Kaitlyn In Waders; Kaitlyn the Diplomat

Two visits by Kaitlyn covered on this post.

It was the visit in early June of 2008 that taught me that Kaitlyn was a diplomat good enough to rival the best in the U.S. State Department.

Pic of the Day

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Kaitlyn Visit 4/25/08 -Kaitlyn Sees First Non-Animated Movie

The movie was "Nim's Island" and the review for it as well as "Kung Fu Panda" is HERE .

The weather was nice in late April 2008 but it was not time for the beach. Kaitlyn and I visited our favorite dollar store and went to a movie.

Below some pics from the visit and below this, a short movie of Kaitlyn showing off fine head attire in the Dollar store.







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Kaitlyn Visit 6/11/08-Kaitlyn As Diplomat

On this most recent visit by beloved granddaughter Kaitlyn Mae, I once again took advantage of a most delightful form of entertainment available right here in the swamps of Delaware.

I am a member of the Delaware Nature Society. This is an organization that I belong to mostly by my affiliation with the National Wildlife Federation in my position as a Backyard Wildlife Steward. So it's not like I joined the Delaware Nature Society specifically but through my roundabout membership, I chanced across the best form of entertainment for children Kaitlyn's age which is also educational and the best deal in town.

Here's the link to the Delaware Nature Society and here's the link to Abbotts Mill Nature Center , which Kaitlyn visited on this visit in early June in this Year of our Lord 2008.

I'd signed up for one of the "classes" offered for 4-6 year olds at Abbotts Mill before. At the time I was unsure how this would unfold but the session only cost $7.00 and was to last for an hour and a half.

At that time Kaitlyn and I were the only ones who showed up for the scheduled class but I was positively thrilled at both the beautiful locale and the nature lessons taught.

This was in 2006 and the day was ungodly hot. Still I had paid my $7.00 in advance and I do tend to keep an eye out for forms of entertainment that Kaitlyn and I both enjoy. I could not believe how beautiful Abbotts Mill was. Plus it's been modified to allow human access to all its beauty but without compromising the eco-system of the bugs and critters living happily in this beautiful piece of our planet.

There are three such "nature centers" managed by the DNS. As I understand it, the land was left to the DNS and they are run by dedicated employees trained to teach as well as maintaining the centers for visitors.

Even though it was just Kaitlyn and I during that first nature session in 2006, it was perhaps the best seven bucks I ever spent. Kaitlyn got one-on-one tutoring from a delightful lady who was patient and enthusiastic with her subject and her student. Kaitlyn had a wonderful visit and she was eager to hear that again we would be visiting Abbotts Mill for a session designed to teach the children how to catch critters with nets.

A few other children attended this session but still it's sad as all get out. Abbotts Mill is but about 25 miles from the famous beaches of Rehoboth Delaware and what a great afternoon it would be for young tourists in the summer. I get a nice booklet from the DNS with all the upcoming sessions, by age and locale, listed with dates and times. This method of pushing the nature sessions works for Delaware residents but a great big tourist industry is left off of the publicity scheme.

Which is, frankly, okay with me because Kaitlyn adores these sessions and the small classes delight me. It's the best money I could spend, penny for penny.

At this class, Kaitlyn donned waders, yes she did...those "boot pants" fishermen wear in the water. Yes Abbotts Mill had these things to fit a four year old.

Below some pics of Kaitlyn and below this, a movie made at Abbotts Mill, including Kaitlyn in her smashing waders as she roams the streams and creeks searching for critters.







Besides our visit to Abbotts Mill, Kaitlyn and I went to see "Kung Fu Panda" and afterward, as I like to do, we went to Route 1's famous McDonald's Playland.

Kaitlyn loves McDonald's Playland, what 4 year old does not? I usually take a book and I order up a kid's meal for Kaitlyn and a sandwich for me. Kaitlyn takes off her shoes in the playland area and has a great time running around on all the playground equipment with the many other kids in attendance. I can read, eat and keep an eye on Kaitlyn.

Kaitlyn is, of course, very busy with her playing and running, so needed after sitting at the movies for almost two hours. But she stops by the table to eat some French fries from the kid's meal and to keep me apprised of what kid she's playing with and how awful the boys are.

On this visit to McDonald's playland, Kaitlyn said something I found intriguing and, oddly, beyond Kaitlyn's maturity as I would see it.

"That girl over there she's fun," Kaitlyn told me between bites of fries and sips from her apple juice. I'd noted she was playing with one little girl and they seemed to be getting along quite well.

"She asked me if I would be her "best friend forever"",...or BFF in cell phone text talk. "Since she's nice I told her I would be but ...you know...," Kaitlyn told me, with a shrug.

I was surprised, first, that Kaitlyn seemed familiar with the term "best friend forever", a kind of childish phrase used between young girls and two, Kaitlyn was telling me, withOUT specifically telling me, that she only told the girl she'd be her best friend forever to be nice, that Kaitlyn was not so naïve to believe she'd likely ever see the girl again. I told Kaitlyn how proud I was of her and how nice that was to pledge to be her best friend forever even though she knew that was highly unlikely.

Kaitlyn looked at me quite seriously and said, "Well, I'm nice." She said it firmly as the truth that it is and seemed to be surprised that I didn't know that Kaitlyn is...well, nice.

She sure is nice and I'm glad she knows it. Four years old and a Diplomat to rival any in the United States State Department.

Heh.

More Kaitlyn posts HERE