JourneyLeaf: Life a Page at a Time: October 2013

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October 2013

31 October 2013

Sir Eli

Halloween 2013

Posted at 04:04 PM in Humor or Goofy Eli Adventures, Seasons & Holidays 4 -- Autumn | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Happy Halloween 2013

Images from last week as twilight fell over Colonial Williamsburg...

With lots of history about, it is the perfect place for a ghost tour.

Our visit package included the ghost tour, so we stopped by the information desk to be sure it was kid-friendly for a preschooler. The woman we talked to was the one to do the tour later that evening, and she assured us it was -- mostly jokes and funny stories. Sigh. That didn't turn out to be the case. It was a bit spooky. But I think the creepiest aspects went over Eli's head and he didn't seem bothered by any of it. Mostly he loved being outside after dark and getting to carry the candle lantern. It was rather magical.

Posted at 12:41 PM in Adventures -- Around the South, Seasons & Holidays 4 -- Autumn | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

30 October 2013

Pumpkin Patch 2013

Posted at 11:38 AM in Nature & Gardening, Seasons & Holidays 4 -- Autumn | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

28 October 2013

Pop !

Eli tries Pop Rocks exploding candy for the first time...

If you cover your ears, you can hear the sound of the candy popping more clearly!

I usually try to help Eli steer clear of candy in general and fake food coloring-laden treats in particular. Sigh. But sometimes there are just goofy experiences an American kid should have. The virdict? He liked the crackling but was alarmed at some of the big pops. He giggled a lot and then handed back a half-full package.

Posted at 01:49 PM in Food & Cooking, Humor or Goofy Eli Adventures | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

26 October 2013

Antique Shop Find -- The Hat

Someone scrawled on the back of this photo: "Lucian Averett & Sister."

Can anybody suggest a more suitable caption? Or, even better, a story?

Here are some comments from blog readers:

"Finally! A practical use for that ugly lampshade."
"When Herman promised Bertha 'something with tassels' that she could slip into, alas, she definitely did not envision this hat."
"Perhaps this hat will disguise my antennae from the prying eyes of the curious earthlings."
"Melba had almost given up hope of trying to hide the damage where the goat had eaten her braids, but then she spied the waste paper can in the corner..."
"The Easter Bunny ran out of bonnets and thus only had baskets to give."
" 'Oh, go soak your head!' wasn't said to her with good will, but it sure gave Henrietta some millinery ideas."
"It was the last hat on the rack, but at least it was affordable. And if I happen to stop by the grocer's, I have a handy way to carry my turnips."

P.S. Apparently when you click through to JourneyLeaf from Facebook, it indicates that the comments are closed. They aren't! If you'd like to leave a comment, please visit the blog site directly at http://journeyleaf.typepad.com.
Thanks! (I'd been wondering why the comments suddenly dried up!)

Posted at 11:47 AM in Humor or Goofy Eli Adventures, Learning About the Past | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

23 October 2013

Missing Williamsburg

Click HERE for my previous post about Colonial Williamsburg.

Click HERE for photos of our Colonial Williamsburg lantern ghost tour.

Posted at 12:01 AM in Adventures -- Around the South, Learning About the Past, Nature & Gardening, Peace & Joy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

22 October 2013

A Preschooler’s Guide to Public Handwashing

Eye-crossing and handwashing... Oh so much preschooler fun!

A Preschooler’s Guide to Public Handwashing
in Eighteen Easy Steps...

1. Stand on tippy tippy tippy toes to turn on faucet.

2. Squirt liquid soap onto dry hands so that it will wash off when you put your hands under the water.

3. Reapply soap.

4. Smell soap and declare that it smells REALLY YUMMY in a voice loud enough to echo throughout bathroom.

5. Wash off soap without cleaning hands.

6. Scowl and do a flouncing body wiggle when reminded of the need to actually rub hands together to remove dirt.

7. Reapply soap and rub and rub and rub and rub until bubbles are everywhere. Spread fingers repeatedly to appreciate the fine quality of the lather.

8. Scowl and do a flouncing body wiggle when reminded to rinse.

9. Rinse hands and then shake your hands to flip drops of water everywhere. There are extra points for getting water droplets on strangers and mirrors.

10. Give a blank look when asked if your hands still feel sticky or slimy. Wiggle your fingers and discover they do indeed feel yucky.

11. Scowl and do a flouncing body wiggle when reminded that rubbing is necessary to rinse off all the soap.

12. Rinse and rinse and rinse and rinse while three impatient strangers stand behind you waiting for the sink. Experiment to see what happens when you try to block the flow from the faucet. (There are extra points for crying when the water jets into your eye.)

13. Scowl and do a flouncing body wiggle when reminded that your turn is over and it is time to turn off the water.

14. Grab the grungy faucet handle with your now-clean hands. Make sure to also touch the brown stain in the bowl of the sink, the trash can, the floor, and the bottom of your shoe before leaving the bathroom. (There are extra points if you can loop back to touch the toilet seat.)

15. Hold your wet hands over your ears and refuse the touch-free (and very noisy) electric hand dryers.

16. Giggle when the paper towels roll out automatically. (The more the bathroom echoes, the louder you should laugh.) Wave your hand in front of the sensor as many times as you can until someone stops you. Follow this with a scowl and flouncing body wiggle.

17. As you throw away your huge (environmentally unsound) wad of paper towels, grab the edges of the trashcan with both hands and stare down into the depths. Loudly announce anything interesting you find in there. (There are extra points if you grab it and bring it to the surface.)

18. Dutifully turn off the lights upon exiting regardless of how many people are still in the bathroom.

Okay. I feel a little mean posting this blog entry, so I feel I have to add that usually Eli is pretty easygoing. The only time we seem to get stuck on multiple steps is on road trips when moving smoothly through bathroom breaks means we'll be back sitting in the car that much sooner. And, actually, there's a part of me that admires how much kids appreciate the little things from flowing water to bubbles to scented soap to funny paper towel dispenser noises!

Update: It's karma. I posted this blog entry while on our road trip and at the very next bathroom stop Eli discovered that by clasping his soap-lathered hands together he could make a delightful pooting noise.

Posted at 01:15 PM in Humor or Goofy Eli Adventures, Parenting Ups & Downs, Travel with Kids | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

21 October 2013

Colonial Williamsburg

A dear friend got married in the Washington DC area this weekend. As we contemplated the travel to attend, we thought about how long it had been since we had a vacation. The challenges of Brian's new career and all the work of the summer's move seemed to still hang on our shoulders. Hmmm. We padded the trip with extra days. History geeks that we are, the pull of Colonial Williamsburg was great. And in the mellow season of early autumn, it is peaceful indeed.

The pace is slower.

The natural world is close at hand.

The seasons and the weather and even the phases of the moon seem more relevant to daily life.

There's a heathy dose of yesteryear living. I love learning about the way life was a few centuries ago.

There are the pleasures of shopping, but a different sort of shopping.
For Eli today, it was all about the joys of a pop gun.

For me, it was the sensory pleasure of getting away from slick packages and thousands of choices. The recreated colonial world that you move through here is pared down but also full of texture and scent.