Happy December!

Here it is, barely midnight and now it's officially the first of December! Wow! Brian and I play this little game we got from my parents; I guess it's the "Happy Month" game. We compete to see who is the first to wish the other one a happy month on the first day of the new month. In March, Brian waited until it was midnight in the US because I was there. When we talked on the phone at 5 a.m. (during Sam's early morning feed), he casually mentioned the time and then said, "Happy March!" In September, he set the alarm for midnight so he could wake up and tell me. But I saw him setting it, so then we both waited it out till midnight. I heard the alarm first and was quickest on the draw. He got me in October, and I got him in November -- just barely.

And now here we both sit at the computers, when we should be fast asleep. Since it was fairly close to midnight we decided we better stay up and see this thing through. Lucky me, I noticed it was 11:59 and waited nonchalantly for the time to turn. "Happy December!" I said. Brian looked down at his computer to make sure it wasn't premature. Yep. I got him.

Now we can start using our cutest-ever advent calendar that we got at Costco a couple weeks ago. I'm soooo excited about it. It has little woodened decorations that go on the tree and around the roof of the house. It also has places to hide little candies (which I've already started doing). Let the Christmas season begin!



We got our Christmas tree this past Saturday, and I've been slowly decorating it this week. I got the finishing touches put together last night before bed. The room looked so cosy and festive I took a few pictures just to remember how nice it is. I'm glad I did, because the tree FELL OVER today! Yep. Brian had just walked out the door to work, and Samantha and I came back in after saying goodbye just in time to watch it topple over into the couch. Woops! We put it back up again, almost as pretty as the first time.

I looked out the window...

Samantha just LOVES looking out the window! Because we live so high up, it actually makes me a little nervous. But when I have time to supervise closely, I lift her up and let her have a peek around the neighborhood. She loves banging on the glass, licking it, and chewing on the cord to the blinds. It's pretty funny. There's a school across the way, and sometimes she can see the kids outside playing, and gets quite excited to watch them.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

I took a few pictures this past Sunday as we were lazing around the house after church. I thought I'd share, just so people can see what we're usually up to on a Sunday afternoon.

After a good nap for all of us, here's Samantha and Daddy, working together on the computer. Sam was really excited to be Dad's helper... she loves pushing the buttons. In fact, she tries to be quite sneaky and keep eye contact with us while her little fingers go roaming over to the keyboard. Yes, she loves technology. Every time we visit someone, she's quick to check out their computer set-up and see if she can access a mouse, keyboard or printer without difficulty. Clever girl.

This picture shows off Samantha's two little bottom teeth quite nicely. If you zoom in, you can see them. She still doesn't have those top teeth in yet, but we think they're on the way. Sam loves to use her teeth to bite apples. She'll crawl around with a whole apple in her mouth, biting off bits of the peel and spitting them on the floor so she can eat the good part. She tried it with an orange a couple of times, but wasn't very happy with the results. Doesn't she look quite impish in this picture? I love it.

Here's Samantha and her favorite little bear who now goes EVERYWHERE Sam goes (including the grocery store and church); we named him Sox. And yes, he is most definitely a boy, even though he's pink. He has been through some rough stuff recently. Last week he got vomited on, when Sam wasn't feeling so well. Then he had to have his first "bath" and spend a day on a shelf to dry out. Samantha was extra glad to see him after his long absence, and hauled him up and down the stairs in her mouth all day yesterday, lucky Sox. We like to sneak him into her crib after she's asleep, so he's there as a surprise for when she wakes up. We can always tell when she wakes, because she squeals to greet Sox and then starts jabbering away at him. Cute.

This last one is Samantha trying to get the camera from me. She really, really likes the camera and thinks it should be her toy. Notice her little tongue sticking out... this is a new trick of hers. When she's concentrating really hard on something, out comes the little tongue in that crooked angle. She does it while climging the stairs, especially if she's dragging a toy or an article of clothing (usually her coat) upstairs with her.

failed blogging attempts

Hi. So, I've tried to get something to post two other times recently, but it hasn't worked. So here I go with a little test to see if this works.

I've also recently been informed that I need to respond to the people who comment on my blog, so they know I actually read the comments and enjoy what they have to say. Oops. I was not aware that was part of blogging etiquette, so my late apology to those who wonder if I ever read comments on my page. Yes, I do read them and love them. I'll do better about writing back in the future.

