(8 Hours) Your Magical Sleepy Powers

9:05:28

9:05:28

(8 Hours) Your Magical Sleepy Powers

by Mrs. Honeybee

Rated

5

Type

talks

Activity

Meditation

Suitable for

Children

Plays

607

We must harness the power of imagination to contain an unexpected escape of stories from Mrs. Honeybee's writing room. With the help of a brave little invisible alien, kickboxing princesses, and a rainbow of unicorns, they embark on an epic adventure across the Honeybee Neighborhood to restore order to the narrative chaos. As we encounter black holes, magical dimensions, and the limitless potential of our own creativity, we learn that true magic lies in seeing the world not with the eyes, but with the heart. - Love, Mrs. Honeybee Featuring: Mr. Honeybee, Melodybee, Roger Robot, and Harold

Sleep Imagination Adventure Creativity Magic Storytelling

Meet your Teacher

Philadelphia, PA, USA

Meet your Teacher

Philadelphia, PA, USA

Transcript

Bedtime with Mrs. Honeybee. Today, In the Honeybee neighborhood, We will see without using our eyes and learn how to change the world around us using only our minds. Mrs. Honeybee, Are you going to give us magic powers? I suppose you can say that. I am saying that because I really feel like I should have more magical powers, If I do say so myself. So, What you're saying is that you already have magical powers, Melody Bee? I am also saying that because I'm saying anything. I'm a talking bee with a hive full of transformation pollen in the garden, Just waiting for any opportunity to sparkle up the humdrum of daily buzzing about. Well, If you put it that way, I guess I have magical powers too, Kinda. It's my sense that I'm involved in your next sentence. Precisely. Roger Robot is my most evolved prototype to date, And he is way more than the sum of his parts. That's kinda magical, Right? I take a hunk of metal. . . Emphasis on hunk. A hunk of scrappy old metal parts. . . I'll take scrappy. And turn it into a living, Thinking, Communicating robot. A robot that I think may be developing a sort of synergistic AI, Artificial intelligence. There is nothing artificial about this intelligence, Mr. Honey Bee. Of course, You're the real deal. You know what I mean. You're learning more and more than I ever programmed you to learn. You're developing human-like senses. Oh, That's true. Roger Robot shed a single tear when we watched his favorite movie, The one where the pets get lost and have to find their way home. It makes me tear up every time. Me too. I was testing my waterproofing, People. Can't a robot test his waterproofing regularly? I gotta go. I'm defying physics in my cubby today. Very, Very busy. Roger's defying physics in a small cubby. Melody Bee's transforming things with pollen. And you, My dear, Are building machines that are capable of learning beyond their programming. We already contain so much magic. But we sometimes don't understand all the magic that's around us. I have a story that will show us just how magical we are. I'm excited to hear it, Mrs. Honey Bee. Me too, My dear. Is it written in that book you're holding? That book is soaked with velvet covers. Here, Let me see. No, Not yet. This book is a lot to carry. But it's even more to carry around all these stories without a place big enough to put them. The story I'm thinking up will be big enough for every single story. How can a story be big? Do you mean long? No, I mean big. You'll see. What exactly are we going to see, Mrs. Honey Bee? All of us will. See the invisible and touch what cannot quite be grasped. There's so much to do. All you have to do is close your eyes, Get cozy, And listen to the sound of my voice. Mrs. Honey Bee will be your guide. Let's begin. You are here, Walking the last steps up to our brightly colored door. Before you can knock, You hear a curious ruckus coming from inside the house. Your pounding knocks, Trying to get our attention inside, Add to the chorus of unidentifiable sounds. You try shouting through the door, Asking if everything's okay in there, But there's no response. Until finally, Harold hears your frantic knocks and alerts all of us inside. You let out a sigh of relief. Momentarily, Everything stops. My little Honey Bee, I need your help upstairs in my writing room. I was writing a story earlier, And they're all. . . It's hard to explain. Come in. Come upstairs. Maybe you can help. You always do. Mr. Honey Bee is holding the door shut tight, But he can't hold on forever, At least not by himself. They've seemed to calm down a bit for now. They're up here, In my writing room. Harold, Shh. We need to be a bit quieter, Boy. We don't want to stir them up again. Oh, Goodness. It looks like they're already stirred up. Oh, Good. You're both here. Please help. I can't hold this door for much longer. I can't tell you what they're doing in there, But it somehow involves this door. Our little Honey Bee and I are here with four extra hands, My dear. Melody Bee, We need all hands on deck. Or a door. We need all hands. I'm coming, I'm coming. I was in the garden trying to harvest more transformation pollen, But all I have is what's in my pouch. I thought that could help them settle a bit. Oh, Hi, Little Honey Bee. Welcome to our predicament. Melody Bee! Hands! Door! Oh, Yes. I got two hands and a rather commanding buzz. Door, My buzzin' eye, Command you to stay closed so those stories stay put. With all of our might, We push in a unified force against the door. But it continues to bulge from its hinges, Impacted by a powerful and ceaseless force on the other side. When your arms get tired, You turn your back against the door to push with your legs. And there, With your back to the door, You remind yourself that focus, Intention, And patience are your superpowers. Against anything. For anything at all. Pushing with all your might against the door, Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Strengthen your entire body until each and every one of your muscles are tightened. Feel your strength surge and your power take hold. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth. And let your entire body be soft against the door while your focus and intention take over for your muscles. You become an unstoppable force with a clear and focused vision. And then, The ruckus stops. Completely. There's nothing but silence as we catch our breath. Bit by bit, You relax even more until we each tentatively release our hold on the door. When all is quiet, Your mind trails back to what could be on the other side of the door. Stories? Is that what Melody B said? After several moments of uninterrupted silence, Mr. Honeybee insists on opening the door to make sure they've all gone back into their books. But who? Who can go back into books? Harold bravely stands as tall and formidable as he can, Waiting for Mr. Honeybee to open the door. Melody B covers her eyes, Peeking out between two of her fingers. You don't know what to make of any of this, But are filled with more wonder than ever. Mr. Honeybee slowly opens the door. As far as you can see, There's not much to see. Besides bookshelves lining the walls from floor to ceiling, There's only a sliding library ladder attached to them and many, Many, Many books stuffed every which way within them. All of us peek one eye and then the other past the threshold, Waiting for whatever made that sound to strike again. All we hear are our own thoughts before Harold charges in, Fearlessly leading the way. Arm in arm, We walk into the sunshine-filled writing room and step directly into a sunbeam that shines on the wood floor where Harold decides he's done enough investigation for now. Unconcerned with the mysterious sound that he's long forgotten, He drags his puffy bed into the sunbeam and curls up for a snooze. Mr. Honeybee checks every corner of the room, Under my writing desk and beneath the cushions of my reading chair. Each of us scours the room from floor to ceiling, Searching for… you're not sure what, But something. You're searching for something, Anything that could make such a ruckus. Something that should go back into a book. You're looking for something that has escaped a book. Mr. Honeybee even pulls the string to my reading lamp to make sure nothing's hiding in the lightbulb again. The ninjas are very stealthy. It's their training, I guess. If they got out, They're long gone. But if they're not, They'll be somewhere we least expect them. Is it safe to uncover my eyes? It's hard to look for them with my eyes covered. I think the coast is clear, Melody Bee. You can uncover your eyes. Check anywhere you think they might have gone. The more unexpected, The better. I'm coming for you, Ninjas. Melody Bee, You're typing. I know, Right? No one can hide under these buttons if I pounce on each one. No, I mean, You're continuing the story I was writing. Typing on the page. That's how they got out. That's the page they came out of? Yes, That page right there. I was writing a story about an alien. And I just got to the part where the spaceship crash-landed and all the aliens walked out dizzy and confused because they don't know what gravity is. And since gravity is invisible, It's hard to explain so they can't even ask the right questions. But get this, The aliens are also invisible. Uh-oh. You don't like it? No, It's not that. I love that story. It's just. . . What, Mr. Honey Bee? What? If the aliens are invisible in the story, How can we see them to make sure they didn't escape? They could be in here surrounding us for all we know. I continued writing that story? That one. Did I just write gibberish? Hopefully that doesn't make sense to the invisible aliens and it wouldn't push the plot along. I wasn't purposely pouncing on the keys, I promise. Let's see here. Mr. Honey Bee holds up the page so we can all read it. All at once, We gasp. Without meaning to, Something took over the direction of her pounces, And Melody Bee wrote the following words while searching for escaped ninjas under my typewriter buttons. Help. Crash landed. Dinosaur stomped ship. Ninja took princess. Borrowed a unicorn. Be back soon. P. S. Ouch. The sun is harsh on your planet. I wrote all that? Is that from the aliens in the story? How did they write with my feet? That's what happens when you write stories. Things that you aren't fully aware of just run away with your hands, And before you know it, The story is done. But even though a story may be finished, That's not the end of the story. Not at all. What happens next? Actually, Wait, Do I really want to know that? Some things are better left as a mystery. Yes, We want me and all of the invisible aliens that might be in this room right now want to know very badly. Okay, I'll bite. What happens after the story's been written? Mr. Honey Bee, It's not nice to bite. It's a figure of speech. I'm not going to bite anyone, Melody Bee. Watch out. An invisible alien antenna could be floating by your mouth right now. In the bite zone. I'll talk like this, Okay? Okay. That's the safest bet. Oh, So you're a gambler now. Making bets? It's just something you say. Oh, I get it. Figures of speech. Mrs. Honey Bee, How do you turn a plain old piece of paper like this into an invisible alien invasion? And how do all of these figures get in our speech? How do you go about answering such a question? While I ponder, You all sit on the edge of your proverbial seats. Not wanting to sit idly by, You check in between the many books stacked every which way on the shelves to look for whatever has escaped. Ninjas? Aliens? Maybe a unicorn is hiding between all of these books. Some of them haven't been moved in a long while. A thin layer of dust covers the tops while you brush your fingertips along the spines of the books. I come to the conclusion that I cannot possibly explain what exactly happens when you write a story. I must show you so you know with your experience, Too. In order to show you what happens when you write a story, I must first tell you a story. You turn back from the bookshelf to smile your glorious smile at me as I read from the page that Mr. Honey Bee removed from the typewriter. Your attention fades in and out as different books catch your eye on the bookshelf. The invisible alien story goes like this. You don't hear the beginning because you are focused on the soft, Leathery feel of the books. The middle of the story gets your attention, Though. The alien's UFO crash lands. Their advanced physics and mathematics do not understand such a thing as gravity, Which we knew intuitively on this planet long before we had a name for it. When the UFO crash lands, The aliens aboard the ship cannot communicate with their home planet because their signals are weak in our atmosphere. They don't understand what the sun is, Nor the invisible UV rays projecting from it. They are anything but invisible to them. When the aliens crashed, They assumed that they were under attack from a much advanced civilization that was aiming billions of lasers at them from every which way. But it was only the sun and the brilliance we understand sunshine to be from our earthly perspective. It's at this point that story piques Mr. Honeybee's interest. Recently, He's been speculating about just such aliens, The invisible type, Who were formed by an entirely different calculus and who assume a completely different physics of being. Mr. Honeybee gets antsy to hear the rest of the story and instead asks to read it himself. I hand him the page to read aloud as you continue to peruse the bookshelves that seem to go on forever, Still looking for something, Anything out of the ordinary. There are all sorts