I Am Electrifying!

I'm electrifying- this isn't new. I've always known this about myself!

Friends, it's Tuesday, and I'm still at Ripley's Odditorium!  Aren't you glad about that?!

Anyways, sometimes, when ya travel, ya learn new things about the world around you, or maybe even about yourself.  However, this post just goes to show that sometimes, you do NOT learn something new.

What?!

That's right.  Thing of it is, I have always suspected... nay, I have always KNOWN that I am an electrifying Little Kid.  And before that, I was an electrifying Toddler Unit, and before that even still, right from the very beginning of me, I was an electrifying TigerBaby. 

It is true, and if you don't believe me, I believe I have a sizeable canon showing thus.

So at the Odditorium, there was this ball that looked just boring and unassuming, until ya stride up to it and put your hand on it, and then, you know what happens?  Ya set off a lightning storm inside the ball!  It's a Plasma Ball or something.  But it proves that I am an electrifying Little Kid!

Keep that in mind next time ya see me, Big People!  Make sure you can handle this type of energy! 

I love ya lots, Friends!  I'll see ya tomorrow!  Bzzzzzzzt!  Just kidding!  Muah!

The Weather Up There...

The weather up there is the same as the weather right here, Friends, so ya don't even need to ask.

Hiya, Friends!  Happy Monday to ya!

Well, ya know, when I was traveling and visiting the Odditorium in Niagara Falls, I met Robert Wadlow, who was the tallest man in the world. 

He was reserved yet friendly.  He would stand up out of his chair and then sit down, surveying everything in the Odditorium with a look of thoughtful quiet on his face.

Ya know, Friends, I know that sometimes when ya meet somebody so tall, ya wanna say things like:

"Boy!  You're a tall drinka water, aren'tchya?!" or "Hey, Buddy!  How's the weather up there?!"

Thing of it is, even the most tall human is gonna experience the same weather that even the shortest human experiences, if they're in the same spot.  There's no need to point out to a tall person how tall they are!  They get enough of that, and they probably know how tall they are.

Do ya know what I said to Robert Wadlow when I met him at the Odditorium?  I said "Hiya!  I'm Zoe!  I'm five!  I'm from North Bingham!  This is my first time in Niagara Falls, and I think your place here in the Odditorium is boss!"

Ya just talk to someone who's really tall, just like you would, anybody else.  It's easy, Friends!  I love ya lots1  I'll see ya tomorrow!  Muah!

My Pal, Mr. Ira Popper!

My eye-poppin' pal here tells me I shouldn't be so scared of eye-drops!

Hiya, Big People!  Happy Sunday to you!

Well, as promised in yesterday's post, we're back in the Odditorium, and I'd like ya to meet my pal Mr. Ira Popper.  Actually, that isn't his name.  His name is something else, and he hails from Cuba, and he's BumbleBee's neighbor at the Odditorium.  He's kinda like a perpetually-surprised greeter, in the lobby!

The thing about Mr. Ira Popper is that he could make his eyes pop right outta their sockets, whenever he wanted to. I'm not really sure what this kinda skill does for a body, other than earn 'em a place in the Odditorium, but you know what?  Right on, eye-poppin' man!  Don't ever change!

You might think that someone with this appearance would scare a little kid.  But you wouldn't be knowin' this little kid very well.  And besides, Mr. Ira Popper is super-friendly!  The neat thing about traveling is that you meet people who look different from you, who know different things than you know, and who have a whole different set of experiences from the ones you have.  I never woulda known that bein' able to pop your eyes outta their sockets is a thing, until I visited the Odditorium!  But after talkin' to Mr. Ira Popper about it, he says that it's really a skill not everybody needs to have, and I'll get by in life just fine without it!

Next time I come, I think I'll bring him a case of Visine, though!  It was kinda dry in the Odditorium Lobby!

Hey, Big People!  I'll see ya tomorrow, mmmkay?  I love ya lots!  Muah!

Eye in the Sky Wheel!

I'm surveyin' the region in climate-controlled comfort!

Hiya, Big People!  Well, ya know, it's Saturday, and on a recent Saturday, I found myself way up high in a Sky Wheel in Niagara Falls, Ontario!  It was quite an experience!

First off, I have never been that high up before in an amusement ride.  I'm pretty sure my hotel room on the brink of the falls was as high or close, but you don't feel as high-up when you're high-up in a hotel as you feel when you're high-up on a giant metal wheel!

Second of all, it's pretty thrilling, even though the ride itself just goes around and around in a giant vertical circle, very slowly.  It's a thrill because the wind was a' whippin' pretty good the day I rode on the Sky Wheel, so even though I was in my own observation pod, I could still hear the wind outside, the higher up we got.  I could still feel it rockin' the pod a little bit.  But it was fun, too!  I hafta gotta imagine that it would be extremely COLD!!! to ride a big wheel like that in the winter, if the cars weren't enclosed!

