a peek inside the fishbowl

“You know why I like the girl’s changeroom at the pool?” asks Sarah.
“No, why?”
“Because it’s the only place you let me take my pants off in public.”

I think this illustrates our afternoon rather nicely.

…

As you can see I baked some bread (!) and then we went to the butterfly exhibit at Carleton, which was very interesting. The kids loved it and although I’m not exactly a Bug Lover I thought it was cool too.

It’s not too late to go! It’s on until October 13. If you go (and I do recommend it) :

• Go early! The crowds were crushing.
• Admission is free, and parking on campus is free on weekends. Otherwise it’s pay parking.
• Leave your coat in the car (if you’re parked near at P11), or be prepared to leave your layers on a chair between exhibits. These beauties are topical in nature, and it is so humid in there you’ll wonder why you bothered straightening your hair.
• Bring your camera. You never know when a butterfly will decide to land on your head.
• Do not panic if a butterfly lands on your head. If you panic, swat, and accidentally kill it, 100+ people will be very very angry with you.
• Orange slices, yes or no? Some people brought orange slices as food for butterflies, but I’m not entirely sure if they were very effective at luring them in.
• After you’re done with the butterflies take a short stroll down to the river. Wait for the O-train to come across the bridge (how many times can you say you had a train run over your head, NOT MANY I BET!), watch the ducks (you might see swans!) and enjoy the view. You won’t be sorry you did.

Mark took the girls with him to Canadian Tire yesterday to pick up a few things we needed. CanTire has a promotion right now called JumpStart. The money from the sales of a special $2.00 tennis ball (pictured here), will help kids in need participate in organized sports and recreation. A great idea.

Customers are given this info at the cash and asked if they want to donate. The cashier Mark got yesterday gave the girls each a ball and explained that someone ahead of us had bought a bunch of balls (20?) and had asked to give them out to the next bunch of children in line. Isn’t that nice?

The balls themselves don’t seem to be super-bouncy, which is important when you’re a kid with a ball in hand. But all is not lost. When you were a kid, did you ever play with a dead tennis ball wedged in the cut-off leg of your mother’s old pantyhose? I did, all the time.

It’s crazy simple:

1. 1. Take a pair of old pantyhose and cut off one leg.
2. 2. Push a tennis ball as far up into the toe as it will go.
3. 3. Tie end.

That’s it. And, if you cut off the other leg, and stuff it with a second ball, you GET TWO.

I bet, if you were so inclined, you could tie a ribbon to the end to make a longer, fancier tail. For the sake of today’s post I’m calling this a rocket ball but I doubt that this is what it was actually termed. I think we just called it a-tennis-ball-in-your-mom’s-old pantyhose. (My mother bought ones that came in a plastic egg, remember those? Ha.)

Not only is the rocket ball great for winding up like a lasso and for throwing long distances, but we also used it to play with it against a wall, holding the loose end while flinging the ball wildly all around us. I’m fairly certain there was a song that accompanied this action – while the ball flew dangerously to either side, above our heads and between our legs – but it eludes me right now.

I was at Tiggywinkle’s (a local toy store) the other day and saw something similar. It was in the section of the store that has loot bag loot; smaller toys like wind-up toys, dice, paper butterflies, etc. This rocket-ball type toy was about 18 inches long (I’m guessing) and made of brightly coloured nylon. The toe (or what would normally be the toe if this was made out of old pantyhose) was a little more aerodynamic. It came down into a loose cone shape, which was also made of nylon and filled with some kind of beans. The cone was covered in a layer of foamy material, perhaps so it would hurt less on impact (?). It was pretty lightweight, and I wondered if it had enough heft to go any kind of distance. I glanced at the price, $1.99. Considering what it was, I totally thought that was a fair price and thought about buying it for the girls. 

I didn’t grab it right away, we were there on a birthday-gift buying mission, but I wandered over a second time and took it in my hand for a closer look. I realized I had misread the price. It wasn’t $1.99, it was actually $11.99. Twelve bucks for something I could make with a tennis ball in an old sock.

I didn’t see where it was made, but I’m willing to bet Tiggywinkle’s version isn’t made locally. It was probably made it China. I bet it cost a quarter to make and ship. I was disappointed. Tiggywinkle’s is pricier, I’ve always known that, but it’s one of the best toy stores in Ottawa. They carrry interesting toys that aren’t found at Toys R Us or at major department stores, and it’s in my neighborhood, which is primarily why I shop there. But this was such a blatant rip off. Gah.

But here’s the question, I’m wondering now, if it was made locally, would I have paid the twelve bucks? Or would I still shrug it off and make my own?

Regardless, I’m still going to save my next pair of tights (I have a silvery pair that is past its prime) and stuff it with a two-dollar tennis ball.