of books with all sorts of titles. Their colors are mesmerizing and you wonder what it would be like to have all the information in these books inside your mind at once. What a wealth of imagination and amazement lies waiting within these books. Just as you think that, Mr. Honeybee gets to the part of the alien invasion story when the aliens finally get out of the ship. They just so happened to have crash landed at a laundromat, One that Harold loves to go to. Harold sits in front of the washing machine door, Just as mesmerized by the swirling bubbles of the laundry as you are by the books at your fingertips. Harold's mind cannot conceive of such an activity as doing laundry. To him, The washing machine looks like it's playing a game of fetch with itself. What a concept. Harold is just as dizzyingly delighted watching the washing machine as he is when you run around and around in circles playing fetch. But the aliens knew nothing of this laundromat or fetch. What they figured out, Though, Is that those wavy things we call sheets can be used as a powerful sunscreen. One of the littlest aliens who figured this out first dodged all of the sun's laser beams when the sun ducked behind a cloud and took cover in a laundry basket underneath a pile of freshly dried sheets. Melody Bee was overcome with how adorable little aliens wrapped in fresh linens would be, So she grabbed the page from Mr. Honeybee and continued reading the story, Marveling at how the littlest alien bravely led those aboard the crashed ship to safety wrapped in sheets. But neighbors of ours, The ones at the laundromat, Knew nothing of Harold's excitement or of an invisible alien UFO crash landing. All they knew was that ghosts travel in sheets, So when they saw the invisible aliens draped in sheets and ducking for cover from the UV laser rays of the sun, The neighbors ran away screaming from all the floating sheets that looked like ghosts. The shrieks and screams from the neighbors frightened the invisible alien draped in sheets even more. The littlest alien led them all to the closest, Quietest place they could find. At the bookshelf, Your fingertips stumble upon a small crevice between two antique books. The only open space on the bookshelf that you've found thus far. You tilt the book from one side to the other, And standing there between the books is what you can only call an invisible alien. It's tiny, And you can't see much of it except that its outline shimmers in the sunlight. Recognizing the love you bring to every encounter, The shimmering alien hops up onto your hand. You turn around in amazement to show us, Just as Melody B finishes reading his story. Then the little alien happens upon a place that is safe, A place that welcomes such an alien creature as him. Oh my goodness, Little honeybee, Are you holding an alien right now? My dear, Your writing room must be the safe, Quiet place the alien found. Well, It was quiet, But it seems that some of the other stories got out when the aliens got in. From what I can tell, The aliens didn't know what to do, So they started opening up all the books on the shelves and telling their stories. So, But come to life? That's how it goes, Just as simple as it is complex. Then, Safe and happy in Mrs. Honeybee's writing room, He reads every story in the entire library and now knows everything there is to know about Earth and its earthlings. Then, That little alien gathers his entire alien army out of their hiding spots and uses all his earthly knowledge to. . . Is that an invisible alien army? Am I making the alien story come to life? Happy to see all of its friends once again, The littlest alien in your hand encourages Melody B to continue telling his story. There's so much that this little alien wants to do, And so much to see. He hops up and down in your hand, Climbs up your arm, Hides behind your ear, Leaps up to your head, And hops in quick succession from your head to each of ours, Including Harold's, Who sleeps right through it. If this little invisible alien had his way, He'd bounce off the walls and do anything and everything under the sun. But, Just like we can't always do what we want when we want to, And for good reason, We need to make some agreements with this alien invasion story. If we're able to bring this little alien to life by telling his story, We need to develop invisible alien parameters that contain his alien excitement, That channel his vital life force into something good and enriching. It's precisely when our stories get away from us, Get out beyond their story parameters that they can take on different lives, Ones that we cannot recognize and thus cannot appreciate as just stories. Fears are like that, And so are worries. Sometimes when our stories get away from us, Especially the ones that become worries and then fears, We think they're certainties. But stories are not certainties, They're possibilities. It's only through some control that we experience what it means to be unlimited, Which is to say, Have possibility. This little alien has learned that Earth and its Earthlings are chock full of paradoxes. Possibility, Even when paradoxical, Is so much more fun. The only way to put tangible parameters on invisible things is with something that's equally tangible yet invisible. Our breath. Breath is a powerful remote control for our imagination. You cannot see it, But you can feel its presence as well as its absence. That's why we say shocking things take our breath away. Your breath is already connected with your imagination. We just need reminders of that relationship sometimes. Maybe that's why this little invisible alien came to Earth and came to us, To remind us of how big our imaginations are and how powerful our breath is. The bigger the breath we take, The wider we can set the parameters for this little alien to live out his wondrous story. Careful control of our powerful imaginations allow the stories within to come even more into our reality of daily life. Take your slowest, Biggest breath in through your nose. Send your breath all the way down into the bottom of your belly and fill it up as if it was a balloon. Hold it in for a moment, Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth. And watch as the boppity little alien bouncing around my writing room slows down, Calmed by your breath. He hops back onto the page from the typewriter where the next part of the invisible alien story continues on. As if it were a movie in a theater. Since you see this theater in your imagination, It's even brighter and more dazzling than anything you can see with your eyes. The theater in your mind is infinite. Your imagination is the end as well as the means to the end of each and every story. It's not enough for a story to be written. Stories demand to be told, Heard, Seen, And experienced. That's how they come to life, Through you, My little honeybee. They wouldn't be stories without you. They'd be inert words on a page, Closed up in dusty books on the shelf. But because of you and your power, All these stories come to life. Stories that demanded to be told the loudest are the ones that fill the books, That fill the bookshelves of my writing room. The books you found this little invisible alien wedged between. Let your imagination run wild thinking about all the many stories contained within the walls of this library and all the possibilities even within the confines of a single story. All the places, Characters, Plot twists, Turns, And mysteries, And all of the fun. As your imagination starts to wander, More aware of your own power than ever before, Characters of all sorts start to wander out of their bindings. Stories of all sorts break free of their pages and fill the once empty, Silent room with ruckus. The same ruckus you heard when you arrived. A bulging ruckus made by princesses, Superheroes, Adventurers, Astronauts, Unicorns, Animals of all sorts, And even one mad scientist. The ruckus wakes Harold from his snooze and he wakes up to think he's still dreaming. The littlest alien, As well as his alien army, Pounce back out of the page and run along the floor in confused circles. Harold doesn't know who to chase first or how he got so lucky as to have so many playmates. They all spring forth in a flurry from the bookshelves and ride the waves of your breath, Your inspiration, Your imagination. Now that you know how to both command and contain your infinity with your breath, You have even more power to create these stories with me, My little honeybee. My dear, Look at all these stories. You wrote all of these? Our little honeybee is bringing all of these to life? Some of them look familiar, But not all of them. What's that over there? It looks like a squishy blob. Oh, That's a jello monster. I accidentally broke a few of my jello molds. Well, Harold broke them, But he didn't mean to. Harold, You made a jello monster? He helps me write a lot of my stories, Don't you, Boy? He wanted to make one big jello shape by combining all the molds together. We even used different colors of jello. When it cooled and it all gelled together, I thought to myself that it kind of looks like a jello monster. That's what gave me the idea. What if there was a monster that no one knew was a monster? So they weren't afraid of it. The jello monster was on a journey to be spooky. To finally be the scary monster he felt like he was. I put the jello monster next to the Halloween stories so he could get some ideas. Maybe one of your other stories could help us get these stories back in their books. From the sounds of what the invisible aliens wrote through Melody Bee's feet. There's been a unicorn heist, A dinosaur wrecked the UFO, And the ninjas are holding the princesses captive. Little Honey Bee, Help us search for a detective character, Quick! We gotta get to the end of this story. While we look around the writing room, Parsing through hordes of stories that have burst from their books, Your imagination wanders and cycles through possible endings to this invisible alien story. That's when you think of an ingenious way to meet the ninjas and the aliens at the end of their story. By simply reading the end of the story off the page. Surely when the little alien returned the page, Even briefly, He jotted down a bit more of his story. You frantically trace the lines of the page with your finger, Looking for the end of this story. And that's when you realize that the end of this story has yet to be written. How can it possibly be told if it's not even written? After the invisible aliens demanded their plea be told through Melody Bee's unknowing, Pouncing feet on the typewriter, The story simply stopped there, Brashly incomplete. Bright white paper stares blankly back, Without so much as a keystroke's clue of what sort of ending this story could be leading to. You show the empty paper to Mr. Honey Bee. My dear, What happened when you were writing this story? It seems you stopped in the middle. It's not finished. Maybe whatever happened in the middle of this story can help us understand how all of these stories got out in the first place. I was writing at my desk. Then. . . Oh, That's right. A little bluebird landed on my windowsill. She kept flying away, But came back several times, Bringing back grass and twigs. The bluebird was making a nest right before my very eyes. I thought that would be a wonderful story, Too. I kept trying to write the alien story, But every time she came back with more sticks, I would think about how this little bluebird's day is going. And then I got to thinking about what an alien bird would look like if I combined the two stories. Combined them? Interesting. It certainly is. Would an alien bird look kind of like a dinosaur bird? Well, Technically, Birds are dinosaurs. What? So a dinosaur came to your windowsill? Maybe that's why the dinosaur came into the alien story and stomped their UFO when it crashed. Because you were thinking about dinosaurs while writing the invisible alien story, It literally crashed their UFO into a dinosaur. That must be it. That must be what's causing all this story chaos. The invisible alien story is itching to be told in full. It's hanging in the balance, Unfinished. It's only half done because I kept thinking up more and more fun stories. Oh, I get it now. While this alien invasion story waits to be written, The aliens must be peeking into other stories to get ideas, Trying to figure out how their story will end. The unwritten story must be letting all the other ones out. We need to tell this invisible alien story, And quick. But how? There are so many stories out and about. Are all of these part of the invisible alien story now? Are we part of the invisible alien story now? When you look around the room at the stampede of stories taking up every inch of space, You rush to the door to block their potential exit. If you could at least contain them all in one place, You can decide what to include in the alien story and what not to include. That's a crucial part of writing any story. With your arms extended out as far to either side as you can, Taking up the entire width of the closed door, You realize that the escaped stories aren't trying to get out like the ruckus you heard earlier would suggest. When you came up the stairs earlier, The door was bulging from its hinges as if whatever was inside was trying to get outside. These stories are certainly trying to get somewhere, Though. If not out through the door, Was it somewhere near the door? Too many questions and stories swirl around each other at once. But luckily, You know exactly what to do when the stories get the best of you. Take another slow, Deep breath in through your nose to quiet the ruckus. Feel your chest and your spirits lift to the heights of your imagination as the cool, Fresh air brings your focus to sturdy story parameters. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth. With your calming breath, The frenzy in the air has settled down. The characters arrange themselves in a tidy line, Rushing like a patient river from the bookshelves, Along the floor, Across the writing room, And up the wall just beside the door, Following the marching line of the stories up the wall until you're looking all the way up to the high ceilings overhead until you can feel a slight stretch in the front of your neck. It seems like all of these stories are now unavoidably part of the invisible alien story, Whether they like it or not. They're all marching up the wall together like ants, Unified and carrying much more than their body weight should allow. All these stories carry along their part of the unwritten, Invisible alien story until it can finally be told in full. Bring your head back to a comfortable center and take a couple steps back to see that there's a shelf hanging just above the door with a single book propped open on a bookstand, As if it's being presented. A couple of the circus acrobat characters are the first to succeed in climbing over the other bigger characters marching up the wall. They flip themselves all the way up to the shelf just above the door before disappearing. As the characters continue to march, You see that the characters aren't trying to get out of the room. They're trying to get up the wall. Try as they may, They are getting up the wall, All the way to that shelf just below the ceiling where they disappear from view. Mr. Honeybee grabs my sliding book ladder from the bookshelf on the other side of the room and leans it against the door for you to climb up. We hold it steady while you ascend, Step by step, Left foot, Right foot, Left foot, Right foot, All the way up the ladder. The stories march single file alongside. When you get to the top of the ladder, On your tippy toes, You come face to face with an open book that doesn't have a speck of dust to speak of. Unlike all the others on the shelves, This one has its own shelf. Up here on the ladder, A sudden silence washes over you. All of the characters have disappeared in this direction, As if into this very book. The type that fills the pages is so small that it's difficult to read without a magnifying glass. The pages flip on their own, But show no other sign of movement or presence, And there doesn't seem to be an end to the pages when they flip. Yet you can plainly see the front and back velvety covers laying open on the stand. Emptied of all the escaped stories and the ruckus, We look around the room, Mystified, Until the pages of the book up on the shelf stop flipping, Yet lay open still in the middle. Every single one of the stories has managed to disappear, All except for the littlest invisible alien whom you feel but do not see get a running start from the ground and climb you as if you're a mountain. The littlest alien springs up onto your shoulder and leaps into the open book where it dives deep into the pages. Page after page of the book flips on its own once again, As the alien burrows deeper and deeper into the book's pages until it finally stops for good. My little honeybee, Did the alien jump into that book? What book is that? Look, The title is right there, Written in spiffy gold lettering. It's called The Honeybee Neighborhood. Hey, That's where we live. That's right, Melody Bee. But my dear, I think our little honeybee will need a little help lifting it. Really? It doesn't look that heavy. It's just one book. Well, Maybe you should give it a try then. It's a book. Now that I think about it, I remember seeing you hold this very book just after we moved in. Wow, That was a long time ago. If you can pick up this book, I can pick up this book. No problemo. You exchange places with Mr. Honeybee as he walks confidently up each rung of the ladder until he gets to the book laying open and unmoved on its stand. He looks down to us and winks before he turns back around to pick it up with ease. Or so he thinks. With both hands under the velvet covers and both his knees braced, He attempts to pick up the book. But it doesn't budge. He can't even lift a single page to flip. The book on the shelf doesn't move even slightly. We all climb up the ladder after Mr. Honeybee and it takes all of our considerable effort to lift this book up off its stand. We use its own gravity and momentum to carry it back down the ladder running a race against our combined strength until we finally heave it up onto my desk. When it drops, The desk and the floor beneath our feet rumble from its heft. The wall shake around us and loosens the door from its hinges. The door to my writing room falls open with a powerful thud that rattles us again. It seems as if time stops at that moment. All the silence that surrounds us resounds like a secret that we all come to know at once. Then, All the many, Many, Many characters from every story I've ever written which escape to this one heavy book are instantaneously dislodged. We frantically try to scoop them up but are unable to command the onslaught back into their place in the pages. Ousted from this strangely heavy book, All the confused characters dart off through the open door into magnanimous lives of their own making. They escape out the doors of my writing room and into the outside world. Melody B holds on to the toe of a single baby dragon trying with a last-ditch effort to keep the story contained. But despite all of her might, The dragon flew in such tight circles that Melody B's wings and limbs tangled into a knot. The littlest dragon escaped her grasp and took with it a little pouch of transformation pollen. You try your best to shut the book hoping to shut in any sleuth-moving stragglers. But even with both hands, You can't. The book stays open allowing two ninjas to leap in backward circles off the page and out of the room. Without needing to conceal themselves, A single wild unicorn gallops after them. What just happened? Did they all get out? It seems all the stories escaped their own books to take refuge in this big heavy one. But then when we dropped it, We jumbled them up somehow. What is this book, Mrs. Honey B? This book? This book is. . . Not really a book at all. It just looks like a book. This is my heart. Your heart? How can that be? How can it not be? Just like how I make things with love as the special ingredient, That, On the desk, Is my whole heart. That means that your heart is heavy, Mrs. Honey B. Why is your heart so heavy? It's full of stories. And not all stories are light. Some are heavy. Some of the most important ones are incredibly heavy. But they're all important, No matter the weight. So the characters left their stories, The ones in the book, To get to you? Yes, I think so. And to get to each other. But also beyond each other and me. Like I said earlier, Stories demand to be told. All these stories want me to tell them, To make them known. That's what my heart always wants to do. To tell stories. All kinds of stories. Not just stories about unicorns or stories about superheroes, But stories about superheroes that are also skilled unicorn riders. Not just stories about princesses, But stories about princesses that are also deep sea divers with underwater kingdoms. I love all stories and am eternally frustrated that all stories can't exist together in one big story. That's why this book is my heart in book form. The Honey B. Neighborhood right here is the one place where I can tell all kinds of stories without having to pick just one. It's a place where we can feel unlimited. Even the stories themselves feel unlimited. That's probably why they all wanted out of their separate books. So that would mean the Honey B. Neighborhood doesn't have limits. The beginning of this book right here and the end is right there. I should be able to lift this thing. It's simple really, But we make it complicated trying to understand it. And that's okay too. For as long as I can remember, Certainly for as long as we've lived here in the Honey B. Neighborhood, My dear, I have written my stories out, Climbed up that same ladder, And placed the pages in the book. Really? I guess I've never noticed it before. We don't notice a lot of the magic that goes on around us. No matter how many pages I place inside the binding of that book, There's always more room, Which is good because there are always more stories. The beginning and the end of one story are the middles of a thousand other stories. Where you divide it up is arbitrary at best. If you go searching for the beginning, You'll never find it, And you'll have just as much luck with the end. It makes no sense. Yet that's how we each live our lives. I don't remember my beginning as a baby. Does anyone? And searching for the end is like missing the whole entire rainbow just because you're busying yourself looking for the pot of gold at the end. I've actually tried that. The rainbow kept following me as I tried to follow it. Then I started to wonder, Oh my goodness, Has this rainbow been following me the whole time but just hides when I don't see it? It was bananas. It was little prisms of light reflection. No, It was bananas. The rainbow tricked me. It wasn't the rainbow. It was your mind that played a little trick on you. My mind? Rude! I think I understand, My dear. It's about perspective. That's why you couldn't find the end of the rainbow, Melody B. It's not a place to find as much as an experience from your singular perspective. And that's why one story's beginning could be the end of another story and vice versa. It's all connected. But our minds kind of chop up the whole pie into smaller slices. Exactly, My dear. That's the little trick our minds play on us. And it just seems like everything is separated and that what we see is all there is. Stories help us remember the simple fact that everything and everyone is connected because there's so much more to know than ever meets the eye. It's crucial to tell stories as well as listen to them. All these invisible aliens want is their story to be told. But little did we know just how big one invisible alien story could be. Their story includes all of those other stories now and all of us. And you too, Harold. So, Let me understand this. I am connected to everything, Little old me? That's right, Melody B. If I flutter my wing right now it can move the wind in such a way that will cause just the precise breeze that will inspire a poet to write a beautiful poem? Yes, That would be a positive instance. But there's more nuance. Because everything is connected we need helpful parameters to contain things at certain times. Not forever or in all ways but at certain times. To protect ourselves and others we need to bring all the stories back. Give them their proper place. How in the world can we do that if we can't even hardly lift this book? It won't budge, Mrs. Honeybee. We have to use our minds to understand things we cannot quite grasp with our hands. Our imagination. Using your powerful imagination to focus on the book laying open on my writing desk notice everything there is to notice about a book that contains all stories in one place. The smooth texture of the covers the golden sunshine brightening the now storyless pages the delightful aroma an old book has from being cherished for so many years. Notice how still the book is. Find that same stillness within you. Once you find it we can deepen our awareness of ourselves even further and attune our minds to things we may typically take for granted. Like the back of your tongue, For instance. It likely lays in such a position that allows you to breathe mindlessly through your nose. Bring your awareness to the back of your tongue and move it closer to the back of your throat. Feel the airway up to your nose shrink and hear the different sounds your breath can make from this simple change. If the airway is shrunken really small you'll snore a bit but if it's open just enough your own breath can sound like the ocean. Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose and make an ocean sound as you do. As your belly expands imagine your imagination expanding big enough to contain every possible thing in its own cubby in its proper place in the expanding, Infinite space that exists within you. