monkey Chronicles – Part III / Feed Me!

After your initial Sea Monkeys hatch you are supposed to wait several days before adding additional food. Connor was very anxious to pour the entire packet of food into the habitat. There is a little feeding spoon provided and I explained to Connor that we needed to feed them one tiny spoonful each day. He kept talking about pouring in the whole package, and each day, I would explain the concept of feeding a little bit at a time. “Overfeeding can be very harmful, Connor”, I explained. “Do not pour the whole packet in their habitat”. We wait for the first feeding day.

Our Sea Monkeys are doing great, a little bigger and our first feeding day is finally here. Connor, once again, wants to empty the entire contents of the pouch. I once again explain the concept of feeding a prescribed amount each day. I instruct Connor to pour in one spoonful and he does a great job (Thanks, Montessori!). The food is a green powder. At this point I think Connor understands. Sea monkeys doing great!

If you only like tales of Sea Monkeys swimming happily ever after – stop reading now!
You have been warned...

The next day, the food pouch sits next to the habit, seemingly waiting to be poured into the habitat in its entirety. This has been Connor’s desire all along – his destiny! Now it is easy, because the pouch is already open. At some point, feeling a bit mischievous, Connor realizes he is not being supervised. He seizes the opportunity and he dumps the food pouch into the habitat! He actually tells us he fed the Sea Monkeys. He is grinning like the cat that just swallowed the canary!

I know exactly what he means, but I run to the habitat anyway with a glimmer of hope that he is joking or only fed them one spoonful! If it were a movie, the scene would be played in slow motion, and I would be shouting, “Nooooooooooooooooooo” as I run through the house. Not pretty (see Figure 1).

Figure 1 Extremous Overfeeding of Artemia Nyos

Can they be saved?

The Sea Monkey Chronicles / Part II - Shazam!!

Can you sea the See Monkeys? (click for a larger image)

Who needs directions? Well, I made a vow to read and follow the directions exactly, but something went wrong from the get-go. I read them a few days before starting, but then forgot certain details during the process. I instructed Connor to pour in tap water instead of the specified bottled water. Of course, I realized my mistake after Connor mixed in the supplied water conditioner. We forged ahead and we waited the recommended 24-hours before adding our “instant pets”. After the 24-hour period, we added the Sea Monkey pouch. Shazam! Little Sea Monkeys darting about their habitat. Connor says, “I see them!”, but quickly runs to play elsewhere.

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Stirring in the water conditioner

The Sea Monkeys were happy, but they were totally unware of the storm clouds on the horizon.

(to be continued)

Noelle - Summer 2007

Noelle is so special to me. She is at a great age and her little personality is really emerging. Here are a few interesting stories.

Noelle, at 7.5 months, is a computer whiz! Really! She grabbed the keyboard from me and in the span of less than 1-minute she (1) deleted an important e-mail, (2) initiated 3 PowerPoint presentations, (3) developed a rough draft of a title slide for one of the presentations, (4) made the cursor disappear, and (5) logged out as a user to complete her session. All this, while simultaneously testing the structural integrity of the keyboard. Amazing!

I went to pick up Noelle from the nursery a few weeks ago following Church service. A mother and daughter were peacefully caring for a few infants. The mother was walking Noelle around. When Noelle saw me, she immediately started crying. I'm thinking about saying, "She loves her Daddy - I don't know why she started crying when she saw me". Instead I say, "Oh Noelle" and I take her in my arms. She immediately starts to stop crying. I realize that she was overcome by emotion when she saw me, because she was in a strange environment with people she did not know and her Daddy came for her. It felt so good to comfort her, she had tears in her eyes and her breathing was still heavy from crying. I really cherished the moment.

Noelle outgrew her creaky bassinet, so we are in transition as far as sleeping arrangements go. So, Noelle is now sleeping at night in between us. Once she rolled to me and gently grabbed my face with both of her hands. She then rolled over to face her mommy for the same embrace. Sometimes she falls asleep gently holding her mommy's face with both her hands. Very sweet.

