It would be very difficult to make an insect ID app--a microscope is necessary to positively ID many insects even to the family level.

We are taking a trip soon, and I am looking for new audio books for my kiddos. They are 5, 7, and 10. Recent favorites include the Chasing Vermeer trilogy, The Matchstick Castle, The Carpet People, The Wind in the Willows, and Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass. Recent duds include The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew...well, I guess that was the only one they didn't like. If your kids liked the above stories, what are some others that they liked? Thanks.

I am currently reading a book that speaks to me, but I have the sense of humor of a 12 y/o boy so it may not work for you. It's called "Unf*ck Your Habitat" by Rachel Hoffman. It recommends NOT doing a giant cleaning marathon, but starting out the way you'll be continuing--short bursts of cleaning followed by a break. There are lists of things to clean and instructions for basic cleaning tasks, and directions like "clean all the sh*t off the top of your nightstand." I like it, many may not. lol

I thought it was fine, and I don't particularly enjoy complicated or convoluted language. lol.

I'm in the swears like a sailor camp, but there's definitely a time and a place. And T-ball practice is not the time or the place. lol

We used to drive to eighteen different stores for one thing each. The horror!

A trash can, an extra Nintento wii controller so the kids can all play Just Dance! together, and a nose hair trimmer. The trimmer is for dh, I swear. lol

I know that I'm supposed to hate Amazon, especially since I've worked at bookstores, including one that has since shut down, for multiple reasons but a big one being Amazon....but I still love it. Not especially for books--I tend to check my library, my local bookstores, and Better World Books before Amazon--but for all of the random stuff that one needs for life that necessitates going to a million stores for one thing each. Ordering online is orders of magnitude easier than dragging my kids into 27 stores for one thing. And we love Amazon music. Yeah, the interface stinks, but we're in the car a lot and having a variety of music keeps us sane.

What are the most useful add-ons? I recently bought a used Magiscope listed "for parts" for $25. It's actually in great shape, but it needs a new lumarod. Since I have to order a replacement lumarod, what else should I consider? I'm pretty sure I'll order the 10x eyepiece and the 10x objective, since my scope only had the standard 5x eye and 4x obj. Are any of the other accessories must-haves? Thanks.

In that case, I believe the guideline is "knee-high by 4th of July."

We have poison oak here. And unfortunately, it doesn't always look as distinctive as the pics posted above. I try to avoid anything vaguely viney with three or more leaflets and serrate or lobed leaf margins.

My 10 y/o son and I love to watch this guy's videos. He obtains military rations, some of them very old, opens them, and tries anything that he thinks is still "edible." We watched this one a few days ago. Enjoy!

I'm not particularly acrophobic, but driving over the Hoffstadt bridge made me pretty nervous. Ack. We really enjoy Mt. St. Helens (as you can probably see from my avatar) but it is an awfully long ride from Seattle, especially for kids who don't do well in the car. There are visitor centers at various points along the Hwy, and all are well worth a visit, if you go. Seaquest state park is a nice place to camp, if you wanted to make a weekend of it. I can't imagine driving down, visiting all of the sights, and driving back all on the same day.

I would say that it's on the adults to not take offense to kids' accidental conversational missteps. But it seems common that children are held accountable for not offending the adults in their lives. Our area is not an area where people use sir or ma'am, other than in a getting their attention sense--excuse me, sir, you dropped your hat--but I never thought of it as rude. But now I wonder if part of the reason my former neighbors who moved here from the deep south had such problems with the school system is that their kids were misread as rude when they were being polite. I had assumed that the problems they described were due to racism and bias against the mom who had trouble code-switching between AAVE and standard English. It was probably a combination of all of it. sigh. They ended up moving back down south, and a big part of the reason was the trouble with the schools.

Guy doesn't have a connotation of young age or lack of experience. "The boy I interviewed" would be the male equivalent of "The girl I interviewed."