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth. The once still heavy pages of the book on the desk begin to blow open by the featherweight touch of your ocean breath. With conscious thought you take the book gently into your hands and carry it without effort. You are now aware of the special magic that you contain the eternal part of you that understands infinity because you're holding it in your hands. Harold is the most excited because he knows by the determined look on your face that you are uniquely capable of rescuing the escaped stories from a world of confusion and putting them back into their place in the infinity. Always remember Mrs. Honeybee believes in you. You are special and you are loved. I can't wait to see you again. Bedtime with Mrs. Honeybee Today, In the Honeybee neighborhood we will continue our adventure that we started in part one. The adventure that will show us how to see without using our eyes and change the world around us using only our minds. We're well on our way to discover the magical powers that we already have. If you haven't listened to part one of Honeybee neighborhood episode two you could listen to the first part of this story well first if you click there but you can also stay right where you are and resume this adventure with us my little honeybee. All you have to do is close your eyes get cozy and listen to the sound of my voice. Mrs. Honeybee will be your guide. Let's begin. Harold bolts out of the writing room and down the stairs but you aren't so fast because something has caught your eye back on the bookshelf. Just then and not before you notice that the two books you found the littlest alley in between were both about ninjas. You note it with your notice before Harold's excitement diverts your attention. We don't hesitate to follow his lead taking your note with us. His nose must be on to something. Melody Bee quickly figures it out. One minute. What is it Melody Bee? That dragon must have taken my satchel of transformation pollen. How? I didn't feel the satchel lift off my shoulder. That must have been the ninja. I told you they were stealthy. What would the ninjas want with transformation pollen? What couldn't a ninja want? Just get with it. It's the gateway to everything. But you know what? I don't suspect this was the doing of a ninja. I bet this was the work of an invisible alien. The transformation pollen could give them more control over whether they're visible or invisible. It could probably lessen how harsh the sun is on their iridescence. There is definitely a connection between the aliens and the ninjas and that becomes even more evident with the books the alien was found in between. Knowing that the aliens and ninjas may be working in cahoots, Melody Bee rushes out to her garden where the transformation pollen is harvested. If the invisible aliens really did read all the stories in the library with their super speed intelligence, Then they must know that too. The scene in the garden is a picturesque sight for wondrous eyes. In addition to the lush greenery of Melody Bee's extensive garden full of fruits, Veggies, And blossoming flowers, There's also a herd of unicorns. We know it's a herd because every single shade of every single color of the rainbow is represented, Except for the bright pink one. That must have been the unicorn the alien borrowed. Melody Bee rushes over to the unicorns who are not bothered in the least. They are munching on blackberries and picking out the juiciest ones by their sweet scent. As we walk by, Searching for any kind of clue that can lead us to where the alien borrowed the unicorn to, You graze the silky mane of the colorful unicorns gravitating to your favorite color. She glitters in the bright sunshine and you stop for a moment to take your surroundings in with each sense. The warmth of the sun on your skin, The scent of the sweet berries, The sound of birdsong, The vibrant colors of the garden dotted with unicorns, And the unicorn even point you toward the juiciest berry for you to savor its tartness. Here in the garden, Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose feel your chest and your spirits lift as you send your breath down into your belly. Hold it there for a moment, Making enough space for it. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth and let your body feel heavy, Fully supported on all sides and in all ways. Melody B buzzes around and around their upright ears, Dusting off a thin layer of what only she can tell is most certainly transformation pollen. The unicorns love my pollen because it can turn anything rainbow-colored with just a wink. And I mean anything. Even Roger Robot. But shh, Don't bring it up. He's still kind of sensitive about it. Sensitive about being so bright even my electronic eyes couldn't handle the glare? Robots were not meant to be rainbows. Robots, Rainbows, Robots, Rainbows, Robots, Rainbows, Separate for a reason. I was shining so brightly I couldn't get any work done. You're right. We had to repaint you back to blue. You couldn't even change your color like usual because it was so saturated. Blue is the proper color for a robot. It's a great base cover for aeronautical travel. I cannot span the universe, No less the multiverse and technicolor. Though it could be helpful for black holes, For instance. Roger Robot rolls circles around the unicorns trying to get their attention so he can be transformed into technicolor. The bright blue unicorn shares an azure affinity with Roger Robot and rears up on his hind legs giving him a proper dusting of transformation pollen. Roger can change his color, Shape, Size, And function but he cannot get as magnificent of a light specimen as is provided naturally by the unicorn. His rainbow appearance doesn't set in all at once. It fades in so he has a chance to get his sunglasses for whatever he's doing in his little cubby in the garden. The unicorns are momentarily upset by someone or something snuffling through the garden. We hear its gargantuan steps before we see it. A Triceratops dinosaur comes lumbering through the row of tomatoes whipping its gargantuan head through entire bushels swallowing them all in one gulp. This sends Melody B into a tizzy which none of us understand. Melody B explains that dinosaurs are likely allergic to tomatoes because it was the very meteorite that crashed into the Jurassic world that gave tomatoes their red color. She rushes over unafraid of its size and snaps her fingers busily about its horns trying to distract it. The unicorns don't quite know what to make of the dinosaur but they're not content to stick around and find out anything else about them. Their instincts kick in and they kick up their front legs. As we continue wandering through the garden avoiding the dinosaur's steps and in search of a satchel or any kind or a clue as to where the pink unicorn went the unicorn heard whinnies and follows along. Eventually persuaded by several near misses from the dinosaur foot the unicorns nuzzle us up onto their fuzzy saddle for a unicorn ride. We gallop faster and faster clearing the danger zone around the dino and as we do you notice the slightest tinge of rainbow shimmer upon your skin. You're rainbow-colored too now. The unicorns anticipate each twist and turn as if they know what we're looking for. They take us to a far corner of the garden where you see a glass building shimmer in the sunshine. The unicorns stop abruptly and resume lazily grazing the tall green grass while we follow a dirt footpath up to the door. They must want us to go inside. With their head worried this greenhouse is where she keeps her extra special and extra sensitive flowers even carnivorous ones which are not as menacing as they sound. She treats them more like little snapping pups but they don't know anyone besides her. Melody B tests the limits of her unknown command over the dinosaur by enticing it to return to the pages so we can go to the dinosaur vet. When Mr. Honeybee regretfully informs her that there likely weren't any dino vets in Jurassic times she parks the dinosaur outside the greenhouse and listens to its chest. It's coughing and wheezing two sure signs of an allergic reaction but the heart is strong. She commands the dinosaur to sit and stay just like you would a pup and to our amazement the dino responds accordingly. We follow Melody B inside the glass door and encounter yet another sight to be seen. Against the back wall stacked from floor to ceiling on glass shelves droves of Venus fly traps have snapped their neon green spiky jaws around just as many stories. She panics. As the primary gardener responsible for the care of all her blossoms Melody B knows more than anyone that these carnivorous plants can only fully clasp their spikes closed once. When they do they need to munch on something that will give them enough energy to snap again. Currently the Venus fly traps are closing in on the many stories that came to explore this whimsical place. Melody B leads the charge to single-handedly open the jaws of each carnivorous blossom without worry of being bitten. The Venus fly traps close in slow motion up until the very last clamp and then it's for keeps. But like pups who know their companion's hand these blossoms know Melody B and are giddy every time they see her. You swear you can even sense their leaves wagging like tails when she hops inside their closing jaws. Silly, Silly blossoms. These are not flies. These are stories. How can you not tell the difference between a fairy from a fairy tale and a fly? Or look at this. You're about to munch on a gnome. That won't taste good at all. We find all sorts of stories that have sought out the garden for the adventure contained within its bountiful bounds. Melody B rescues all the characters that are otherwise at home in a place like this. The fairies, Goblins, And princesses from mythical stories are all spared from the jaws of the Venus fly traps and corralled into the greenhouse rows. She even finds a dragon, The little one she almost caught from escaping my writing room. And in those paws, Almost as tightly clenched as the traps of the carnivorous blossoms, Melody B finally gets her hands back on her satchel. Though the purse has been retrieved, The whole season's harvest of pollen isn't inside. With her bumbling sense of precise weights down beyond human discernment, She is resolute that the alien has absconded with a magical power that should be handled with only the utmost care. And something else is missing, Too. A single bioluminescent bloom which, Like a nightlight, Creates its own light in the dark of the nighttime. What are the aliens and the ninjas planning to do with transformation pollen and a bioluminescent flower? Melody B gives us each a little bit of the remaining pollen to sprinkle on the ground. She thinks it might illuminate the subtle sparkle of the unicorn tracks that aren't so easily perceptible. And sure enough, It does. Looking out the glass walls of the greenhouse that's not at all green, The transformation pollen has seeped deep into the earth to light up the shimmer of the bright pink unicorn tracks that lead into the forest behind our house. Before we go, You think it would be a wise decision to corral all the stories we found in the greenhouse back into their pages, The ones in the book that you're still holding in your hands. Though we couldn't carry it with our combined strength, Your powerful imagination allows you to hold it between your two hands. You hold it out proudly and attempt to command the stories back in. A few of the multitude that are tightly huddled around the rows of hothouse cucumber vines that trail from floor to ceiling motion to fall in line to heed your call and return to their pages. But most of them do not. And then, We decide in unison that they will stay in the garden. There's so much to explore. We beg and plead and try to reason with them to change their minds, Holding open the empty, Storyless pages between the covers. They remain unsweet. We all look at each other in confusion, And while we do, The stories blend back in with the whimsical garden atmosphere to the point where we cannot really even see them anymore. Now that they know to avoid the living fly traps, They each find new adventures to take their stories in exciting new directions, Ones they never thought possible. Our unicorns outside rear up, Impatient with our indecision. As long as the escape stories agree to stay within their helpful parameters, We agree to let them stay. It's at that very moment that the book in your hands floats above them, Levitating in midair for just a quick second before you catch it again and hold it in with a hug. When you let your hands go once more, Once again, The book hovers in place. The unicorns are eager to have their herd complete once again. There's no time to figure out why that once heavy book can all of a sudden float as if it's weightless. We return to our unicorns and take to the skies overlooking the forest. Melody B summons the coughing, Itching dinosaur to follow behind us, Convinced that it's having an allergic reaction. She doesn't know when or how, But she's sure that we'll find someone along the way who can help this escaped dino story. From what we can tell, The unicorn tracks seem to lead us to where we will likely find many of the escaped princess stories on the other side of the honeybee neighborhood in the kingdom of Ronzio. To all the neighbors down on the ground, We must look like a flock of birds flying in formation. Those same neighbors must think there is an earthquake afoot, Though because the wheezing dinosaur is following us on the ground, Wheezing as it quickens its pace to keep up with the flock of unicorns above. Instead of a V shape like migrating geese, Unicorns fly exclusively in a curved rainbow V shape toward their destination. All of our unicorns curve forward, Flying us over a seemingly endless wilderness of forest below. Their wings are so big that they gather clouds in around them like a warm front weather system. But this one brings gusts of glittering winds and clouds that sparkle. The dense forest below becomes more sparse with little outposts dotting the landscape. The people of the Ronzio kingdom are going about their day as if it's like any other. From way up here, You can see someone hanging out their laundry to dry in the fresh air. Up here on the fuzzy saddle of your favorite unicorn, Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Feel the cool air coming in through your nose and filling up your lungs with newness, New inspiration from brand new vantage points. