Adventures of Toggin Tuck and Trixie

In this garden of toys, once the sun goes down
And the store is closed and no people are 'round,
Three makers of mischief will often be found.

The leader of the gang with his sharp little noggin
Has a pair of red boots and he goes by Toggin

When he walks through the forest he can hardly be seen
For his jacket and trousers are just the right shade of green.

The two other friends: a pair like no other
Are from a gnomish family and are sister and brother

Tuck is the oldest of this sibling crew
With a greenish knob on his hat made of blue

And Trixie his sister can hardly be led
She will steal the show with her suit orange-red.

Together these three make a wondrous team
Going on adventures that one can hardly dream

One such adventure happened just last night
It was utterly outrageous, even out of sight.

It all started on a clear cloudless night
And through the windows all the sky was in sight

Tuck's imagination was held by the stars
So he spoke to Toggin about traveling to Mars

Toggin's great-grandfather had been to outer space
So naturally he assumed he knew all about that place.

He said, "What we need first to go on our trip,
Is our very own, very reliable speedy space ship."

So together they schemed and together they planned
Of things that could fly and hopefully land.

After many long minutes they finally decided
On a plan of attack so they went off and tried it.

They crossed the store, to the scientific kits
and ripped them open in a creative little fit.

They mixed and they matched and poked and prodded
Whenever they felt satisfied their little heads nodded

The Lego-like pieces of the physics workshop
Made the frame of their ship from bottom to top.

Since they had no rivets or a scrap of steel
they held the ship together with a magnetic field

And to ensure it had fuel it seemed a safe bet
To make something up with the chemistry set.

They were finally ready after much experimentation
And they jittered and twittered with grand anticipation.

They got in the ship starting it up with a whir
And the world around them turned into a blur.

Then as if a thousand people suddenly said WHOP
The blurriness cleared and the whirriness stopped.

The space ship was gone, it simply disappeared
though it is far less simple than the event would appear.

The three tricksters were left alone on the floor
and everything seemed much bigger than before.

Tuck asked the question, "Why is everything so tall?"
And Trixie corrected him, "I think we got small!"

The magical WHOP shrunk them to a smaller size
They could barely believe it, it was such a surprise.

"We are oh so tiny, whatever shall we do?"
They sat and thought and didn't have a clue.

But Toggin jumped with a start and quickly took charge,
"We must explore this world so large!"

But alas it is late and time to go to bed
You may hear the rest of the story after you have rested your weary head.

To Be Continued.

The Final Frontier

In 1977, two space crafts were launched into the vacuum of space with two missions. Their primary mission was one of exploration. They each circled Jupiter and took some pictures then, taking the sling shot approach using the planets gravity, went hurling off to greet Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. After sending the images and astronomical data about the planets back to earth their mission was all but done. The only thing left for them to do at present is to record as much data about the edge of the solar system with what instruments they have until their power supply runs out.

By roughly 2025 the power supplies on either space craft will no longer be able to power a single system on the probes and they will simply be hunks of metal hurling through space at approximately 17 kilometers per second. By that point they will be permanently dedicated to their second and lesser known mission: First contact.

Beginning is 1975 Carl Sagan began collecting images and audio samples to be converted into an analogue recording and pressed on a golden record which was to be put on each of these space craft. The 115 images and greetings in 55 languages and 38 sound samples were selected to provide the best accurate representation of Earths cultures possible at that time. A copy of this golden record was put on each of the voyager space craft with hope that at some point some one will find it and listen to it and want to try and say hello.

The Ocean Deep

Amongst the continuous adventures that I go on inside the store, I have most recently been traveling to the deep oceans of Imaginationland. Our stuffed animal collection alone encompasses 7 species of shark, 2 species of turtle, 3 species of octopus, 5 species of ocean mammal, and the Giant Squid. Constantly looking at these creatures of the deep leaves my mind to wander to the marvels of the natural world that live in the least accessible portions of our planet.

Take for instance the Blue Whale. Here is an animal of such large proportions, that it is entirely possible to drive '68 Volkswagen beetle through its aorta. It's not like this is something you are likely to do, but if you happened to have an old beetle and a spare blue whale aorta lying around, it's an option for you. Its heart beats at approximately one beat per minute (assuming there is no car in it's aorta) and it's tale fin is about as wide as the wingspan of a small cesna airplane. That is amazing! And the beauty of it all is: it survives on eating krill, one the ocean's smallest creatures.