I got a view of Niagara Falls like no other.  I could see the tops of buildings on Clifton Hill and still be up close to 'em!  The Skylon Tower is up high, too, but it's far from everything.  At one point on the Sky Wheel, I'm pretty sure the giant Frankenstein Monster that's next door neighbors with Burger King looked me right in the eye as I was sweepin' up in the sky! 

The thing about bein' an eye in the Sky Wheel is that once ya get up so high like that, it really puts things in perspective.  When I was walkin' around Clifton Hill, it felt very bustling and big.  Up in the Sky Wheel, all the people bustling around on Clifton Hill looked like little ants in a peaceful parade.  Insteadda the sounds of traffic and noise from all the amusements wantin' to get you all hooked in, you hear the sound of the wind and the Sky Wheel music, which is much like elevator music, but you're on the Sky Wheel.  I realized how interconnected each individual really is, even if they don't know it.

Yep.  Bein' an eye in the Sky Wheel changed me for the better, Friends!  I love ya lots, and I'll take ya back to the Odditorium tomorrow, mmmkay?  Behave yourself, and exit through the Gift Shoppe!  Muah!

Bumblebee 'n' Me!

Every little girl needs a pal like Bumblebee!

Well, hiya, Big People!  Happy Friday to you!

During my trip to Niagara Falls, I went to a place called and Odditorium, and I met a big yella robot named Bumblebee!

Bumblebee spends some of his time as a late-model yellow Camaro, but his true form is  the fella ya see standing next to me in the picture!

You know, even though Bumblebee looks a little scary, he's a really friendly cuss.  He doesn't talk, but he doesn't hafta. Bumblebee is really strong.  He can lift things up that regular people cannot lift up, which sure comes in handy!

Bumblebee is also really tall.  That's useful for gettin' the good stuff off the top shelf and changin' lightbulbs in up-high fixtures.

But what I really like about Bumblebee most is that he's just an all-around great pal.  He's a good listener, and even though he doesn't speak, when he has something to say, Bumblebee can get his point across.  I'm really glad I met him!

It just goes to show, Big People, travelin' can really make a kid's world a little bigger while makin' the whole world seem a little smaller, all at the same time. 

I love ya lots, Friends!  I'll see ya tomorrow!  Muah!

No Rain, No Rainbows!

Would ya look at that rainbow you can just see over my shoulder?!

Hiya, Friends!  Well, ya might remember that I recently spent some time in Niagara Falls, Canada.  It's a wonderful place.

One thing that particularly struck me was the rainbows in Niagara Falls.  I learned that rainbows are made from sun shining through water droplets.  It can be mist from a big waterfall or... rain.

That's right, Friends!  Ya just aren't gonna get any rainbows unless there's water flyin' through the air in one form or another.

So.  Whenever it rains, or things seem kinda bad, I start lookin' for the rainbows.  The literal ones and the figurative ones.  You bet I do! And do you wanna hear something incredible?  I find 'em, Friends!  I find what I'm lookin' for!

When it rains, look for the rainbows, Big People.  I love ya lots!  I'll see ya tomorrow!  Muah!

Flutterby, Butterfly!

When in the Butterfly Conservatory, do as the butterflies do!

Hiya, Big People!

Well, I'll tell ya.  I love butterflies.  Ever since I was a baby, my bedroom has been fulla butterflies.  The sheets in my crib were butterflies, I had a buncha onesies that were butterflies, there were butterflies that flew around and around in circles over my head, and I couldn't stop lookin' at 'em!

Since I was a baby, I've avidly studied butterflies.  I have learned that they love milkweed and nectar and wildflowers, and that they start life as little worms and then they undergo a process called 'metamorphosis.'  I have learned that their wings are very fragile, and yet they can travel thousands of miles on their wings.  The most fascinating fact for me is that butterflies unroll their tongues and have a straw with 'em at all times and that's how they eat!

So when I had the opportunity recently to visit the Butterfly Conservatory in Niagara Falls, I jumped at the chance! 

It wasn't my first time inside a place for butterflies.  The Strong Museum in Rochester has a butterfly garden, and when I went there on my birthday, I wore a flowered dress, and a butterfly landed on me!  It didn't unroll its tongue and try to drink the flowers on my dress, but it was nice to say hello to it! It made me feel special!

The Butterfly Conservatory in Niagara Falls is bigger, though.  Lots more butterflies live there.  They keep it really warm in there- eighty degrees or so.  It felt really good to me on the cold day I visited!  I saw all kinds of butterflies at the Conservatory.  It's really hard for me to pick a favorite, because to me, butterflies are like flying flowers, and pickin' a favorite flower from all the flowers in the garden is a difficult feat.  So I'd just like to be referred to as a Butterfly Enthusiast, and love all the butterflies!

I think I love butterflies so much because they're colorful and energetic and also, they aren't afraid of changing themselves.  They relish the reinvention.  I really respect that!

So, if you ever find yourself in the home of the butterflies, be like a butterfly, mmmkay?

I love ya lots, Big People!  I'll see ya tomorrow!  Muah!