Cheerio, and hopefully I'll have more picts to post soon, if this works!

Primary Children's Program

Yesterday at church was the Primary Children's Program for our ward's sacrament meeting. Since I'm in charge of the Primary, it's all I've been thinking about for the past month! My first counselor (and great friend) Jenny and I started creating a script/outline back before Halloween. I typed all the kids' parts up and gave each parent a letter explaining what their children were supposed to do and how the parents could help. Then I did follow-up calls and reminders every Sunday to make sure everyone was getting ready. Jenny put together posters for all the songs, and we both made some visual aids to go with the different speaking parts and songs.

Our theme for the program was "I Will Trust in Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ: Their Promises are Sure." We keyed in specifically on "Promises" and talked about the promises the Lord gave us through the scriptures, the promises we have through the prophets, and the promises we have through the Saviour. I felt pretty good about the content, but I was nervous about the kids actually pulling through and not getting too rowdy. (We have a bit of a reverence problem, most Sundays).

Well, last Sunday we had the "dress rehearsal" in the chapel. In a few words... it was a nightmare. Brian said it went okay, but I was reeeeaaallly frustrated by the time it was over. (To give an idea, we ended 20 mins early and just let the kids go outside and run wild so that I didn't have a meltdown. not good.) It was especially hard because we were short-handed. Jenny had to work at the last minute, our assigned piano player ended up getting sick (thankfully Brian was able to fill in, bless him), one of the two teachers we have was out of town, and the mother who was going to help had to teach the adult Sunday School. So, we had one child throw a full-on tantrum on a bench, one child cried through two or three songs, with her mom holding her in her seat, two kids yelled "NO" really loudly every time we asked them to do something, and another kept getting out of his seat and running around the chapel. We only have 9 kids total, so this was pretty much the whole crowd acting manic. Needless to say, I was disheartened going home, wondering if we could pull it off in the real performance.

Well, yesterday was the big day. And....
It was GREAT! Seriously! I never even imagined it would go so well as it did. We had three kids who didn't end up being able to come, but we just excused them and read their parts for them anyway. Even though there were just six kids up there, they sang really loudly and knew all the words to the songs. When it was their turn to give their parts, they all spoke clearly and said everything just right. We had the bishopric sing along with us for part of "Follow the Prophet", and the audience sang along with a new song, "Prophets and Apostles." I could not believe how smoothly it all went -- no crying, no tantrums, no running around... Just sweet, innocent children, sharing their testimonies about the scriptures and the Saviour. It was a beautiful day!

Little Walker

Today (Sunday) was a red letter day for little Samantha. This morning she decided she was ready to start WALKING! Not just one or two steps, but MANY steps, ALL OVER the place, ALL DAY LONG! Yay for Samantha Susan!! We had an early morning meeting at church. As usual, we were letting her crawl around in the room while the group discussed things. Brian got my attention and pointed at Sam, who was standing up with a glue stick in her hand (she'd been rummaging through my church bag). Two seconds later, she was walking across the room, glue in hand, to investigate the car seat. All day at church people kept stopping us, saying, "Look! She's walking!" Yep, and she just started today. We're very excited about this.

Busy days

It seems like we've been really busy these last couple of weeks. Brian's work has been crazy, and I've been on the house hunt with increased intensity. We looked at three more yesterday, and have viewings for two more tomorrow. If you're interested, check out this Website of the place Brian wants us to live: www.princessparkmanor.net. Believe it or not, it's affordable ... no more than we're paying now! Shock! Anyway, that's what's been happening with us lately.

Sam's been busy, too. She's just cruisin' around, getting into whatever she can find. Here she is with her church backpack, all strung out! I put her in the living room while I was getting breakfast ready in the kitchen. I came back just two minutes later, and she had strung her pack all across the living room. Most impressively, she'd found the ziplock full of breadsticks, somehow opened it up, and was helping herself to a little pre-breakfast snack! Clever girl! (Our Brazilian friend says, "she's very cleverly.")
Sam and I went shopping last week to find a winter coat for Samantha. We found a goodie! It was the last one of its kind, on a great sale, and was just her size. Yes, it's true, it is pepto bismal pink. But I think it's adorable, and Sammie thinks she looks pretty cute in it, too... she was strutting around the house in it for a bit after we came home. It even has little mittens attached with buttons. How cute is that!?!

