Cakes's and Chowder's Two Week Wait...

Well, the boys are in and if any of them have survived the wrath of Cakes, they are waiting at the door for the girls to make an appearance. Hopefully one of each will get together and then snuggle in for the next nine months. I have to say though, I'm not feeling particularly optimistic. I have shown no signs of fertility in awhile. But! We wait.

Chowder and the other church have emailed questions back and forth to each other and they are down to two candidates, Chowder being one of them. The church has a lot going on for the next few weeks so they told him that he would hear from them again in two weeks. That was five days ago. It's been odd watching him go through the same things I have during a cycle. Convinced that yes! These are all signs that he is indeed getting the job and then no! these are all the reasons that they have picked someone else. Poor dude. Can't stop obsessing. I wish he could just pee on something and get it over with!

We are a bit frustrated because we would have like to have known by Thanksgiving. Then if we are moving we could have done it at the end of the year, between the kids' semesters. It's not looking like we will have that kind of time. But! we wait.

Peek-In-Monday

shoot! I'm a day late! I just bought a cheap, crappy rug (though it looks good from a distance) for our living room. The last one was toast and we have been without one (or a coffee table) for several years, maybe. Anyway, I found this one at Sam's and knew that I didn't have to worry about becoming too attached to it. That's my criteria at this point in time. I won't bring any thing into the house that I will become too upset about losing when it's inevitable demise comes. We don't have "special rooms" in our house. We live in our living room and every other room in this house. Now, I need to head down to the secondhand store to pick up a "new" coffee table.

I have plenty of time for a fancy house with expensive furnishings. Now, is not that time. And when it comes, I expect to be very lonely. On second thought, I will never have time for a fancy house with expensive furnishings. I never want to bring anything into my house that I will become too upset when my grandchildren...

After I brought the rug into the house, Ladybug announced that she needed to "Make it ours." Here is how she did that.

Happy Halloween 2009!

I was actually a lot more put together this Halloween compared to Halloweens past. We even carved Jack-o-lanterns from pumpkins bigger than Chowder's head! The only last minute glitch was that Friday night Ladybug sprung on me her deepest desire to be a spider for Halloween. Not Snow White. Not the simple Snow White dress she had received for her birthday a month earlier. Not that. No. A spider. Have you perhaps gathered yet, that though I am a fierce baker, I am definitely not a crafter. Luckily, she was quite pleased with what I managed to Frankenstein together, namely Chowder's dress socks stuffed with plastic grocery bags and a too big black turtle neck paired with too big pants. Chowder on the other hand...

Update on the Moving...

As some of you may remember, we were in discussions with a church in a rural area that had some really appealing things attracting us. Namely, the thought of 10 acres for the kids to go nuts on. After continuing those discussions we came to the mutual decision that it just wasn't a good match for us. There were several issues that were holding both parties back. They have since called another pastor and I pray that they work well together.

Since then, we have entered into new discussions with another church. This one is in an urban area very similar to the one we live and love in. There are a couple of concerns, such as schooling, but I have been told that the church has an endowment to pay for the schooling of the pastor's children. I don't know if they had 5 children in mind, but that certainly will be apart of the negotiations if it gets that far...and we are praying that it does. And, I ask that you do the same.

The thing about this church is that it is alive. Even though Chowder and I have made the conscious decision to serve in under-served areas (we've done both rural and urban), this type of ministry can drain the very life of you. Especially, when there is no community to fill you back up again. When Chowder was called to the congregation we are currently serving, it was to be a short term call. He was to help this church discern whether it was time to close or merge, or whether they wanted to dig in and make an attempt at a new life. They really chose neither. The head of our region has actually encouraged Chowder to look elsewhere because he is wasting away at this church. Wasting his substantial, God-given gifts.

Skaterboy grew up with no church community. No youth group. Often the only child in a congregation. He's 18 and we can't drag him to church. It offers nothing for him. And frankly, it offers nothing for the rest of us. It only demands of us. And we are tired. I can't tell you the number of times we have tried to start a bible study only to be sitting alone. The kids have no community. The sad truth is that we need some time in a congregation that just loves all over us.

This other church has that. It has 1800 members. It has a head pastor. Chowder would be the Family Minister. It believes in faith in action. This church is doing ministry. It is serving. It is getting its hands dirty. I get giddy just at that the thought of having my family surrounded by that. upheld in that. We've been lonely for too long.

