And Ms. Abigail Goes to Bombay Hook

'Tis the season...for field trips. On Wednesday, May 9 (I know, that was almost a month ago; sorry.), Abby and her 2nd grade class, along with Mom, headed to Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge.


First, the class went to the saltwater pond. There, from a floating dock, the kids saw fish, a blue crab, an eel, and used nets to catch Grass Shrimp.

After lunch, they headed over to the freshwater pond. Unfortunately, outside from a few ticks, the kids didn't see much wildlife here.

Ultimately, Mom declared the day a success as none of her group fell in the water.

Mr. Alex Goes to Washington

On Friday, May 4th, Alex's 4th grade class, along with an army of parents, hitched a ride on 3 charter buses and headed for the nation's capital: Washington D.C.

After an uneventful 2hr bus ride, we landed smack in the middle of the mall; outside of the Museum of Natural History. Our primary interest for our limited free time lay elsewhere, though: The Air and Space Museum. After a short walk across the mall, we spent the majority of our time admiring things such as the 1903 Wright Flyer and the more recent SpaceShipOne.

When free-time ended, we re-boarded the buses for a guided tour of Arlington Cemetery. After a good deal of walking we viewed areas such as John F. Kennedy's grave and the memorials to both the Challenger and Columbia shuttle disasters. We were also able to view the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns. All of this was very interesting and very sobering at the same time.

From there, we boarded the buses again and headed back into D.C. for the WWII Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial, and the Korean War Memorial. Each of these impacted the children as it did the parents and raised much good discussion.

Obi-Wan has taught you well...

The best memorable quotes from the kids tend to originate from their younger years. It's not often that Alex, now 10, comes up with something this notable.


Sunday night, over dinner, we were discussing future pet names. Currently, we have 3 hamsters; 2 of which (and their wayward siblings) share Star Wars themed names. So Alex says;

"If we had a hamster that could hover, we could name it R2D2."

And Daddy's thinking, "If we had a hamster that could hover; EBAY!!!"

Taking the High Road

The entire Tokarski clan partnered with some very dear friends on Saturday, April 28th, for the first annual Walk the High Road for Autism at Bellevue State Park, sponsored by the Autism Society of Delaware. This walk was organized to help fund the expansion of ASD's services to meet the needs of the growing number of families in Delaware coping with autism.

Blessed with beautiful weather and feeling bold, we chose to partake in the long route which consisted of a 3.25 mile trek around the park. After successfully completing the walk (and not having to carry any children), we got to meet Rocky Bluewinkle, eat lunch, and hang out with our friends.

In the end, the walk raised more than $90,000 for this very worthy cause.