A new favorite...
I've been wondering when Samantha would pick a "favorite" toy... We know other babies (like Brielle) who have had a favorite for months now. Well, it finally happened last week. We are proud to announce Samantha's favorite toy is her little stuffed Boston Red Sox bear, a gift from our friends Becky and Tim. Who knew she'd be a Sox fan, so early?! She carries it around in her mouth most of the time (like a mommy dog carrying its pup), and squeals whenever she sees it. She even climbs the stairs with it. I think it's adorable... though it's getting a little disgusting from being "mouthed" so often. Anyway, GOOOO SOX!

Last picture is of poor Daddy Brian, busiest of all. He's fast asleep on the couch after three all-nighters in a row. He came in and sat down to veg for a minute while I put his dinner on a plate. I hurried, but wasn't fast enough... (Was it wrong of me to take this picture?)
 

Bottom drawer helper

Here's our little helper, cleaning out mom's sock drawer.

Video experiment

One of our friends' sites has a cool video of their baby. I'm experimenting with our site, trying to upload videos and such. This is just my first attempt. Hope it works.

Click here for a video of Sammie playing with a wet wipe.

Kam's Movie Day

For some reason, when Brian is out of town, my life seems to lose all sense of structure and schedule. Not that there was much there to begin with, but I find myself puzzled at my lack of direction and sometimes motivation. Time to bring out the list of "to-do's" I know, but not this week...

Brian was in Istanbul for work for a few days this week. Instead of revisiting my ever-ending list of things I should be doing while he's away, I decided to indulge in the lack of purpose. I proclaimed Friday my Movie Day. In the space of 24 hours (beginning at midnight Thurs. night), I watched three movies. Those who know my daily routines would know that is a very excessive amount of movie watching for me. I can't remember the last time I watched three movies in a day (btw, Pride and Prejudice does not count, just for the record; it's long, but it's still just ONE movie). I thoroughly enjoyed all of them and find myself still thinking about all of them. So I share my thoughts, by movie:

1. The Prince of Egypt: Alicia and Randi would be surprised to know I'd never seen this one until this week. (I bought the Nashville edition soundtrack three years ago and was cruelly ridiculed as a cartoon nerd by my two best friends, can you believe!?) Okay, so it's the typical Moses story in Hollywood animation style. I loved it, and I thought it did a lot of justice to the elements of faith, courage, and principle, as the story in the Old Testament does. I especially liked the details of Moses' life as Raamses brother. Although that part was fabricated, it made me think about the relationship they might have had, and the courage it must have taken Moses to own his heritage and turn his back on his life as an Egyptian. It really illustrated the strength of his faith in a beautiful way. I also loved the song "Miracles" and the way it portrayed his sister, Miriam, as believing in him so completely. Great message.

2. A Walk to Remember: Another one I should have seen years ago but didn't. It brought me back to high school days, trying to fit in and figure out who I wanted to be. I like how the girl in the film has such confidence in herself and others. She's a little bit idealistic in some ways, but accepts her reality as well. She has a "list" of things she wants to do in life. The boy in the film is so sweet, helping her achieve her goals and dreams. It made me want to dig out my old journals and revisit some of my "lists." (You may be surprised to know that "live in London" is actually on one of those lists! ... along with "Learn to ice skate," "Learn a foreign language," and "graduate from college.") So, that movie made me think about making the most of every day, remembering my dreams, and appreciating the people who love me.

3. The Devil Wears Prada: I hired a babysitter and had a girls-night-out with a few friends from the church, and we went and watched it at the theatre. (Aside: paying the babysitter cost more than paying for dinner and a movie. weird... the things I never thought about when I was single.) So, this is a total chick-flick, kinda silly. It's not one I'd fully recommend, although I did enjoy it. Synopsis -- frumpy girl who doesn't care how she looks gets a very demanding job at a fashion magazine and ends up buying into the "looks are everything" idea for awhile. Her job becomes her life and her personal life starts falling apart before she realizes she's lost sight of the things that really matter to her. I liked this one because it hits home in some ways; how easy it is to lose focus and get priorities mixed up. Also, the girl in the film (Anne Hathaway) feels like she doesn't have a choice with most of the things that happen to her -- her boss pushes her into a lot of sticky situations, her peers demand things of her, etc., until her life is just taken over with this job she "didn't really care about." It made me think about how easy it is to feel like the victim and blame circumstances for the way things are, rather than accepting responsibility for my choices. Good points to provide a little bit of introspection, I thought.

