Pirates!

The summer reading program kicked off with the theme, "Oceans of Possibilities!" Fish, octopi, and pirates suddenly appeared. Books with pirates lined the stacks. Any book that had sea creatures was pulled off the shelf for children to see.

This coincided with my floundering (get the pun) around for a new Jazzy book. I decided that Jazzy would become a pirate. But now what? I can easily dress her like one and get some fun pictures. I can make a ship for her to sail in. What I am having trouble with is finding the words, and the idea, for the book.

I need your help. Shall I go with, "Jazzy Explores the Seven Seas?" (that might be hard to pull off because we can't literally visit the seven seas.) "Jazzy Finds the Treasure" (maybe bury a bone somewhere or she has to do certain tasks, like helping an old lady cross the street or bringing in the newspaper.) "Jazzy and the Treasure Map" (Jazzy finds a map to a treasure but at each corner, she gets a new clue and has to do some daring deed.) What about "Jazzy Escapes the Boredom!" (a book filled with craft ideas or game ideas?)

In the meantime, while I wait for the creative juices to flow, I am working on my Non-Jazzy book about the Water Cycle. Check out the video of it below. It's still a work in progress and if you have comments, I'd appreciate them. As for the Water Cycle, I know there are reports of anywhere from 3 to 5 stages, but I only included 4.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/582cbe_a29736f2a91842a2ba147fd2b04debcd/480p/mp4/file.mp4

School's Out for the Summer

On the last day of school, my children would sing, at the top of their lungs, the Chipmonk song, "School's Out for the Summer!" They looked forward to summertime nothingness.

Afraid my children would lose everything they learned, I filled the summer with educational activities. After several summers of visiting museums in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina, writing essays (yes, I made them write essays), finishing the summer reading programs, and limiting TV, my daughter finally spoke up. "Mom, we're done with school!" Those probably weren't her exact words, but I got the message. I think she was 14 and Ryan was 11.

Both of my children look back and remember those trips. Yeah, they griped and complained when we went, but in the end, it gave them experiences that helped build their characters.

So, I offer you, 41 things to do in the summer. There are many more things you can do, but Jazzy cannot do all of them so we stopped at 41. Keli, at Three Boys and a Dog, has a website full of activities. (Here is a list of so many more things you can do.)

If you complete Jazzy's list of summertime activities, email her and let her know. You might just get something fun back.

How to Train Your Human

Okay, listen up. I'll only say this once. Humans think they are training us, but in reality, they will do what we train them to do. Take fetch, for instance.

My human, who I will call mom (but she's not my real mom) throws the ball to me. I run after it because it's fun. After I pick it up I look at her. She's making all kinds of weird noises and yelling, "Come Jazzy" This is where most of my friends go wrong. They run back to their moms.

No! You cannot do that, well not every time, that is. Every once in a while you should, to let them think they are teaching you something, but the better thing to do is stand where you are and drop the ball. Eventually, they will understand that they need to come and fetch it themselves and throw it again.

And use your nose, friends. If the humans aren't carrying food, you don't have to do anything! Take it from me, they will soon realize that you work for treats and nothing else. Yes, you can, every now and then, listen and get a good pat on the head, but don't do that often or they will get used to it.

The last thing I want to explain is the food situation. Why they think that hard kibble they drop in our bowls is good for us, I don't know. Don't eat it. Humans are notorious for feeling sorry for us. Work on the LOOK. Put your ears down, tilt your nose down but look up with your eyes. For good measure, lift your paw. They can't help themselves when you do that and will, most likely, give you their food. It's softer, tastier, and much warmer to eat.

This ends the lesson for the day.

If you have any questions, bark out loud.