This summer, we went to Toys R Us for the usual. Boys would get something Star Wars related, girls would get something Barbie related. (We have 6 kids) But then my wife had a genius idea. Instead of buying 6 little gifts everyone would forget in a week, we would buy one gift for the whole family. I wish I could tell you that we did not have at least one meltdown about not "getting their own" present, but with 6 kids under 9 years old, you are gonna have a meltdown every time you go to Toys R Us. Anyway, the one toy we decided on was the
Bugville Butterfly Garden
. Seriously, it has been awesome. We had to send off for our baby caterpillar friends and they arrived within a few days. Since that time, the developing critters have been a constant source of enthusiastic conversation. About a week ago, all of the caterpillars had that magic moment where they create their own cocoon. Then yesterday, we had our first butterfly birth. Simply amazing. To my surprise, my wife who usually prefers to crush insects, had a very soft heart when it came to keeping them in captivity. She even said, she preferred to kill bugs quickly, not starve them over time in captivity (even though there are plenty of super easy instructions on how to feed and acre for the butterflies included). So in a surprising and tender moment, the eight of us went outside and let our first butterfly go. It was a great. I look forward to the other four going free soon.
This year there has been a major competition for the best Avatar. Does it go to the beautiful James Cameron 3D Blockbuster, The M. Night critically blasted (renamed to The Last Airbender), or the lame Nickelodeon cartoon. Surprisingly the answer is definately the amazing cartoon. If you are looking for an epic story that is appropriate for kids and teaches honor and love and friendship, the cartoon is your best bet. Right now, you can get Netflix instant que for 10 bucks a month and watch the entire first two seasons of this brilliant kids cartoon. I am telling you, the adults will love it too. For ten bucks, you can immediately watch like 40 ours of the Avatar cartoon, plus plenty of other cartoons and movies. Avatar the cartoon is the best of the bunch.
