The Turtlesinger

Tonight, after a day of surfing at the beach, we headed to the Bayside Center for the last of their "Sunset Series," an event we have attended almost every Tuesday this summer. Going to a regularly scheduled event has helped us note the passage of time--in July, we'd leave the Bayside Center just as the sun was setting, with enough time left before dark to fit in a quick trip to the playground before bed. But tonight, we left in the cool, dark night. As the days are getting shorter, it is our signal that summer is coming to an end.

The entertainment tonight at the Bayside Center was The Turtlesinger (www.turtlesinger.com), a fixture at the shore, attending many family events at the shore. A husband and wife team, Mr. and Mrs. Buckley, travel around with their own team of turtles, to sing and tell stories about our terrapin friends. Slightly hokey, yes, but the kids were enthralled. In fact, this was the most well-attended event at the Bayside Center this summer.

Each turtle that the Buckleys would show to the children had its own song. Mrs. Buckley would play the keyboards and sing the song as Mr. Buckley would walk around with the turtle. No touching was allowed, but he'd bring the turtle as close as you like, if you game him a signal to come closer. Children who were too scared to be close to the turtles were instructed to put to hands up. My favorite part of the show was a song about feeding turtles worms. Mrs. Buckley walked around with a bowl full of gummy worms and a pair of tongs. The kids would tilt their heads way back and she'd drop a gummy worm right into their open mouth--just like a turtle would eat.

After each song, the kids could volunteer to feed a turtle. Will got to feed Gracie, a tortoise, a blueberry stuck on the top of a chopstick. Carter got to feed Big Bad Bart, a snapping turtle, a circle of squash, also stuck on a chopstick like a big, healthy lollipop.

We met up with some friends of ours to see the show. The boys are friends with Zack. His little sister, Cecelia, is just a little younger than Charlotte. As the three boys enjoyed the turtles, the babies put on their own show in the back of the room. They danced, traded pacifiers, ate goldfish crackers and performed for the watching adults. Charlotte picked one man who sat in back of us to babble too. And when music played, she bounced up and down, smiling and clapping her hands. When the crowd clapped for the Turtlesingers, Charlotte would look around in mock surprise. "Moi?" I'm sure that is what she said to herself. Every so often, the babies would toddle into the crowd of children, picking a random child to sit next to, to poke at, to talk to, before running back to the safety of their mothers' arms.

Charlotte has seen lots of turtles this summer, between our trips to the Wetlands Institute, the zoo, and the Bayside Center. It is one of her favorite words, which she says distinctly while separating the two syllables: tur-tle, tur-tle. She puts her left hand into a fist, with her little thumb sticking out, and the places her right hand over top, like a terrapin shell, sign language for turtle. Without a doubt, she knows what a turtle is. She has hesitated to touch a crab, whelk and other sea creatures that we have come across this summer. But, she was all about the turtle, reaching out for them as they would pass them by.

Of course, another highlight of the night was door prizes. Will won a turtle magnet and Carter won a small stuffed turtle. They are sleeping soundly now, holding their turtles tightly in their fists, dreaming, I'm sure of turtles.