Playing Mystic

"You sit in your house," Sis directs me towards a chair on our deck, before rushing back to the water table.  There, she fills a little cooler with water and plastic sea animals.  On the other side of the table, Bud is similarly filling a bucket.  

"Close your eyes," she continues.  I hear the scraping of our outside toy bins on the wooden slats.

"Okay.  Hi!  We're from Mystic Aquarium.  And we're going to show you animals that live in the wild water."  And they both procede to tell me about the fish, frogs, octupus, and sharks in their containers, spreading them out on the lids of their impromptu tables.  Bud notes that his fish like to swim, frogs like to hop ("I've got to love one person til I stop . . . ").  Sis introduces her whale shark as the "gentlest shark in the ocean" who gives kisses to people instead of eating them.

I get to ask questions about where the animals live and am told I can visit Mystic Aquarium on another day.  Then they pack up and leave, dumping the animals and water back into the water table.  I'm beckoned over to visit and admire the animals in their marine habitats.

But soon, it starts all over again.  "Sit in your house and close your eyes."

Who would have thought that months after the docent from the Aquarium visited their school that they would channel the experience into a spring afternoon play session?