Things seem to look good. They feel good. The head pastor has expressed nothing but enthusiasm for Chowder's candidacy. So, please keep us and that in your prayers as the conversation goes on.

I mean....what's not to love?!

Randomness...

What a week I've left behind and what a few weeks I have ahead of me. I didn't get as much done last week as I wanted, but I did turn in several homework assignments and got some Spring cleaning done. It was great for the kids to be able to be outside pretty much all week. The weather was beautiful! And I spent some time doing stuff with them that I need to do more of.

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I have been working on my new website and hope to have it up sometime in the next week. It won't be the most seamless transition because I have never done anything like this. Hopefully it will all come together.

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Chowder has gone to Iowa for 3 weeks. He is doing some sort of training thingamajig for family ministry. Today was our first full day without him. We did a good job and held it together all day. But now...it's almost midnight and I have no one to snuggle in with. I started taking my OCD medication last week anticipating the anxiety. I was taking a 1/4 dose. But last night I upped it to a 1/2 dose. I'm feeling pretty well, though my morbid thoughts still get stuck. Like when Ladybug came in this morning looking for him and she cried the most quiet, pitiful cry, would not let me hold her and she climbed back into her crib to weep softly all by herself. And I couldn't get the "What if" thoughts out of my head. The "this is what it would be like if he died" thoughts. And then I began to weep softly all by myself.

The other thing is that I really miss him. I like him quite a bit and he always makes his presence known, so there is an obvious "Chowder Vacuum." We have set up video chat on our computers and text several times a day. I know it's so hard at the beginning, but soon it will be over and he will be home. with me. where he belongs.

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Humphrey is having some sort of gastrointestinal issues, right now. Let me tell you, a 160 lb dog can really stink a place up. Plus every couple of hours he starts whining because he needs to go out. I'm hoping that will not be the case all night long.

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That possible move I was writing about a few weeks ago? It is still in the process, but look at this...



It certainly sweetens the pot. 1890's farmhouse on 12 1/2 acres 5bd 2ba 2900 sq ft. I am suddenly pining for wide open spaces.

more

I was just talking to Chowder's friend's wife today. They are really putting the pressure on! LOL! Chowder and I have been trying to discern which issues are real and which are imaginary.

You guys have given me such great things to think about and explore! It turns out this town has a large arts community, the college does offer "Kids College" for ages 8 and up with lots of enrichment classes, there is a farmer's market, a community center and several new coffee house and locavore restaurants. The town's population has doubled in the last 10 years mostly with an influx of people from California. (that could be good or bad ;) )

I've been exploring how I would be able to meet household needs. There is a Walmart, Lowe's etc but the nearest Sam's and Target are 1 1/2 hours away. I could still do monthly trips if needed.

Chowder and I sat down to talk about what we loved about raising our children in the city and we talked about culture and museums etc. But then when we were honest about it, we have only been to the symphony once this year! We have seen 2 plays and taken the kids to the Art Museum twice this year. With this town being only 3hours from here and family here we could easily come up for a weekend or several days to do these things. So, this issue was imaginary. We would miss the weekly trips to the zoo and botanical gardens.

Lack of diversity is a REAL issue. But again, we could easily be up here often enough to help solve that issue. Education is a REAL issue and I have been investigating the day to day reality of homeschooling. Both Chowder and I have always wanted our children to have a classical education and there are many curricula set up to do that. We'd just follow the lesson plans. I'd have three at one level and two at another. Plus, Chowder's friend's wife would love to explore starting a Montessori charter school in that area to meet the needs of the families there. I'm not sure I am up to doing another start-up right now, the last one was exhausting! But, I could probably use a lot of the material we already compiled. But our minds are opening to possibilities.

17 yr old is both a real and an imaginary issue. He will be 18 this summer which would be the age he would be going away to college. He is not stressed by the idea of us moving because he knows he has options. He is not a typical high schooler being taken out of school his senior year. He is getting his GED this summer and starting community college in the fall. He could move with us and attend the state university there or he could live with my mom and attend school here. If he stayed, we would really miss him but not any differently than if he went away to college. Which is essentially what he would be doing.