Anyway, that was my Movie Day. It gave me some good food for thought.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, from our little cheerleader! Go Cougars!
Hopefully everyone had a Happy Halloween in the States. I love seeing all the pictures of the kids' cute costumes. And this year, we had our own little trick-or-treater! Samantha was a little BYU cheerleader, in a special costume sent by her very kind, devoted BYU-fan, Aunt Janice. The outfit is sooo cute, I'm sure she'll be a little cheerleader more than once this fall -- not just for Halloween.

Brian LOOKS like he's just about to take Samantha trick-or-treating in this picture (above), doesn't he? Well, actually, he was just about to leave for work, and that's the last he saw of his little Cougar all day. Sad, sad. But at least he DID get to see her decked out, eh?

I thought it'd be cute to have some little pom poms to go with the outfit, so I got this goofy little headband(below), intending to cut off the froofy ends for her to hold, like a real cheerleader. Well, I put the headband on her, and she thought it was the COOLEST thing ever, so we just left it... I think it works. Perhaps more cheerleaders should take a cue?

I just wrote the details of our Halloween day in an email to my friend, Amber, which I'll share here, in case anyone wants the WHOLE story of our Halloween (not that it was that exciting, mind you):

Sam wore her costume all day, since it was so cute. We made pumpkin (i.e. round) sugar cookies at a friend's house (which turned out poorly because we had to use lard instead of shortening, which tastes terrible, but they don't have any shortening in this country. bummer.) Then we took naps. Then I made a pumpkin pie (which was one of my best cooking efforts yet) and we took it to a party up the road with some other families from our ward. I stepped in dog poo right before we went into the party, then wandered around the whole time thinking, what is that smell? Didn't discover it was ME until I stepped in MORE on the way home, how embarrassing! So anyway, we came home, I put Sam to bed, then Brian came home from work at 10ish. Not too bad! But then he had to get up at 3a.m. and work and I never saw him again till this morning, poor guy.

That's all for now, folks. Happy November is here at last!

Willow Farm -- a country adventure

Last week a group of us (pictured above, minus me) took a little trip to a place called Willow Farm. It's an actual farm about 20 miles out of London, with horses, pigs, cows, sheep, ducks, etc. ... along with corn, pumpkins, hay, etc. Yes, those of you from "where I come from" are well aware of the makings of a farm. Apparently it's an item of great amusement for Londoners, who spend day after day in their urban city life.

Escaping to the country to see the animals is a popular thing to do, and it don't come cheap!! Adult tickets to Willow Farm are 9 pounds, 50 pence (sorry I can't find the pound sign. In US dollars, that's about $17.50 with the current exchange rate.) Kids get a discount rate of 5 pounds 50 pence (somewhere in the neighborhood of $9.50). Not cheap, as I was saying. Our visit cost a bit less, thanks to Stephanie, who has an annual pass with discount tickets. Oh, babies are free, thank goodness!

Well, with that price, we were determined to enjoy ourselves and soak up the full environment of THE FARM! We had a lot of fun, trapsing around picking our own pumpkins, getting filthy in the mud puddles, looking at the animals, petting them and even feeding some of them. Samantha especially liked the guinea pigs. I let her pet one, and she giggled and grinned, until I had to put him back because her "pats" on his head got a little bit too forceful for the poor little guy. (Aside, I think he looks a lot like Buddy the Second -- not to be confused with Buddy the First, who was sadly eaten buy our dog, Mesa.)


We got to ride in a wagon pulled by a great big green John Deer-looking tractor, called Tristan the Tractor. (A week later, Joyce's daughter, Abby, is still telling excitedly telling everyone "we rode on a green tractor!" cute.) Sammie spent most of her ride trying to climb OUT over the edge of the wagon, and I spent most of my time trying to keep her from doing just that.
Sam's favorite part was the kids' play section, where she finally got to roam free... there was a nice sandpit, some fences and little toy houses, and a great big vat of balls, as pictured. Yes, the vat of balls is an addition I don't remember being a part of the farm of my youth. I guess when they charge admission, they have little extra perks that ya just don't get on the REAL farm, eh?

