B Kind 2 Earth Day--April 22

Coming from a place of green alligators and long-necked geese, we are more than a little curious as to what native critters are in these parts.

In addition to the coyote I know I saw driving home late one night, (either that or dogs are really big here and they have lax leash laws) there are a lot of birds, squirrels, and horses. (Which I’m not sure are technically “native” but act like they own the place, so there you go.) There are also a number of trees, flowers and plant life that look vaguely familiar, but it’s been a decade since I’ve seen a tulip growing in the spring.

That’s why to celebrate B Kind 2 Earth Day on April 22, the kids and I will be visiting our local nature center at Warner Park to learn more about and appreciate our local flora and fauna.

Liking the B Kind to Earth Day page on Facebook is your way of making a commitment to be kind to our planet in your own way. It can be a trip to the nature center, or riding your bike or cloth instead of paper or plastic. Filling a bird feeder or planting a garden or whatever your family chooses to be conscious and kind to our earth on this special day. There are many fantastic partners in this cause, and it’s a wonderful opportunity to make a difference.

So like it, love it and be a part of it.

More thoughts on the spill

I've been doing a lot of thinking since Tuesday's discussion on TheMotherhood.com on the oil disaster, and as the first raindrops of Tropical Storm Bonnie start falling outside, I can't help but think of it more.

We're not expected to get much from this storm here in Tampa because the bulk of the wind is headed straight toward the spill and no one knows exactly what that means. Or at least not many are speculating on record.

And that's the sort of thing I learned from Tuesday's call--this is an unmitigated disaster, meaning no one really knows what is going on. While the focus has been on capping it (as it should) and getting billboard money for tourism (ridiculous at this point) much of what is going on remains unexamined.

We spoke to an official from the NWF, Jaime Matyas, who is helping with the efforts to save the wildlife. Remember when I said that while we were on Palm Island we saw much more wildlife in the water than ever? That wasn't my imagination-- the methane in the water is sucking up all of the oxygen making it impossible for sealife to survive in these "dead zones" and pushing many species inland.

A blogger that I have met in real life, Trisha Haas from MomDot.com took these photos around Pensacola Beach a few weeks ago. While the tar balls are frightening, to me that mysterious algae is more troubling. Is it from the dispersants? A by-product of something? Is it helpful or harmful and what happens when a fish eats it?

There are others trying to document the wetlands and mainstream publications trying to document BP's corporate recklessness.

But I think it's our job to document, report, talk, write and help as well.

There isn't an anchor organization that is leading up the clean-up efforts. There are just a lot of individuals and small charities working on a great big problem.

For me, I will be volunteering for the NWF's Coastal Volunteer Surveillance Team. At first I didn't think I was qualified, but I have eyes and I care--the only qualifications that matter.

And I will also be writing and posting and sharing and yelling.

Because the more information we get out there, the better.

(If you missed the talk, you can read the transcript here.)

Let's talk about this mess and what we can do about it

Tomorrow I'm going to be co-hosting a talk over on TheMotherhood.com regarding the oil spill crisis and what we as Gulf coast residents or just plain concerned humans can do.

If you are interested, please join me and many others for this open discussion at The Motherhood at noon, July 20th. It's free and open to all.

http://www.themotherhood.com/talk/show/id/62029

Text this

Please consider texting "WILDLIFE" to 20222 to donate $10 to help oil-infected wildlife through the NWF. I just did.

Here's more info from the
NWF.

Sometimes, we don't have to go very far to spend an afternoon in the great outdoors

Day 4 of our challenge.

Thank goodness there are lights on the field or Day 3

Not all of your outside time need be during the day.




Sometimes extra innings and deciphering the infield fly rule in Little League pushes a nice day outside into a nice night outside.

Be Out There Challenge Day 2

The second day of our Be Out There challenge was also the last weekday of Spring Break for us. While Stevie had all sorts of lofty goals for this vacation, Matty only wanted one thing: to play miniature golf.

An odd request, but easy enough to indulge.

So I cashed in some Juicy Rewards points for discount tickets to Captain Bligh’s Landing: a miniature golf course down in Clearwater.