There are some bad mammajamma things going on in my city that are making me want to scream. (Essentially, county voters rejected a 1/2 cent sales tax to help fund our public transit, city had already approved it, and now they are cutting bus service by 44%, train service by 32% and Call-a-Ride by 17%. There are members of our church that will be unable to get to work and to school etc. etc.) and crime in our neighborhood will likely increase because of the economy and the inability of people to get to work. This all makes me feel like we are REALLY needed here and at the same time burns me out and makes me want to run to the hills.

Still waiting for the formal offer and whether they can meet our needs...but again, we have always been lucky in this sense and God has always provided.

loaves and fishes, Baby. loaves and fishes. (What Chowder and I say to each other when we are trying to work out where the money is going to come from!)

The one about major life changes...

My family is extremely happy with its place right now. We love our neighborhood, we love our neighbors, we love love love the younger ones' school, we love living in the city, we love the free museums, free zoo, parks everywhere, dog park, farmer's market, diversity, restaurants etc. Our families are in town (for the most part) and we have established friendships.

My husband is VERY unhappy in his job. Granted they pay him a nice sum of money, but they ask for very little in return. Basically, show up on Sundays, visit the sick. For me, this seems perfect because he is right across the street. He is home a lot and always available should I need him. It is a great place to be working on his doctorate. BUT, he wants to be doing ministry and at this point after trying so many things and beating his head against the wall (long story about the church, but they aren't interested in doing anything.) he is just burned out. He feels useless.

This weekend we were invited to a church that is courting Chowder to check things out and guest preach at the church. It is the exact opposite atmosphere, but also one we could be very happy in. It is a small town (about 20,000) in the mountains, has a small college, a community theater, major shopping, we could get a place on 10-15 acres and have the other great childhood of chickens and ducks and woods to build tree houses in and all the great stuff that comes from growing up in nature. The church is very energetic, though still small. They have about 10 young families (3 with 5 kids) and a definite desire to do more. We liked the town. Two of Chowder's fraternity brothers live in or near the town and I like the one I know and his family. We are not afraid of making changes or trying new things. We know if it really stinks we can always go somewhere else. The schools rank 6 (out of 10) on the great schools chart. We would have to change a bit of our lifestyle, like get a second crappy car.

Honestly, if the kids just went to a regular school we would jump in in a heartbeat. But, the kids don't go to a regular school. They have this great opportunity to go to this amazing and free charter school that is right across the street. The school is small and the philosophy and parent community is exactly what we are looking for. And the education is exceptional. I can't see taking my two kindergartners who are reading on the 4th grade level, doing multiplication and division, can label the continents and oceans on a world map, and half of the states on a US map etc. etc (and this is NOT b/c they are exceptionally bright, it is just the way the school is.) and put them into a mediocre, small town, public school. Though I am not afraid of homeschooling them and think we could do some really cool stuff, I don't think I could do as good of a job as they are doing at their school and would hate for them to miss out on what they would get from their education where they are now.

But, Chowder would most likely be much happier in his work. In a small town there is a greater opportunity to get involved in a meaningful way to better the community. So, do we stay here until all of the kids go through 6th grade? That's 12 more years! At what point do we make a change? We do not NEED to find a new position right now. And I wasn't feeling an overwhelming pull there. I told Chowder that this will really have to be his call because I am perfectly happy where I am now. I could also be perfectly happy somewhere else. We worry about trying to sell our house right now, but the only thing really holding us here is the school. How much of weight should we give it?

I am trying to just hand this one over to the Big Guy and figure if it's the place he wants us, then he'll beat over the head with it and provide the solutions to our obstacles. But, you know how I'm a planner.

Lessons in At-Homeness

One of the things that I love about our community and school is the number of families who have chosen to have a parent at home, or with school age children, a parent at home when the children are at home. This is not to say anything against families with both parents working full time, it is simply that the dynamic of the community is different. Friends come home with the kids after school. They can run around the corner to a friend's house or just play with the other neighborhood kids on the block. And I think it makes the parents more open to getting together as well. There is not the busyness or lack of time and energy to socialize on the spur of the moment.

And what I really love about our school is the number of stay-at-home dads. What a cool dynamic they bring to their families. They have really inspired me in many ways. As an at home mom, there are the pressures of the societal images of what an at-home mom should be like, and what her family should look like, and what her home should smell like. Even though we modern at-home moms have busted out of the pearls, that demon June Cleaver still lingers in the backs of our minds as a standard.