Sammie's newest tricks

Staying at home with Samantha has to be one of the most rewarding, satisfying experiences of my life! We have so much fun together, and she is just so wonderful and amazing to me. Everyone always reminds me, enjoy her while she's little, she'll grow so fast. Yes, I am enjoying her. And yes, I'm very aware how fast she's growing. Just last week Brian and I spent time looking at her newborn pictures and videos. She's already changed soooo much -- almost a completely different little person. I just wish I could capture these moments forever. Here are just a few pictures and paragraphs to share some of the latest greatest from our little ten-and-a-half-month-old Baby Little (one of her many nicknames)....

Here Sammie is displaying her TWO little teeth, both on the bottom row. I don't know if you can see them really well, but if there's a way to zoom, you definitely will notice them. We think she may be cutting a third, this time on top. She's chewing on anything and everything she can find... clothes, couches, the fireplace, the coffee table, etc. Most recently, she's taken a liking to her baby food jars. She's not so great about eating what's in them (mom gets lots of spits and raspberries), but she loves to suck/chew the outside of the bottle and lid. Funny girl.



On par for her age, Samantha is quite adept at getting into every drawer, closet, or cupboard she can find. Just this week she emptied her bottom dresser drawer, my sock drawer, and the tupperware cupboard all in one day. Here she sits with the tupperware. Our kitchen space is limited, so we also store potatoes with the tupperware (odd, I know). Sam had bitten little bites in two or three potatoes before I got the bag from her... In this picture, I think there's still a potato sitting right behind her. (Aside: tonight, Brian and I distinctly heard her say "tato" -- of course we knew that was short for potato, as any good Idahoan/Londoner baby would say, even though there were no potatoes around when she said it, hmmm.)

Cute as a button! Since seeing her little cousin, Ashton, all dressed up in ribbons and bows, we decided Sammie might enjoy a few hairpieces of her own. As long as I can distract her immediately after getting it tied in her hair, she's pretty good about leaving it in, at least for a little while. Today she wore a bright pink bow that matched the trim on her little green jumper. She got several compliments at church. We think she's cute, bow or no bow -- just for the record.

Samantha's latest new trick is that she can wave bye-bye! She doesn't just move her arm up and down, she waves those little fingers open and closed. It has to be the cutest thing I've ever seen. She waves at Brian in the mornings when he goes to work, sometimes. And tonight we had dinner with friends and she waved as they left. What's just a little bit funny is that she waves most often when she's in her high chair eating a meal. I don't know if it's just because I'm sitting right across from her at eye level, and she has an audience -- or if maybe she thinks it's somehow related to food. Whatever it is, I'm encouraging it because I just love to see how excited she is every time she moves those little fingers, open shut open shut. This picture below is NOT the best of either me or her, but it's the only one of the wave I've managed to catch on film. (She usually freezes up and smiles for the camera.) Wave bye bye, Sammie!

Sammie and Ashton in Wales

I have to add some cute shots of the very cute babies from our trip to Wales, don't I? Here's Samantha having a taste of mom and daddy's ice cream cones on Saturday afternoon in Ludlow. She couldn't bring herself to smile for the camera because she was too focused getting MORE of that delicious stuff! (Dad's strawberry didn't show up and make quite as much of a mess as Mom's chocolate!)

Ashton loved being carried by her dad all over the place. Her cute little hat she's wearing in this picture got lost during our tour of the castle while she was asleep in a sling on Brent's chest. But lucky for Ashie Baby, she has a very persistent daddy who went back and FOUND the hat in a top tower window well before we left!
Thankfully, the girls enjoyed much of the drive home with a big, long nap in their car seats. That meant we all enjoyed the drive home more. They were both really good little travelers, for most of the time. It's true, we go a lot slower with babies than we used to on our own. But they sure add some good entertainment and it's fun to have them along.

When we got home, Samantha and Ashton played with their toys together... for a few seconds, until Samantha rolled over and started attacking Ashton's face right after this picture was taken. They just haven't learned how to play together very well yet... maybe next time they hang out, they'll be a bit more sociable? We loved watching them together. 

