Kitchen Patrol and Water Rodents

Aunt Mimi guessed it - K.P. stands for Kitchen Patrol! This year, I'm going to let the cousins clean up the dinner mess and tidy up in the evening. If it's on the list, it's final. Don't even think about arguing! (I know you won't.)

K.P. Responsibilities (Dinner only - all the other meals, we do it like before)

1. Put away leftovers and other food
2. Throw out trash (we'll split it up into categories: burnable and non-burnable)
3. Wash, dry and put away dishes
4. Run the vacuum if needed
5. Rub Aunt Shannon's back for 15 minutes

Doesn't K.P. sound like a fantastic idea?

Regarding water rodents, I would like anyone who is planning to go on the Island Expedition (check the calendar to see if you're old enough) to prepare a bit before we go. Uncle Ken and I have some suspicions about the island, but since we've never been there this will be the first opportunity to see if our suspicions are valid. We think that beavers live on the island and that they've been harvesting trees. Your assignment is to research beavers and find out some facts.

Whoa! Slow down! Just take some brief notes - I'm not suggesting a REPORT, it's SUMMER for crying out loud! Bring the notes with you so we can determine if beavers live on the island. Some questions I have are: What is a beaver's habitat? What do they eat? What is their home called? Do they always build dams or do they sometimes not build them? Why do they chew on trees? Can they breath under water? How many live together in one place? Do they live a long time? Do they have a lot of kid-beavers at one time? What are kid-beavers called, anyway? I have more questions, but that would make it a report and we already decided that it's summer and reports are NOT COOL. Hopefully one or more of you can help me out with the information. If you do, the Island Expedition will be a blast!

I don't know about you, but whenever I think of beavers I think of the Beaver family in the book, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." That is one of my favorite books ever. I saw a special license plate once that said "Aslan's" on it. I though it was pretty clever. What do you think the driver was trying to say about herself?