Fairy Fail

My neighbor sent me an email with a "magical" project: Fairies in a Jar!

The photo, despite being clearly PhotoShopped, leads you to believe that you can create sheer magic in your own home, just by cutting up a glow stick and shaking it into a jar with glitter.

So I do. Did you know that glow sticks have little glass tubes inside? That's what makes the clicky sound when you break them. So I cut the glow stick, then had to figure out what to do with this thin glass tube of liquid. I ended up breaking it up with some pliers and leaving the pieces inside. And I dumped in some glitter, two kinds.

 Let the magic—uhhm.....

 ...be-glop? The jar glowed....but there was no sparkling effect. You couldn't see the glitter.
Techman walked into the kitchen and was momentarily impressed because he thought I had made a DIY glowstick with household chemicals.

Hey, I have super powers.

I shook the jar around. I looked at it in the dark. Techman said, "You know what that is?"

"That's creamed fairies."

Maybe it needs water, like a snow globe? Bad idea. It killed the glow, and all the glow goo globbed together (say that 10 times fast) and floated on top. It went dark within a couple of minutes.

So, if you want to make a jarful of creamed fairies, give it a shot. Might be great in a friendly haunted house at Halloween!

Camping! And tips!

We love camping, and especially at Yosemite. Techman has been camping and climbing there for most of his life—I was late to the party until I moved to California, and I couldn't believe I'd never experienced anything so beautiful before.

Starboy LOVES sleeping in the tent and playing outside.

 I'm not a light packer, but we sure do camp comfortably! I have the packing down to a science. You can check out my packlists here or at the link below. There's a gear packing list, a pack planner, meal planner, and my top Yosemite picks for newbies.

On the down side, if you follow the tips, your car might look like a little like this:

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Ours does, and it drives Techman nuts. Luckily I don't mind traveling on this trip with no leg room.

Preparing for bear country is a pain in the ass—anything with even a miniscule scent needs to be stored in the brown bear locker. But after so many years we have it down.

This little table was a great score at a Crate and Barrel sale a few years ago. No worries about Starboy slipping through the picnic table, and he has a place to play while we're preparing dinner.

Starboy has been going to Yosemite since he was an infant. Getting outdoors is grounding for all of us. 

Bug's Ultimate Car Camping Meal Planning Sheet by bugitybug