At-home dads have the freedom of no such icon. And this freedom allows them to create the role for themselves. They have already done an about face on the societal expectations put on men to be breadwinners, so they have purposefully done away with that pressure. Do they still have to deal with the patronization of career men the same way we do with career women? I'm sure. And it outrages me as much as my own experiences do. But, at home within their families they get a chance to explore. And with this group of at-home dads, they had careers and educations that they put on hold for their families. I have found a great mix of intelligent, creative, fun loving men and that appears to be what they bring first to their roles. They play with their kids. They are so much more active with them. And that's what they have inspired me with. A new emphasis on what should be important in my at-homeness.

It will be interesting to see what the children of SAHDs grow up like. Especially the daughters. I get a little worried sometimes when Jellybeam wants to be like me so she straps a doll into her sling and starts washing the floor. Not that that isn't a part of what I do, but it isn't who I am. And the father-daughter dynamic is so different from the mother-daughter one. Mothers tend to coddle their sons, and fathers their daughters. So, to have that full time coddling reversed would be very interesting. What a neat childhood for a girl. And for a boy to have someone there actively playing and roughhousing and giving an outlet to that energy. AND he'll see a man modeling housework for him. His future wife will love this! I just really enjoy watching these families and how they interact. It gives me so much food for thought.

My favorite example of the difference of the kids being raised by at-home dads vs. moms was from a dinner party we had a few months ago. Jellybean came into the dining room and asked me, "Mommy, can I please have some more chocolate milk?" Not 5 minutes later a little boy walked up to his dad and said, "How about another round of chocolate milk, dad?"

Snow Day!

My kids have been home from school two days in a row. It's funny for us, because we live right across the street from the school. But, snow days are always fun. We actually got 6 inches of snow last night which is a lot for us. It made Chowder and I miss Minnesota so much. Last night we put the kids to bed and decided to take a walk while the snow was showering down. It was such a beautiful evening! We ended up at our neighborhood drinking hole and went in to have a couple of glasses of wine before walking home. It was perfect.

Humphrey has been having a blast at the dog park running around like a lunatic! He is so funny to watch!




Today, the kids were outside from about 8 am until they finally became too cold around 2 pm. There was sledding and snow ball fights and snowman making! The perfect Snow Day.






The gorgeous day even got Skaterboy out of the house!


We finished off with a walk down to our neighborhood bakery to get some cupcakes to drink with our hot cocoa. My new favorite is devil's food with cream cheese icing dipped in Oreos! Yum!


Hoping for more flurries tomorrow!

OK. Here we go. The Kitchen.

So, my starting point with my kitchen is the big blank wall. It is parallel to you when you walk in the door. It is big and blank. see? (Please ignore giant dog butt.)


So, on this wall I wanted to put a new pretty paper.
These are my top choices..Anzio From Ballard Designs


and from Linda Barker: Tempting-Celadon



And from Design Your Wall are these choices





Once I pick the paper I can choose the paints. I'm leaning toward 2, 3, and 5. I like the muted cool tones of the celadon. I think that has a lot to do with the fact that my entire house wall to ceiling is painted yellow. It's a nice, soothing yellow. But I'm done with all the warmth already! But, at the same time I like the bam! of the red. I've ordered samples so we have to see what they really look like once I get them.

The big, blank wall will also be getting some shelving. Something along the lines of Elfa.


I'll paint the island thingy some sort of complimentary color to whatever scheme I come up with. Then I'll throw in a couple of rugs and some new canisters, tea kettle, trash can and such. And then, as the kids like to say, "Bwalla!" (you know, Voila!)

Well, I may never be able to blog again...

My next blog post is supposed to be about my 2009 Resolution. It was going to tell you all about how finally I'm going to bite the bullet and decorate my house. It was going to tell you how I'm picking a room a month and I'm starting with my kitchen. It was going to tell you my big plans and have you help me pick out some stuff. It was going to have a before picture of my kitchen....and that is where we keep running into problems. I've been waiting for my kitchen to be clean so that I could take a picture. I keep telling myself, "Tomorrow, Cakes. Tomorrow you'll finally get it all clean." You see, I keep getting it almost clean. But then it so quickly becomes un-clean again and I just haven't been able to get it to that all-clean place.

So, here it is almost midnight and my kitchen looks like this





and instead of using this time to get it done I have been chatting with my brother on Facebook and planning my application to my next job. Don't you think we would be perfect for it?! I'd have the greatest blog ever!

