Triple Play

Well, we actually managed to go to all three events today.

McWilliams House activities: lace-making demonstration in the front room of the house, cornhusk doll craft out back, fiddlers playing old-time dance music in front, rope-spinning by the front door.

Audubon Wildlife Education Day activities: bug world, featuring silkworms and hissing cockroaches to handle, large models of many common insects, and lots of information about why bugs are so essential to human survival; guinea pig exhibit with many beautiful specimens that could be petted but not picked up (apparently someone had dropped one earlier in the day); reptile exhibit with lots of different snakes that could be petted and picked up, and also a rather shy skink; a large craft area that we bypassed since I just wasn't in the mood today; a cool map of the watershed that you could stick a pin in to show where your house was; a salt marsh harvest mouse survival game; many other things that were not sufficiently alluring for me to guide the kids over to them.

Book Art Jam activities: hands-on edible book making, large exhibit hall featuring hand-crafted display and sale items that were staggeringly beautiful but perhaps a tad pricey.

Ziad's favorites: making rope and holding snakes

Maya's favorites: petting the guinea pig and seeing all the animals

My favorite: the book art exhibit hall

What did we learn today that we hadn't known before?

Ziad -- that there is a snake called the Black King snake which is actually something like the Incredibly Deadly Viper in that it looks mean and scary but is actually kind of friendly

Maya -- that big snakes and little snakes can both be friendly

Me -- that John Brown's widow and several of his children moved to California, settling at various places in the state, and that his widow and daughter are buried in the Saratoga cemetery.

Activities to follow:

Ziad -- report on black snake; narrative description of our day

Maya -- report on guinea pigs; narrative description