More strange friends of the deep are the Giant squid and its slightly larger cousin the Colossal squid. Here is an amazing creature. The largest known specimen of a colossal squid caught to date weighed almost 1,100 pounds and was approximately 33 feet long. Colossal squid have claws on their extended tentacles as opposed to suckers and have the largest eye of any known creature on the planet. The eye is approximately 16in. across. Imagine having that guy wink at you! And estimates based on evidence gathered from the stomachs of sperm whales suggest that they get much bigger than that.

The deepest parts of the ocean have remained untouched by humanity since the dawning of the earth and have remained, on the whole, undisturbed by the happenings of the surface due to the extreme nature of the environment. Each voyage down to the ocean floor (of which only a small fraction has been explored) reveals a new species. There are even a number of species that have been seen once and never seen again. The ocean is a wonderland of scientific discovery and in this wonderland, works of the imagination seem to take form.

I could prattle on and on about the mysteries and oddities of the deep, but at the risk of boring you the reader, I will leave you with the two of the biggest mysteries (pun intended). We live in a remarkable world and the ocean is perfect evidence of that.

What our employees are up to (Devan and Pat)

The Western Washington University Men's Ultimate team is proud to present the first annual BROWN v. ORANGE inter-squad exhibition showcase game at the Turf Field on WWU campus. This match-up will be in conjunction with the WWU Women's team’s tournament going on from 9am-7pm on Saturday.

Come out to see what collegiate ultimate is all about as a top recognized team in the nation gets ready for their upcoming season. There will be team discs, gear and possibly baked goods for sale!!

*Note: there is no permanent seating at the turf field. We will provide as many camp-style chairs as we can but be prepared to stand or if you have your own chairs feel free to bring those too

And Allie is going to Florida!

Ball

Throughout human history the ball has been the most revered and widely used tool in the industry of fun. Cultures that were a globe away from each other in times predating transatlantic exploration, developed games/ceremonies that used a ball. Before the Egyptians or the Romans or the Greeks or the Mayans or the Aztecs ever had contact with outside cultures they were thought to have developed games. And the ball was a crucial aspect of these games. Somehow, the ball - as an instrument of fun - is part of the human subconcious; streaming through the mind of every human on earth is an idea about the ball and the fun that can come from it's use.

Even in the developement of the mind from infancy, one of the easiest words for a young tounge to accurately articulate is "ball". One of the easiest objects to understand on a physical level is the ball. The human mind just seems to want to understrand and manipulate the ball. And as man kind progressed on it's march through time, the greatest and not-so-greatest games in civilization used or still use the ball as an integral piece of the game: baseball, soccer(futball), ulama(ancient aztecs), football, lacross, polo, cricket, billiards, tennis, raquet ball, rugby, etc. etc. etc. The list can and does go on for a long while.

History has given us reason to beleive that the ball is the most universally valued toy and personal experience would have hopefully given any reader of this a similar conclusion. I would even venture to say that humanity needs the ball. Which makes it all the more fortunate that we want the ball. Here's to the ball.

Workshops at the FairhavenToyGarden

Feb. 7: Felted Heart Gnome

This adorable little guy is holding a heart for you or your sweetie!
Ages 10 and up. Cost: $8 per person

Feb. 14: Felted Valentine Fairy

Come and make a pink (or whatever color you choose) fairy for you or your favorite Valentine!
Ages 10 and up. Cost: $8 per person

Feb. 21: Felted Purse

Create a beautiful small purse by needle felting and hand sewing.
Ages 10 and up. Cost: $8 per person

Feb. 28: Felted Dragon

We had such a long waiting list for this class when it was offered in Dec., that we decided to offer it again. Sign up quickly!
Ages 10 and up. Cost: $8 per person


Call 714-8552 to register. Payment requested when registering

Oopsie!

Oopsie is a new game that was developed exclusively at the Fairhaven Toy Garden, with the help of a rambunctious 2 year old.  The rules are simple, but first you must find a partner of roughly the same age as this games co-creator. 

Rules:

1. The younger of the two participants must yell "Oopsie!" while falling to the ground.

2. The older of the pair must then follow suit, paying close attention to the youngster's movements so that every detail can be replicated.  

3. Repeat and laugh.

Enjoy this game spread the good cheer that will most certainly ensue.