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth and feel the sensation of your belly and your horns descend quickly back down to the ground. When you come back to your senses, The most magnificent castle sprawls across your field of vision, Surrounded by forests and gardens on all sides and guarded by a wrought iron gate and two noble kingsmen standing at attention. They look up to us through the entry of the gate, Not only welcoming us, But waiting for us to arrive. As suspected, Many of the escaped stories have taken refuge here in the kingdom. Princesses, Princes, Kings and queens all mosey about enjoying a place that feels so familiar to them. There's a warrior princess practicing her skills, Another princess having a tea party, And two more princesses covered in splashes of color from their artistic afternoon painting the landscapes. Now trotting rather than flying on our unicorns, They see the bright pink unicorn missing from their herd well before we do. They run as fast as they can toward her, Excited to finally reunite. You hold on as the warm air whooshes by you on all sides, Holding on to the reins and leaning into the silky flowing mane for stability. We are delivered to the biggest tree you've ever seen, One unlike any other because there's a door carved into the trunk of this one. We dismount to let the unicorns enjoy their reunion, And Harold leads the way into the door where one of our closest friends, Princess Powa, Is busily bumbling away in her workshop. Princess Powa isn't alone though. She has a cadre of other princesses as apprentices today. She is overjoyed to have so many helpers and ever happier to see us. An avid woodworker and crafter of all sorts, Princess Powa spends most of her time in her workshop creating things, All kinds of things, Stages for the plays she puts on, Pottery, Wood carvings, Patchwork quilts, Anything you can think of. There are likely supplies for it in this Workshop in a Tray. Oh, Hi Mrs. Honeybee and Mr. Honeybee and Melody Bee. Wow, Everyone is here. I wasn't expecting anyone and now my workshop is full. What an adventure! We're working on a new set of bows and arrows to practice our archery later. Want to help? You make all your own bows and arrows? And I make my tools. Powa does it all, My dear. She built this entire workshop for herself. Wow! Wonderland! I bet there's at least one woodpecker story in here. It's my wonderland and definitely theirs. That's actually what we came to talk to you about. All these visitors. You see, The stories escaped from my library again and. . . Anne, Our dinosaur is waiting at the gate. It's having an allergic reaction to tomatoes. Is anyone in the kingdom a dinosaur vet? Not that I know of. Melody Bee, I told you there's no such thing as something not good. This is not good. We came to get the stories back into their pages, Princess Powa, Because they got out. Put them back in their pages? We just got started. I've never had so many helping hands. Please let them stay, Mrs. And Mr. Honeybee. They fit right in here in the kingdom of Ronzio. They do seem really happy here. We're just down the way. We're so close. If anything goes wrong, I'll tell you right away. Please let them stay. What do you say, My little Honeybee? Should we let these stories stay too? Seeing how happy and helpful all the stories are, We all make the decision to let the escape stories stay escaped here in the kingdom, Out living their best lives in the Honeybee neighborhood among the neighbors. Before Princess Powa can put us to work too, Chiseling chunks of wood into sleek arrows for archery practice, You ask her if she happened to see an invisible alien when the unicorn arrived or if she knows where the ninja could have taken the princesses hostage. The mere mention of an alien jogs her memory and she runs off with a story about the arrival of all these stories. Melody Bee confirms her suspicions that the alien is using the rest of her transformation pollen to control their visibility since Powa was able to see him. Mr. Honeybee then explains all that's happened on this adventure so far. The invisible alien invasion, The message from the aliens on the typewriter, The missing unicorn that was borrowed, The princess that was taken by the ninja, And all about the book you're still holding. You haven't let your hands off this book since you saw that it could float but now you ease up your grip and show Princess Powa how it levitates. She's amazed. Her eyes are wide with wonder and inspiration. Powa explains that we are mistaken about one thing though. The princesses weren't taken, As in taken hostage. They were recruited based on their particular skills. She couldn't quite understand the alien because the ninja stealthily swooped in and gathered up two princesses from the many that fled to the kingdom when they escaped. Something about an intergalactic mission or maybe something about dimensions? Hearing the word dimensions as a woodworker, Princess Powa immediately thought of measuring out her creations before making cuts. She reminds us of the maxim to always measure twice and cut once as a rule of thumb. It's the same rule that Mr. Honeybee uses though with a different thumb. Powa doesn't know the specifics of the mission, But she does know that the princesses they recruited were the ones who excelled at kickboxing. They were expert kickers who practiced with the ninjas. The princesses and the ninja were highly skilled, But the alien not so much. Powa had to wrangle the unicorn after the alien gave it confusing commands on the reins. They were flying and flipping in circles struggling to communicate. She didn't see where the alien went off to or the ninjas or the princesses for that matter. One thing she did see was that the alien asked a fairy to join their sojourn. What could the aliens want with a bioluminescent unicorn and a fairy? Puzzling through the problem out loud, Mr. Honeybee's eyes light up with a bright idea. I think I know why the alien took that particular flower and a fairy. Powa, Would you say that the fairy they took was sparkly? Very sparkly. I love reading fairy tales. They're my favorite straight from the pages, It seems. The kingdom doesn't have any real fairies as far as I know. Actually, Now that you mention it, They looked through all the fairies and took the sparkliest one. All the fairies? There were many? More than I could count. What are you thinking, Mr. Honeybee? I'm thinking that both of them are fairies. It's like the answer is right in front of me, But I can't put it together. The moaning, Groaning sounds of a dinosaur in allergic distress cuts in on Melody Bee's excitement at meeting the fairies and sweeps all of us up into a whirlwind. We leave the stories to their work within their helpful parameters and make our way out to the gate at the front of the castle. The dinosaur was too big to fit through, So instead of stomping the stone wall, It sits waiting for us patiently on the other side. The dino is happy to see us, But its boisterous joy is curtailed by the coughs. Melody Bee once again listens to its chest and reports a strong, Resilient heart. We will need to move slowly but steadily back home, Where we can let this dinosaur rest far from any tomatoes. Melody Bee thinks out loud what herbs from her garden can help with allergic reactions. That gives Mr. Honeybee an idea. He radios into Roger Robot to take a deep dive into the paleontology literature and see if his analysis can help Melody Bee better understand their unique compositions and needs. While Roger Robot works on that, We walk alongside the still, Cheerful Triceratops, Following a different path home, One without so many trees, So there's more space for its gargantuan stomps. Going this way home takes us over rolling green hills and into the mountains. In all the hubbub of figuring out what the escaped stories did, Where they are now, How we're going to help a dinosaur that's clearly getting worse and worse by the minute, You come to realize that something has happened with the book in your hands. You come to a full stop and we all take notice. Looking intently at the book that still can hover in place without your hands, You show us how the book is now see-through. You let the book float up to eye level with each other through the closed book. When you hold your hands out above it, You wave them around and around in circles as if you're casting a spell. The book floats up to meet your hands and follows your hands wherever they lead. You wave them in a crisscross motion going in two directions at once lifting the book up with a gesture. You look out to the mountainous landscape through the book as if it were goggles. Are there some kind of invisible strings making a puppet out of this book? If there are, Then only you have a handle on them, My little honey bee. The journey back to the kingdom. We are going at the pace of a rhythmic syncopation between the sounds of each of our many footsteps and coughs, Sneezes, Wheezes and groans from the dinosaur. One particularly turbulent sneeze kicks up a small dust storm that tornadoes down the empty country roads. We walk for so long that we seem to be in pace with the sun that moves across the sky slowly anticipating its own glorious sunset. Along the way, You busy your imaginative mind with a rousing game of hide and seek with the book. It has become so light that the sunlight pours through its slight transparency. At different moments, As if trying to catch it off guard, You suddenly jerk your hands away and run up ahead of the book. When you turn back, Every time without fail, The book is zipping towards you, Through the air and right back to your hands. We're on our way. Checking on the dinosaur periodically, You look around the dusty hills of this part of the honeybee neighborhood and wonder how different the world looked when dinosaurs roamed the earth. In this exact spot, It doesn't seem like it's ever changed, Not so much as a single scurrying creature or one that we can see at least. You imagine great tons of fossils laying dormant deep below the surface. Millions of years ago, This place could have been roaring with Jurassic competition. Now, It's serene and silent, Wide open and immense. Giving the struggling triceratops an encouraging pat on the belly while it lumbers step by step beside you. Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Send your breath down, Down, Down into your belly and try outlining the shape of your feet with the cool, Fresh air. Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and let yourself be heavy, Planted sturdily on the ancient ground beneath your feet. Though we don't see anyone, A sudden feeling of us not being the only ones walking down this lonely road comes over us. Is the invisible alien here now, But we just can't see him? Where would he have gone next with two sources of light, A ninja and kickboxing princesses? It all doesn't seem to add up, That is, Until Mr. Honeybee gets an alert on one of his many communication devices. He never travels far without them reaching him via satellite phone, Walkie-talkie, Bluetooth earpiece, And funny enough, His Bluetooth earpiece is in the shape of a tooth that is blue. And he has a GPS tracking device. He gets GPS coordinates from lost hikers, Neighbors whose cars break down on road trips, And of course, From his glasses when he accidentally misplaces them and cannot see. Melody Bee attempted to set him up with a carrier pigeon, But she bonded too closely with it, And now it's her carrier pigeon. Last I checked, Roger Robot can even communicate telepathically with Mr. Honeybee, But this alert didn't come from any of these devices. It came from something that he wears on his wrist like a watch, Though it's so much more than a watch. It's a device that transmits all sorts of data from one of our bestest friends, A real-life superhero, And our around-the-corner neighbor, Captain EJ. Captain usually doesn't send Mr. Honeybee alerts. Typically, It's vice versa. Mr. Honeybee's sending urgent alerts out to Captain EJ when new missions come into the command center, Which Mr. Honeybee administers out of his garage. He answers the alert promptly with worry. Captain EJ, I copy. What's wrong? Over. Mr. Hunt, Alien invasion? Not kidding. Don't know why the mission brief is coming straight to me. Aren't you at command center? No, We're out wrangling. I mean, It's a long story. There is an alien invasion, Captain. I was trying to handle it before it got to you, But it seems they've made their way into the kingdom of Ronzeo. We're just outside Dormir. Really? I think we might have run into each other anyway. Oh, There you are. I see you all. Coming your way. We know we're never, Ever alone here in the Honeybee neighborhood, And this time it was Captain EJ about to cross our path. He is our resident power that you can hear. His power is his voice. We don't quite know the extent of his power, But he uses it for all sorts and strains of good around here, Especially in the remote mountain town of Dormir, Nestled between two of our highest mountain peaks. The residents of Dormir are unique, Its location attracts many highly intelligent people from all walks of life. One of these people happens to be an aerospace engineer, And it's there that we finally find our invisible little alien friend, Standing, Pleading, More visible than ever at the doorstep of an accomplished rocket scientist who travels throughout the galaxy. The alien must have read the many adventures of Captain EJ and learned of the scientists and cutting-edge technology out in this corner of the Honeybee neighborhood in Dormir. But we do not find either the ninja, The glowing blossom, The fairy, Or the kickboxing of someone to help fix their ship, Or so we think. We see the visible alien pleading at the doorstep of the engineer, Trying to push himself into the front door before he sees us. When he does finally see us, We do not get a chance to ask about these other stories because he quickly sprinkles and once again becomes invisible. Only a shimmery, Gelatinous outline bounces around the gigantic glass house of the rocket scientist. When we assure the alien that we are here to help, He slowly becomes more and more opaque until we can see him fully. Holding the transformation pollen in close, He pleads with the scientists in his alien language begging for the laboratory doors to be opened. The engineer finally obliges and we follow the alien like you'd follow a bouncy ball until he bounces aggressively against a humongous magnet. The rocket scientist explains that she's working on an experiment with the world's most powerful magnet, But she has no earthly idea what this brave little alien leading a ship full of crashed aliens could want with a magnet. Rather than questioning any further, We simply let the story tell itself. Sometimes there's no substitute for learning by experience or letting others show us who they are without our questions, So we surrender fully to that principle. Reassured by our support, The littlest now visible alien that you found wedged between two ninja books hops back into your hand and bounces circles around you. So grateful. With the happy alien in your hand, Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Allow the cool air to clear your mind of any preconceived notions of this little alien so you can more fully enjoy learning about him through his actions and his story. Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and let yourself be swept up into this adventure as the rocket scientist activates the magnet despite being unsure of the purpose. The alien is ecstatic and his own alien joy creates an electrical charge of its own. He bounces around the laboratory, But his joy is so big that he bounces out the door and all around Melody B with her wheezing dinosaur. They are looking in through the big glass window, But the dinosaur cannot see anything at this point. Its eyes are swollen shut and the sneezes are continual. The boisterous alien is in shock and in her shock Melody B shouts out one last attempt to procure a Paleolithic veterinarian. Melody B's pleas echo through the valley as does the powerful force from the magnet. We're all watching and waiting in anticipation. No one more so than the brave little alien on an unknown mission. Watching, Waiting, Continuing to watch and continuing to wait. The rocket scientist looks to Captain EJ and Captain EJ looks to us and you look to the little alien who seems to be watching over the laboratory though nothing continues to happen. But then something registers on Captain EJ's main devices. A foldable helmet that Mr. Honeybee developed for him to be specially equipped for missions. The Battle Buzz helmet. This device measures all sorts of natural and supernatural forces with his adept voice at a second's notice. Out on missions complex situations change rather rapidly. This alert signals that a strong electromagnetic force is approaching with a unique particle signature. Mr. Honeybee and Captain EJ marvel over the readings and you get the sense that something is coming towards you. Right towards you. All of us duck for cover including the scientist behind her own magnet worried about the unintended as well as intended consequences. Then we hear it. The alien cheers and you are the first to peek out from your cover to see all the shattered parts of a UFO magnetized back together stuck to the gigantic magnet. Unsure where his ship crashed the alien is now once again in possession of it every last piece of it. This is where Mr. Honeybee jumps in to help just as the alien hoped he would. Mr. Honeybee assesses the pieces with the utmost care and ingenuity. It's as if we can see the formulations and calculations enumerating themselves in his mind orbiting around him. More than the aerospace engineer in her lab a garage full of prototypes doesn't stay within the confines of a single field of inquiry. He studies all sciences as well as meta-sciences to sniff out intellectual gaps forged by centuries of assumption and bias. Those gaps are where he spends his days out in the garage innovating and putting together puzzle pieces no one else was trying to fit. This little alien knows that and seems to need Mr. Honeybee and his garage in order to continue on his mission. Captain E. J. Knows the quickest way to get us back to Mr. Honeybee's garage. It's a nifty little early prototype that piece by piece Mr. Honeybee gathers in the UFO and you make sure not a scrap is left behind. You're grateful the book you're still carrying although barely visible can levitate on its own because this is a two-handed project. Captain E. J. Calls Melody Bee into the lab so he can teleport us together but she's talking to someone we don't recognize. From the smile on her face this person seems to be a friend. She peeks her head in to explain that for all the ways Mr. Honeybee is scientifically right he was absolutely wrong that there isn't such a thing as a paleolithic veterinarian. Mr. Honeybee's jaw drops in shock enough to politely put it back for him. No one ever knows what they'll find in Dormir but Melody Bee seemed to be certain that she'd find this neighbor she's talking to. He's a vet with a special hobby and an even more special love for fossils. He studied fossils so extensively perhaps more than veterinary medicine and now he knows about animal science into a hypothetical veterinary care plan should he ever encounter a dinosaur. This neighbor that heard Melody Bee's pleading calls answered with his life's work. He thought paleolithic veterinary science was just a fun project but now he realizes that his one-of-a-kind speculations are worth the test. He's delighted to meet the dinosaur and the Triceratops is delighted to meet him. Even though it's swollen, Wheezing, And so very allergic to tomatoes the dinosaur is comfortable on the desolate rolling hills of this remote mountain town. The vet even thinks that Triceratops like this very dino roam this very spot millions of years ago. We look over to see the dinosaur rolling over like a pup scratching its back on the protruding rocks and the hard-packed dirt. The dinosaur lets out contented grumbles which call more escaped dinosaur stories out from their hiding spots. Their gargantuan steps rumble the ground beneath our feet as they all gallop over to their new best friend the dino vet. He is dumbfounded and cannot believe this is real that this is really happening. The dinosaur's story has deeply impacted his own as if they were leading right towards each other. Melody Bee is endeared by what feels like a reunion bringing the dinosaurs back to their ancestral land and into the hands of someone who believed in them before he saw them and prepared for this very moment. She pleads with us to let the dinosaurs stay out of their pages because they are so happy and once again we decide to let them be. So far we haven't managed to get any of the stories back in the book and the book seems to know that. You play a game of tag with it trying to wrangle it into the teleportation pad where we all assemble along with the alien and the scraps of his ship. It's barely visible and light as a balloon. You hold on even tighter so as not to lose track of it. With a click of the remote we teleport all the way back to Mr. Honeybee's garage and land heavy on our feet in a flurry of color and static. Nobody thought to warn Roger Robot that we were coming and coming instantly by teleportation at that. At that very second Roger Robot could have zeroed in on Mr. Honeybee's thoughts ones that would give him a hint of his coming but he wasn't thinking about what Mr. Honeybee was thinking. Instead Roger was thinking about borrowing one of Mr. Honeybee's most exciting prototypes before he explicitly asked to. Assuming that the answer would be yes and assuming that he could have the prototype back in its cabinet drawer before Mr. Honeybee would go looking for it. Both of Roger Robot's assumptions were incorrect. We accidentally catch the blue robot red-handed in the act perusing the drawers of Mr. Honeybee's prototype cabinet. He all but disintegrates into a pile of wires from the scare. Ah! Mr. Honeybee don't sneak up on a robot like that. I have lasers. You scared me. I can see that. I can also see that prototype you're trying to hide behind your back, Roger. Oh, Oh, This? This is yours? Oh, Oh, That's right. I was gonna get a head start on it before testing. Isn't this thing set to launch pretty soon? Have I ever told you how brilliant you are? Preliminary testing, Huh? What tests were you going to do? I was going to do some preliminary ones, You know. Okay, Roger Robot. How about this? What is that prototype you're holding? What's it called? What does it do? What am I holding right here? Why don't you think about what this does, Huh? How much do you actually know about this creation of yours? Oh, I know a lot and I'm not going to think about any of it so you can't read my mind. Fine, Fine, Fine, Fine, Fine. I know what this is. It's a black hole flashlight. What on earth are you doing with that? Uh, It's not so much as a black hole flashlight. It's a long story but the salient point would be that I accidentally created a couple black holes. Black holes? Roger, That's so dangerous. I know, I know. It was in the name of innovation but I'm going to fix it. Good, Because I pushed my luck finding a Paleolithic vet. I don't think I can find a galaxy doctor in this short notice. I have a very important question. How does one accidentally create a black hole? That's the part that's a long story. How can I put this? Oh, You know when you were mending Mr. Honeybee's socks last week and you accidentally made them too big? What did you do then? I remember he had socks with holes in the toes and other socks with holes in the heels. So I sort of grafted the socks onto each other but I didn't cut the different socks at the same length in half so some socks were way longer than they needed to be. So when I realized I made a mistake I just ripped out the seam I sewed. How does that relate to creating black holes? Well, Sometimes I have to take my time thinking through. On many such occasions I much prefer that time stop for a minute. Just a little pause so I retreated into my cubby as one does and just sort of ripped the seams out of space-time. Space-time? Yeah, There's this annoying thing where space cannot exist outside of time in this dimension in this universe. So with a little spin of my wheel I just snip snip split the seams of the fabric of space-time. Eh, No biggie. I actually do this a lot and I never thought there'd be much to it. I just float through the multiverse and parse through my idea in excruciating detail. Then I come back. Though today I just figured out that every time I do that and every time I did that I created a black hole. So now I just need this flashlight to find him and sew him back up. Should be easy. What? Uh, Okay. We can't worry about that right now, Roger. I need to fix this ship. You can borrow the black hole flashlight. Borrow as in bring back when you're done? Thanks, Mr. H. I'll see you soon. I'll be in the multiverse if you need me but please don't need me. Let me know. Two needs, Not just one. Bye! Mr. Honeybee gets right to work fixing the alien spaceship with you by his side as his right-hand helper. You fish out all sorts of tools from his tool chest and hand them over his two workbenches that are completely full with prototypes. Each labeled and categorized in what seems like a complex system. There are staplers that turn into pogo sticks, Teleportation remotes with multiple channels, A stack of robot parts for Roger Robot's yearly hardware updates, More computers and computer screens than you can count, And a wonderland of color and rhythmic beeping from a plethora of electronic devices. Hunched over the workbench, We each fetch him different highly specialized tools that Mr. Honeybee has gathered over the years. When he asks you for a trace gas analyzer, You survey his entire command center for something, Anything that looks like it could analyze trace amounts of gases or something like that. You rummage through the prototype cabinet which is so tall that you have to climb up the metal shelving before Melody Bee and I flutter over with a ladder for you to climb. Standing before a garage full of fascinating tools, Flanked on either side by the supportive two friends, Me and Melody Bee, Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose and start climbing to the top. Right hand, Right foot. Left hand, Left foot. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth and reach up as high as you can to barely grasp the gray handle of what looks like a heavy-duty briefcase. When you bring it to Mr. Honeybee, He explains that this is no briefcase. This is what astronauts use on space missions to detect the tiniest leak in their shuttle. Mr. Honeybee is conducting that first of many tests on this new ship to ensure that no trace of the dinosaur stomp is detectable. Whatever the invisible alien mission is here in the Honeybee neighborhood, He wants to ensure they can finish it. He has worked quickly, Much more quickly than the alien anticipated. When the alien realizes this, He opens the garage door and puts out a call to other invisible aliens. At first, You cannot see anyone joining us in the empty space of the garage, But you guess that they've amassed huge numbers from the slight iridescent film that lays over the concrete floor. The rest of the aliens that crash-landed don't have a sprinkling of transformation pollen to make them visible. Like one gigantic wobbly bubble floating, The invisible alien army marches along the perimeter of the garage. They're not moving aimlessly around in circles. They're moving with purpose, Towards something. The littlest, Bravest alien we've been following on this adventure leads them around and around the edges where the wall meets the floor. They go around and around, Knocking on the wall as they go, Before finally, The alien we can see stops in front of the little cubby door that Roger Robot left through. Roger Robot's cubby looks small and unassuming, But by now you know better than to judge a book by its cover, Just like this book, Still floating about your hands, Now almost as invisible as the aliens. A mere trace of what it was when we started out after the alien that's now knocking furiously on Roger's cubby. Since we know that Roger Robot does not want to be bothered doing whatever he's doing, Wherever he is inside that little door, You try to distract and dissuade the little alien from knocking so much. But he continues. Not only does he continue, But he uses his last sprinkle of transformation pollen to turn up the opacity of the invisible alien army, Which is gathered in full in the garage to make them completely visible to us. We squish in tighter and tighter as each of the innumerable aliens that surround us becomes visible and take up more space. When they were transparent, You could see through them, But also walk through them. Now that they're opaque, You can see the glee on their faces as they push in around Roger's cubby door. Though the book in your hands is light as a feather and now much less visible than the aliens, We make a last-ditch effort to direct at least one of the escaped stories back into the pages. The aliens beg and plead with us to stay, All of them talking in their alien language at the same time, But the sentiment is clear. The bravest little alien leading them pushes through the horde and explains that he is on a mission, A special mission. It's the most important mission he's ever been on, And it sounds like he's been on many. And more than that, He is certain that this mission is almost completed. He promises, Pleading with all his heart, That if we just let him complete this mission, He will stay within their parameters. More than that, He'll cram as much story within the parameters as possible, Exploring unknown realms and diving into new dimensions that we have an open invitation to. Just then, The ninja, Both kickboxing princesses, And the fairy carrying the bioluminescent blossom rush in through the crowd to connect with the alien. Together, They plead and plead, Keeping a mindful eye on the door to the cubby. Just as we did with the other escaped stories, We concede and let this persistent, Resourceful alien continue his mission to. . . Roger's Cubby? They won't quit until they finally succeed in getting Roger's attention, Just as Mr. Honeybee finishes up the finishing touches on their sparkling new spaceship. When Roger Robot opens his cubby door, Completely unaware of what is now on the other side, None of our warnings make it to his electronic ears. Quicker than our minds can process the movements, All of the aliens, The ninja, The princesses, And the fairy stream into the impossibly small spacecraft and zip into the cubby door, Shrinking themselves in the process. The sheer force of the ship filled with so many aliens passing by on their mission sends Roger Robot into a tailspin. Do they know where they're going? It sounded like it. They're on a special mission, But didn't explain more than that. Roger, I can't believe I've never asked this before, But the last I saw of your cubby, You had a little charging station that you used as a bed. Maybe the aliens ran out of battery? I don't think they have batteries, Melody Bee. Why would the aliens' mission lead him to your cubby? What's in there? The charging station, Probably, And a couple other things. You took the black hole flashlight into your cubby. Are the couple other things black holes? Did you find them, By the way? Yes and yes. So you're messing with space-time in there? That's what you meant by defying physics? I thought that was just a figure of speech. The only figures I know are in formulas, Which I get bored with. Once you memorize all of physics and all of calculus and all of, Well, Everything, You would find yourself like I did, Wanting something bigger. I would literally spin myself in circles trying to think up more and more complex logic puzzles and mathematical riddles. But one day, After I unraveled the knot of string theory, I spun myself into such a tizzy that I kinda figured out how to travel to new dimensions. So that's what I'm doing in my cubby. Wow, Roger. Your intelligence is astounding. You must have accidentally communicated with the aliens' planet or something. That's it. You're exactly right, My dear. I was just reading about superstring theory and our 11 dimensions. I bet you entered their dimension and gave them a path to higher dimensions. I haven't gotten past the 9th dimension, But that's my goal. I literally just got back from the edge of the 9th dimension because of all that knocking. Roger, What happens in the 9th dimension? So glad you asked. I could talk about this forever. And in the 9th dimension, That could be a possibility. The 9th dimension is where we can compare all the possible universe histories, Starting with all the different possible laws of physics and initial conditions. But the 10th. . . Uh, What's in the 10th? And 11th? In the 10th and 11th, We finally arrive at the point in which everything possible and imaginable is covered. Completely. In every way. It's the theory of everything. All at once. It must just be marvelous. We need to go after them. We need to get there. Why, Mrs. Honeybee? They'll have to come back eventually. Can't we just see them when they get back? No. We need to get there. That dimension. . . Which one? The everything dimension. That is the edge of the Honeybee neighborhood. That's what I was attempting to do with that book our little Honeybee is. . . Was holding. Who's coming with me? My dear, We can't just travel to the 10th dimension willy-nilly. Sure you can. What? Come on. I'll show you. Roger Robot excitedly leads us into his cubby. But before you crawl through the small door after Mr. Honeybee, Melody Bee and Harold, You realize that the book you were holding, The one that was floating, Is now completely gone. I crawl in the door, But don't hear you coming after me. So I turn back to see you standing perfectly still. You pause there in the garage, Soaking in the silence after so much commotion. Look all the way to one side to see Mr. Honeybee's workbench with scattered tools and prototypes strewn about. Look all the way to the other side where totally typical garage stuff sits unmoved. You cannot see the book, But you still feel like it's here. And with that tentative conclusion, You dive into the door and we catch up to Roger Robot who leads us through a maze of tunnels. The deeper we go, The darker and bigger it gets until we come to the darkest point of the maze. Roger tells us that the spaceship full of stories doesn't know the way but he does and he knows a shortcut. Tapping into his GPS software, Roger projects a light above his head that shows our location as a big red dot and their location as a big black dot. They seem far away, But with another sudden turn, We cut the distance in half. The alien ship is going the right direction, But we're going to get there first. Another sharp turn through the darkness leads us to a surprising sight. A perfect circle is drawn in the darkness with sizzling electricity. This is where the spaceship is racing to and where the alien's mission will likely lead. On the other side of this threshold, Roger Robot says that the rules of Earth no longer apply in the same way. We have to be ready. Before we can decide how we can ever be ready to enter such a realm, This spaceship zips around the corner and nearly crashes into us. Now, We're all back together once again. You should be considering whether you're ready to enter new dimensions, But you're consumed in thought about where the book went. It feels as if it's in your hands at times, But when you look down, It's not. There's no time to think or feel or even direct your movements. Everything feels jumbled as we huddle together in front of this door-like portal. It's here with this sizzling energy that we'll be able to launch. As long as we're together, We know we can do anything in this dimension or beyond. With our minds and our hearts open, We know that we're ready. Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Feel all the possibilities, All the stories, And the purest form of love swell in your chest with your breath. Hold it for a moment, Pulling your center of gravity into your heart. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth and relax every single one of your muscles until they are soft and squishy. Make yourself heavier. Sink deeper into the weightlessness as you are carried through the fifth, Sixth, Seventh dimension. Here, You can see all possible worlds within and around you, All possibilities that you ever wondered about, All possible outcomes that you've ever worried about. They all exist here. You can see them, Bright and beautiful. Hope rushes through you, But we continue on to the next dimension and the next, Floating around and around each other, Experiencing the closest thing we've ever experienced to true infinity. Roger Robot takes on the technology of the black hole flashlight prototype he borrowed and begins searching frantically as the flashlight itself. This is where he started altering the seams of the fabric of space-time. This is where the pesky black holes he accidentally created lurk. Few things ever make it out of a black hole, But Roger Robot is one of them. And it's this feat of innovation that the aliens needed on their mission, Because like potholes on a country road, They too are slowed down by black holes on their way to the deepest dimension, Which Roger Robot hasn't even been able to breach. This is where the tangled threads of the invisible alien story come together in a bow. Black holes are so named because light cannot escape it, But the light of the flashlight Roger Robot transformed into is strong enough to at least show the outlines. There are many black holes that we have to navigate expertly around, And when we do, The ninja, The two princesses, And the fairy carrying the bioluminescent blossom descend from the spaceship with tethers connected to their waists. They are now free to float around the ship, Leading it like a pack of sled dogs chasing after snow. We follow them in the powerful beams of Roger's light to one last black hole that stands between us and the deepest dimension, The edge of the honeybee neighborhood where all possibility exists at once, Together. This is where the fairy and her bloom take the lead. Ever so sweetly, The demure little fairy flutters up to the black hole. She holds the blossom up to her mouth puffs up her cheeks and blows the bioluminescent pollen into the black hole. Instead of a vacuum of light and substance, We now see a shimmering infinity expand in all directions. The effects of the fairy's spell is temporary, So we quickly follow behind the spaceship and successfully travel through the black hole, Which leaves us at the precipice of the final dimension, Which is where the ninjas and the princesses are up next. They move as if they are swimming to the front of the ship, Carrying it and leading us as far as we can go. They stand in a line with the ninja in the middle With one last glance and confident smiles, The ninja swipes the dimensional walls with his hand just as the two princesses kick their strongest kick. Together, They burst through with ease. What does everything at once in slow motion look like to you? Pictures flashing with just enough time to live each of the rich details. Floating weightlessly, Yet held in perfect contentment, Knowing you are safe and enough and beautiful just as you are. Let yourself feel the joy of this dimension. Go where it leads you and know that there is no end or limit, A true infinity. In a state of shock, Roger Robot transforms back into his blue robot self. He's been formulating, Calculating, And working nonstop to get here, And all it took was a fairy, A flower, A ninja, And two princesses. He is in awe and doesn't feel the need to transform any further because he is already all that he can be at the exact same time. There is no choice but to be exactly who you are here because here you can be all that you are at once. All the multitudes you contain, All the things you wish you could say, All the hopes you've ever hoped are real here, And you can visit each one like walking into a new world. It's here that you realize what happened with the book that you were so diligently carrying, The one that you were able to pick up and hold when no one else could. You look down and see that the book now lives in your heart, Which glows as bright as the sun. Just like all along this twisting, Turning, Winding