Election Day in my neighborhood...

First off...this is not a "You should vote for this person" post nor is it an opening for a debate. I am so weary of those. This is a glimpse into what's happening where I live. I don't care who you vote for (JUST VOTE DAMMIT!) because I know you have excellent reasons for doing so. Please don't turn this into a discussion about the candidates or various policies. This is post about people and where I live.

I have heard a lot from the media and people I know that Hope is not Platform. And I just wanted to give a little peek into what Hope really is this election. At first I walked around my neighborhood and took pictures of the boarded up buildings, of the little kids riding giant sized bikes around the crappy littered playground, the crumbling tarmac playground at the public elementary school, the drug deal, the police breaking up a domestic dispute or interrogating a row of young African-American men lined up on the curb, the line at our food pantry that gets longer every day. I wanted to try and put into pictures what I can't describe in words. The desperation. the hopelessness, the oppression of poverty.

Now please don't get me wrong. I love my neighborhood. My family has never been more happily situated among neighbors who adore my children. Have showered us with love, support, and casseroles. Have given us a complete community to be a part of. I love that my children are growing up among immigrants and gays and nuns. I love that my son said he wanted to vote for Barack Obama because he has a brown face and people with brown faces are really smart. (But, I hate that the same son came home worried from school and told us that his classmate assured him that if John McCain became president he would make all the brown people leave.) But the gap between rich and poor span mere houses. One block then the next. We're all jumbled up together here and its a class/race thing to be sure. The majority of property owners are white. The majority of renters are non-white. The tensions and fears on both sides can be felt very acutely.

But, that is not the way it is today.

Today is election day. After Chowder and I voted my original set of pictures seemed very wrong. The feeling of hope was bouying. You see hope brings about very concrete realities. When people feel that have a fighting chance, that they have the power to change their own lives and realities, well that is when things get better. Having a non-white, son of an immigrant, raised by a single mother man running for president is no small thing. It means there is a possibility for everyone. And when you feel the possibilities are real, you act on it.

Those pictures are still very much a part of my life and neighborhood. But no one is seeing them today. When I went around my neighborhood today and took pictures, my eyes were literally filled with tears. There is no way to describe the feeling that is in the air. I felt it in the churches, the Ethiopian restaurant, the tattoo parlor, the Afghani market, the Vietnamese video store, the halal butcher, the pawn shop, the Uhuru hair salon, the dog park, the coffee shop...

the feeling of hope.

This is the week...

It's finally here!

No, not the week that Sweeting is to be born. Much much bigger than that. This week is the week that the apples go on sale. That's right. I was there last week picking up my weekly fix of dark chocolate non-pareils (I don't understand why I don't have prenatal diabetes, either) and casually inquired about when they would be ready. She told me "Some time next week. Why don't you take our card so you can give us a call." and before I could think, I answered, "That's ok. I have your number in my phone from last year." whoops. embarrassing.

And I just want you to know that right now, standing on the edge of this most blessed of blessed seasons, I am feeling generous. So, here's what I'm going to do. I am going to give away two of these delicacies. I'm thinking that you have to live in the US to win because I don't know anything about smuggling divine produce across international borders.

Just leave a YUMMY comment and at the end of the week I'll draw two names from a hat and then drive directly to the confectioner's and then directly to the post office because if these babies ever make it home with me, you will never see them.

Only one rule. If you win, you must eat it the way I would. When you see the postman coming up the walkway with a box in hand, you distract the children with something on TV, grab the box and head for the upstairs closet where you hide the box until everyone else is sleeping, then you sneak upstairs and get the box out, slice the piece of heaven into nice little even slices, and savor each and every slice. (If it's possible to chill the apple before eating, then do that but it's not worth the risk of being discovered and having to share.)

Under no circumstances are you allowed to share. I must insist on this.

(My friends did me the favor of estimating how much money I spent on these apples the year I was pregnant with Ladybug. It came out to around $300. Don't judge.)

Last week of Summer

We headed out to a place everyone calls "The Rocket Ship Park." Can you guess why?




And Chowder re-learned an important lesson, when Humphrey gets a drink....run away.

Silly Car Thieves...

They found our car...
TWO BLOCKS AWAY! LOL!
I told you it had no gas in it. I wasn't lying.