Please note that Clearwater Beach during Spring Break is only second to the number of people who crowd Disney World on Spring Break. (See Friday's entry.)

But no matter, we braved the traffic circle--an insanely cruel contraption that reminds me of revolving doors on hotels--cool for minute to look at, but really, have you ever tried to push a stroller through? Not at all practical, and borders on decapitating. Anyhoo, I only went around four times before I figured out how to exit, and with a car full of vertigo-infused children, we went to Captain Bligh’s.

It’s a funny little place. An interesting historical fact about old Tampa Bay, after a night of pillaging the city and looting our treasure, pirates used to engage in that ancient seafaring tradition known as putt-putt.

Okay, I totally made that up, but I always wonder why so many miniature golf courses are pirate-themed since I can’t imagine Bluebeard taking a little pencil from his scabbard and writing down his par 3 score after a particularly tricky bank shot over a Sno Bowl colored waterfall. I’m not judging, but I suppose after many long nights at sea, pirates would be particularly inclined toward astro-turf and colored golfballs. Again, not judging.

But it was a gorgeous day, and we all had such a good time. Usually, Sean gets to do all of the putt-putting with the kids and I stay home with the baby, but today we brought her and she got to throw around a plastic club and a ball 3 centimeters from the hole.

And after an hour in that beautiful sunshine and few hundred strokes later, Matty proved victorious. We celebrated in a 1980 (it seriously could have been 1880) arcade with Skeeball.

Curiously, my Ms. Pac-Man and golf score were the exact same.


P.S. There are many moms taking this challenge and getting out there. You can read about their adventures as well:

Ashley Waldvogel Gaddy
Jennifer James
Liz Thompson
Rachel Matthews
Kim Moldofsky
Amie Hurst Adams
Asha Dornfest
Kristin Sundin Brandt
Anna Fader
Veronique Christiansen
Holly Ambrose
Debi Pfitzenmaier
Christine Koh
Cooper Munroe and Emily McKhann

Day 1 of unorthodox, yet perfectly Floridian challenge

You may think that just because we live in Florida--an hour's drive from the country's premiere theme parks--means that we are in Orlando every weekend.

Not really... just every other.

This week to kick off our Out There challenge, we went to Disney World for the day. Granted, I'm not sure this is what my friends at the NWF headquarters had in mind, but we did spend a great deal of time outside together yesterday. Here are my Twitter updates to prove it:





That 4-7 minute number I told you about earlier? We crushed that number just setting up the stroller alone.

We saw native wildlife.



We traveled to different climes.



We talked to the animals.



We went horseback riding.



We went to the mountains. (Splash, Space and Thunder.) And the sea. (Small World and the Pirates of the Caribbean.)

And while this outside may have also had a few plastic trees and animals of the animatronic variety, I did spend twelve hours with my favorite people in the beautiful spring sunshine.



We live in Florida, and that's how we roll.

Catching up before I get back out

Spring break officially began last Thursday, but I'm counting today as my official start date since homemade Pop-tarts and seventeen other dishes for three complete meals for 21 guests on Easter day in the midst of the great carpet project meant a lot of cooking, shopping, and cleaning. And cooking.

And so this week is a bit of a different pace than the last few. The weather finally turned beautiful, and it's time to get out there.

Literally.





I am proudly serving on on the National Wildlife Federation's advisory panel to help spread the word about the NWF's "Be Out There" campaign--encouraging kids and families to get outside. One of their sobering estimates suggests that most kids spend just 4-7 minutes outdoors per day. This is in contrast to 6 hours or more in front of some electronic device.

So I will be taking the challenge with my kids this week to see if we can bump up that 7 minute number to something much more respectable. I will be chronicling my efforts via webcam which should prove horrifying and interesting as well. In addition to exploring our own backyard, I'm finally going to visit all of the cool local spots that I've been promising them for years.

I don't know which of us will have the most fun this week.


Disclosure: I am not being paid to serve on this panel--just something I believe in and look forward to helping with this important effort.