Wales 3 -- Caernarfon Castle

According to the guide books we've read, Wales is famous for having more castles per square mile than any other country in the world. In the little coastal area where we stayed, there were four grand castles within 20 miles of each other, all built in the 1000s! Very old, and very cool!! We visited Caernarfon Castle (recommended by our Thousand Places to See Before You Die book). It's in ruins, but all the towers are still intact, and the stair cases around the ramparts are all functional. We climbed all over the place and explored all the towers.
It was a rainy day, but it seemed kind of fitting, for the cold wet stone of the castle just seemed to match the dreary sky. Brian and I both agreed the rain and mist added to the mood of the place. (But it didn't add to the picture-taking or the baby-care needs).

From the top of the tower, we could see all around the surrounding country side. The castle is built on an inlet, and is surrounded on three sides by water. Notice how the boats are floating in the bay/river beside the tower.
I like the comparison of these two pictures. These are the same boats we could see from the top of the tower. Only, the tide went out while we were visiting, and all the boats were pretty much parked on the shore by the time we came back to our car! We noticed they were all resting on their keels, and most of them had two keels -- probably designed specifically for that purpose. We thought it was interesting. You can sort of see it in this picture if you look closely at the boat behind Brian. (Notice Sammie loving the water!) 

Wales 2 -- A place to stay

Once we finally arrived at the coast, we had to do a lot of looking before we finally found a place to stay. Apparently there were a few conferences going on there for the weekend, because a lot of the places we looked at were full! I think we checked 6 or 7 different hotels in different towns before we finally found our place. It turned out to be a great little B&B right on a gorgeous half-moon beach! Our room had a little balcony that overlooked the charming village and the mountains behind. (We found out later that our balcony was actually the fire escape for the entire building -- lucky we didn't have to use it!) Brian and Sam walked out on it for a picture before we went to church.

This is the beach right in front of our hotel. We literally walked out our front door, down the boardwalk, and there we were! It was perfect! We didn't get to spend much time investigating, but we loved what we saw while we were there.

We went to church at a nearby little Welsh village. It's always so nice to have the familiarity of the church wherever we end up. The topic for the meeting was Believing the Saviour, Jesus Christ. Sam ate her Sunday shoes during the entire meeting.

Brian always likes to get a picture of the church buildings we see. I thought I'd post this one for him. 

Weekend in Wales

This past weekend we took a little road trip with Brent and Jenalyn to the north coast of Wales. We had such a good time, driving along and talking, enjoying the scenary together, etc. It's a trip we definitely want to do again, when we can stay a bit longer and relax. There was so much to see there, and the countryside was gorgeous!

The first night we got a late start (I'll spare you the details of Brian's unavoidable work adventures on his scheduled vacation day). We stayed in Burmingham and woke up just six miles from Cadbury World -- you guessed it, the home of Cadbury Chocolate!! We were so excited to go on a tour, but then we found out the wait to get in would be at least an hour, and the expected tour length was 3+ hours. Since we were on a trip to Northern Wales and not Cadbury World, we opted out. But just imagine the chocolatey dreams we had as we drove along after leaving there. mmmmm.... good!



We stopped in Ludlow, described as "the loveliest little village in England" in our Thousand Places to See Before You Die book. It was really charming, with quaint old buildings, cobbled streets, and even an old castle in ruins. We took pictures of it all, as you can imagine, but I'm only sharing highlights here.
Okay, so getting to the coast took a lot longer than we anticipated, but we finally made it -- about 5:30 Saturday night. We saw an exit that said "Beach" and headed over. It wasn't the most beautiful coast (it got much better as we drove along), but it was so fun to smell the sea, feel the sand, and collect a few shells.
As we were walking along the beach, two Welch guys came up to warn us the sand wasn't very stable in that area. There were huge mud pockets that were hard to detect and could be dangerous -- if you get stuck in the mud as the tide comes in, it can be a problem because in some parts, the tide comes "faster than ten horses can run," he explained in a cautious voice with wide eyes. (We later wondered amongst ourselves whether ten horses can run faster than one?)

I asked if I could take both their pictures, after they had informed us they were two of the best live bait diggers in North Wales! They were practically famous, don'tcha think?! (Aside -- the worms they were collecting were disgusting! They were about as thick as my baby finger and as long as my forearm... and black and slimy and gross! they were sucking them up with an air pump thing they would poke in the sand, suck, then spit out on top of the sand. It looked like a lot of work for the creepy crawlies.)