Misc. Noelle is so curious about the world and she loves to look at things. She is very fond of Athena and Athena likes to lick her feet. She really dislikes having her nose wiped. Connor is so abrupt with Noelle, and we are always concerned about her safety. His antics and actions often make her laugh. The growing bond between them is very evident. She usually greets Connor with a big grin and sometimes a little squeal. Connor is always saying, "I want to see Noelle!". He is quick to run to her side if she is crying. Noelle is starting to experiment more with sounds (na, na, na, na & ma, ma, ma, ma). Recently, I was standing over the kitchen table and she grabbed my shirt. I looked down and she was beaming up at me. Usually, she is looking at the object she is grabbing, so this was a special moment for me. She is gradually learning sign language and she will open and close her hands if she wants to nurse. She sometimes twirls her hands, and sometimes she will do this for me if I initiate the same motion. We smile at each other. Often she smiles at someone and then turns away shyly, sometimes nestling into mommy's shoulder.

Let Them Play!

(click on image for larger image)

Conner and Noelle's playground equipment finally arrived! This is a wonderful gift from C&N's Grandma and Grandpa. I believe our kids and many other children will enjoy this for many years. It makes our backyard so inviting. It is great for Connor because he has so much energy. He plays on it almost every day. Athena really enjoys the kids playing. She joins right in, and she has attempted to climb the ladder on a few occasions - all paws on rungs!

We learned about a tip to make the slides super slippery - baby powder! The kids get going really fast on the tall slide. If you are not quick to get your feet down at the bottom, you end up completing your sliding experience on the ground! The tall slide is fun for kids of all ages and I like to go down it once in a while.

The Sea Monkey Chronicles / Part I - It is Time

Sea Monkeys playfully swimming about their habitats bring joy to millions of people, young and old. Every minute of every day, someone, somewhere, is spending quality time with their Sea Monkeys. From my childhood in the early 70s, I recall the wonder, disappointment, wonder, disappointment, and finally lingering wonder associated with Sea Monkeys.

Sea Monkeys ad seen in many comic books during the 1970s

The experience for a child during the 70s went something like this… Wonder: You can’t believe you are going to have these Sea Monkeys as pets! The little Sea Monkey family looks so cute! Disappointment: You must wait 24 hours for the water conditioner to establish the habitat before you experience your “instant pets”. Wonder: You wonder if you can really see them, but finally you focus in on little creatures darting about - Cool! Disappointment: Although you have probably been told, you eventually learn first hand that the Sea Monkeys depicted on the package look nothing like the Sea Monkeys in your little aquarium. Wonder: Its fun to show your new little world to family and friends. You explain to them that it is silly of them to think that the Sea Monkeys would look like the cartoons on the package. Ultimately, the little aquarium gets a little fishy smelly, probably cloudy, and you wonder if they are still alive. Finally, the little aquarium somehow disappears.

It is time. According to my calculations, based loosely on Chaos Theory, I felt it was time for young Connor to experience the phenomena known as Sea Monkeys. Even as an adult, I was once again duped by slick marketing and cuteness. The classic Sea Monkey caricatures were gone from most of the packaging (relegated to the instruction booklet), but you now have the opportunity to raise your Sea Monkeys in new Mini Worlds! I chose The Amazing Live Sea Monkeys on the Moon! The kit includes a habitat with a moon landscape and adorable little aliens.

(to be continued)

Fishing with My Homies

Tellico TN

Bald River Falls (I like the name!)

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Several weekends ago, I went on a little fishing trip with some guys from my church small group, Scott S, Scott W, Bill, and Aaron. Aaron’s aunt was generous to let us stay at her cozy cabin in Tellico TN.

Friday night we grilled steaks. Then we played a wide-open game of Monopoly – a sort of an anything goes Monopoly. There were alliances, immunity from paying rent, shared profits, and temporary holding property for a business partner in financial trouble, among other things. Very strange, but fun nonetheless. Bill laid low most of the game, initially working the railroads of all things, but somehow, he persevered and won! Go Bill!

Aaron was the true fisherman. He had the necessary skills and experience, plus he was also willing to get up at 4:30 AM to secure a good spot along the river and catch’em at daybreak! He did very well, catching numerous beautiful rainbow trout for our lunch. The rest of us slept in, so we really did not deserve to eat the fish Aaron caught! The trout marinated in sauce comprised of sherry, soy sauce, oil, and Cajun spices, while we were fishing mid-morning, except for Scott S, he went ATV'n. The fish were not biting mid-morning, still it was fun to be on the river. I have not fished a river in many years. We returned to grill the trout for lunch before packing up to come home. Thanks guys!

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Rainbow Trout

Karate Kid Fishing
(Tip: Choose a stable rock for this technique)

Scott's Big Catch

Museum Sign Near Tellico - What a Gem!

Thanks Scott W for providing several images for this epic post