They actually didn't mess it up too badly. All of Chowder's stuff was laid out nicely in the trunk! Isn't that hilarious! Stealing the car was ok, but we don't want to mess up the robe and stole. Whatever.

The only real damage to the car is what they had to do to steal it. But, instead of just breaking out the freaking window the took a crow bar and actually bent back the door frame. I think that's really going to cost us.

ah well. What are you going to do?

Discernment (or what will it take? Green goo oozing from the walls?)

Whenever I have watched haunted house movies (which isn't very often. because, well, because they're scary and I don't like scary.) I always look at the people in the movies with complete disgust. I mean seriously. If the flies covering my walls wouldn't get me out of there the voice yelling, "Get OUT!" would. I can attest to this because the last house we lived in was haunted and as soon as Jellybean started having conversations with imaginary people who had no feet and she would yell at them, "Don't touch me your hands are so cold!" Guess what we did? That's right. We moved out.

Now every now and again there comes a time in Chowder's ministry that is a crossroads of sorts and we have to decide whether it is time for us to move on or whether we should recommit ourselves to the place that we are. Chowder's original position when we came was to help the church decide whether it was time to close or whether they could reinvent themselves and let the Holy Spirit drive them in a new direction. The chose the second option, but not with their hearts.

I wrote about the last time we recommitted ourselves to this place about 18 mos ago. The time before that, we bought a house across the street from the church. The day after the sale went through we received a notice from the city that our property taxes had tripled. The next time, as I wrote, we had our van window broken out and Chowder's iPod stolen just 20 minutes after he had come home from the gym. How could we have expected that someone would break out a window that quickly when it was 7:30 in the morning and there is a near constant stream of traffic down my little one way street while everyone is leaving for work?!

This time Chowder and I sat down and talked it over. The church is running out of money and the 150 yr old building is in desperate need of major repairs. The congregation is not able (or perhaps willing) to do the work necessary for a redevelopment and Chowder is bored and unsatisfied with his ministry. So, after much discussion we decided that he would right a letter to his church council before the next council meeting about approaching the neighboring church (same denomination) that is just on the other side of the park about merging our congregation with theirs. He would stay on for a year to help with the transition and then move on. The whole process would probably take 2-3 years in which time he would be able to complete his Doctorate.

This would also give the school (the one my kids go to) time to find a permanent location and possibly time for Skaterboy to graduate from high school (But Kids, that's a whole other sad and sorry tale). Plus, since this congregation isn't demanding much of Chowder's time and they are paying us a livable wage, it is the perfect place to be while raising a young family and doing his doctoral work. And even more than that, he will be much more desirable as a candidate to other congregations if he doesn't leave here as a pastor of a failed church (no matter HOW little fault that is of his) but that he completed his job to merge the congregations and on top of that he then has his doctorate.

It's a good plan. a sound plan. a plan that gives us flexibility as a family, as well as leads his congregation to healthier place.

So, what would you think if you woke up and the car that Chowder's parents had been lending us, until Skaterboy got his license, so we wouldn't have to drive the gas guzzling Behemoth if we weren't taking the whole brood somewhere...
was stolen.
from the church parking lot.
with Chowder's bible and bible commentary on the front seat.
and his robe.
and the materials for the Regional Disaster Relief conference (he's on the regional committee) he had been attending on the back seat?

What would you think? Is this the green goo?

at least the car had no gas in it. and I mean no gas.

One of our favorite spots...

In the middle of my city is our own "Central Park" though it is over 500 acres larger than it's New York version. (Yay us!) We spend a lot of time here. It is a hop skip and a jump from our house and it houses the zoo, the art museum, the science museum, the history museum, the Municipal Opera, the Shakespeare festival, the Great Balloon Race, etc. etc, etc. And one of our favorite spots to while the summer afternoons away. We just call it "The Rocks."

You have a spot like The Rocks around you, too. If you have not found it or you don't spend a lot of lazy days there, you need to fix that. Children and nature are an amazing combination. They will literally spend hours exploring creeks and the habitats around them. They will find crawdad carcasses that an egret has cleaned out, they will find ducks and water bugs and they will be completely entranced. They will learn physics as they create dams and bridges. If they aren't used to exploring or are used to being entertained by people and activities, it may take them a little time to adjust to this new mindset, but time spent poking around in the creek is very very valuable time. If you haven't read Last Child in the Woods yet, it really is worth the read.