adventure, You continue to carry this book, The honeybee neighborhood, Wherever you go. Just like you carry all the possibility, Love, And infinity that you have within you. Like I said back in my writing room, That wasn't just a book you were carrying. It was my heart in book form. Now, My little honeybee, I can write stories that go directly from my heart to yours, And we can meet here whenever you need an entire world full of friends. There's only one question left to ask, I suppose. Where do you want to go next? Always remember, Mrs. Honeybee believes in you. You are special, And you are loved. I can't wait to see you again. Bedtime with Mrs. Honeybee Today, We'll be going on an adventure in the honeybee neighborhood where a special delivery is already on its way just for you. All you have to do is close your eyes, Get cozy, And listen to the sound of my voice. Mrs. Honeybee will be your guide. Let's begin. You are here in the honeybee neighborhood, About to turn the corner and walk up our driveway to knock on the front door. As you walk, Enjoying the sunshine and the warm breeze, You hear footsteps behind you. Who could that be? You walk a little faster toward the brightly colored front door. You're just about there. You feel a tap on your shoulder. You slowly turn around to see our friendly mail carrier smiling back at you. He can't even remember the last time he saw you, But he is so, So happy to see you now. He's in a rush today. He has more packages than he does time, And you're just the help he needs. The mail carrier looks down to rummage through his enormous messenger bag. He has a very special delivery. He knows he can trust you with this package that was sent urgently with a fragile sticker on it, If he could only find it. He asks you to hold what was in his hands, And you grab a stack of magazines and envelopes from him. The mail carrier continues to dig through his bag, Placing more and more packages that tower in your outstretched arms. It's a struggle to balance it all, But he knows he had it in here somewhere. Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose, Distill your mind and find balance. Then, Slowly, Breathe out through your mouth. Your exhale blows the front cover of the Honey Bee Neighborhood Bulletin up. You peek over the pile of packages to see a glimpse of an upcoming neighborhood-wide ceremony, But the mail carrier finds the package before you can get a good look. He quickly takes everything from you, And in exchange hands you the tiniest box you've ever seen. You sign your name on the mail carrier's scanner, And it beeps when it's accepted. He rushes off down the driveway, And you spin around to walk up to the front door. What can be so tiny and so important inside this package? You inspect it on all sides and hold it up to your ear, Wondering whether you can hear anything. In all of this, You still haven't knocked on the door, But before you can, You hear Harold rushing to the door and Melody Bee shouting from inside. They're here! They're here! The seeds are here! Yes, Harold, I do too know that they're here. The pigeon sent their signal. Wait, I always forget how to unlock this door. Is it this way? No, No, It's this way. Actually, It goes this way, And like this. Not expecting anyone to be on the other side, Harold and Melody Bee dash out of the house and right into you. When they realize it's you, They give you a big hug instead and completely forget about the delivered package. Harold jumps up on your legs, Eagerly waiting to be pet. Then sits down at your feet. Hello, My little honeybee. I'm so happy you're here. What do you have there? Did I hear someone say that the seeds are here? Oh, Hello, My little honeybee. It's so nice to see you again. Oh, That must be the seeds for the. . . Well, You'll see. Come on in. Now that you're here, We'll be able to get started on one of the most important events in honeybee neighborhood history. Harold never lets you out of his sight when you're here. Harold, Give our friend space to walk in the door at least. Silly pup. Still holding the package, You walk through the open door with Harold happily trotting by your side wearing a big puppy smile. We will sit down at the kitchen table where freshly baked cookies are cooling. Mr. Honeybee pulls a chair out for you, Our special guest. This is where you usually sit when you visit, Right? We always think of this as your chair at the dinner table. You sit down in the comfy chair and place the tiny box on the table next to the glass that Melody Bee fills up with freshly squeezed lemonade. We all sit around the table looking at the package. Melody Bee asks, Did you shake it? How do they sound? These seeds traveled so far. You pick it up and lightly shake it for everyone to hear. Oh, They sound strong. This is so exciting. Well, My little honeybee, You intercepted a very important delivery that traveled all the way down the Honey River to get to us. What's in that box will be with us with the Honeybee Neighborhood for the next 300 years or maybe even 400. You are such a special part of the neighborhood that we wanted to make sure you were here when we started this important process. We are going to plant an oak tree. Believe it? An oak tree in the middle of the Honeybee Neighborhood for hundreds of years. As you know, The mighty oak grows from the tiniest acorn. Once we get it started, The whole neighborhood is going to be a part of a very special tree planting ceremony. This isn't just any tree. It will be at the heart center of the Honeybee Neighborhood and it will grow along with us, Nurtured by all the love and friendship found here. We can watch it grow over the years. Maybe we can even build a tree house when it's big enough. And have a tire swing or a hammock or both. It will be the perfect addition to the neighborhood. Go ahead. Do us the honors of opening the package. You look to the sides of the tiny box to see where you can open it. You pull a flap up on the side and peek inside. There's an even tinier paper bag. You slowly pull it out and unwrap four little acorns. One by one, You place them gently on the table in a line. They are each wearing little beige caps and wobble as they settle on the tabletop. Mr. Honeybee steps away for a moment to grab something from the kitchen cover. These are four of the best acorns harvested from the mightiest oak tree in the whole forest. Hopefully, At least one of these will be strong enough to be our Honeybee neighborhood tree. We will, Of course, Have to do the float test first. Melody Bee picks up one of the acorns and holds it up close, Inspecting it. You do the same. Reach out to pick up one of the tiny acorns between your fingertips and hold it up to your eye. This teeny tiny acorn that's no bigger than your fingertip now will grow over 70 feet high. That's two two-story houses stacked on top of each other. It just goes to show that no matter how great something seems, It started off as something very, Very small. Just like us, The tree has to be ready to experience its own greatness. Until then, It quietly grows. Mr. Honeybee comes back from the cupboard and places two more glasses down on the table, Each one in front of his seed. He then goes back to the cupboard and comes back with two more glasses. You set the acorn back down on the table so he can put a glass in front of it. Then you take a refreshing drink of the sweet lemonade. Harold jumps up into your lap for a better view of the acorns. You pet his fluffy ears as Mr. Honeybee continues. We just need to do a quick experiment to determine which of the seeds are ready to become oak trees. First, We fill up all these cups with water. Then we put the acorns in the water to see if any of them float. Did you know the float test also works with eggs? You can tell which eggs are fresh if they stay at the bottom of the water. If they float, They're not fresh eggs. Same with these acorns. We're going to be acorn scientists this afternoon. Before we dunk the acorns, We need to remove their caps. Sitting around the table, We each take one of the acorns and gently pull their beige caps off. Harold holds his snout up to sniff the acorn cap. He tries to eat it like he tries to eat everything, But you make sure he doesn't get it. You set the acorn and its cap back on the table out of the reach of Harold's snout. All five of the acorns are solid and strong. It doesn't look like the birds or the worms got to them yet. Sometimes acorns will be hollowed out by little forest creatures. If so, The little holes will make the acorn float and we know they won't germinate or sprout. We need heavy acorns that stay at the bottom of the glass. Mr. Honeybee picks up the first acorn and plops it into the water. And it falls all the way to the bottom. Little bubbles float up to the top and we all watch in anticipation. The acorn wobbles side to side at the bottom of the glass until it slowly begins to float up to the top. This one won't work. I'll go next. Melodybee's acorn doesn't even make it to the bottom of the glass before it begins to float and settles on the surface of the water. Ugh, Darn. Okay, Your turn, Little Honeybee. Holding Harold with one arm, You reach over to the glass of water and drop the acorn in. It sinks all the way to the bottom and seems to stay there. We watch for a couple more seconds in case it decides to float like the other one. It continues to stay at the bottom. That means this acorn is good to go. This is the last one. Do you think it's going to float? I think it will sink. I can just tell. I don't know. A floater in disguise. We'll see. Here it goes. The acorn sinks slowly down, Much slower than the others. As we watch closely, Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose. When you breathe all the way out through your mouth, Let yourself be heavy and sink down to be even more cozy. It looks like the acorn floats perfectly still in the middle of the glass. It bobs back up a little, Then falls all the way to the bottom where it settles. This is another contender. We have two acorns that are ready to move on to the next step. We just need two paper towels and plastic bags that can zip closed. The heavy, Healthy seeds that sink to the bottom will need to germinate next. Seeds like to germinate in cool, Dark places, Just like how us humans like to sleep when it's cool and dark. When we sleep, Our brains restore our bodies and replenish our energy. When seeds are in cool, Dark places, They open up and send out their sprouts. You take one of the paper towels and dip it into the glass of water until it's completely submerged. Then wring it out until all the water drips away. We lay the paper towels out flat and wrap each of the seeds in their own paper towel blanket. This will give them enough moisture to sprout. Once they're wrapped up, We place them in the plastic bag, Zip them up, And let them rest for as long as they need. We can put them in the back of the refrigerator so they can acclimate to what it will be like to live outside in the honeybee neighborhood. Harold jumps down to lead the way to the refrigerator. You open the door and place both faggies on one of the back shelves. You see a container of Harold's treats on the same shelf. Since he's been such a good boy, You take a treat out and ask him to sit. He quickly sits, Waiting for the next command. You ask him to shake and hold out your hand. He lifts his paw up to your hand and wags his tail. You pet his head and give him his treat. You are one of his favorite people. We wait and wait at the germination station, Careful not to disturb the sprouts. When the day finally comes to check in on the acorns, We all stand before the shelves. You grab the first baggie and carefully open it. You gently unwrap it to reveal a strong root that has grown out of the bottom of the acorn. A tiny green stem has sprouted out of the top and it has an even tinier leaf beginning to bud. This is a success! Now you check the other bag and unwrap the second acorn. It too has a root and a sprout, But both are much smaller than the other one. Both acorns have developed roots and can be put in water. We set them up in their own vases of water for the roots to get even stronger. There they continue to grow, Slowly at first, But then all at once. The stems reach for the ceiling and the leaves double, Then triple. In the meantime, Mr. Honeybee has been working on a special surprise that he's excited to show you. Follow me out to the garage. I've been working on this for a while, But it's finally ready to house its first visitors. Mr. Honeybee leads us through the side of the garage to where he's built a little greenhouse. It's covered with windows to let enough sunlight in to keep the room warm enough for our plants, Even during the winter. Melody Bee can hardly believe her eyes. Mr. Honeybee, This is incredible! We can grow so much in here! The first tenant of the greenhouse will be our mighty oak seedlings. This will be the perfect place to introduce the seedlings to their new pots. I bet the roots have doubled by now. Let's go grab them from the windowsill, My little Honeybee. You'll be surprised how much they've grown. Back in the kitchen, You take hold of one of the vases. There are several offshoots from the main stem now and several leaves. You peek into the vase to see the roots have tangled around each other. Roots love to be tangled like that. The other acorn has grown a single stem and several leaves. We walk back to the greenhouse where Mr. Honeybee and Melody Bee have set up two pots that we will plant the seedlings in. Harold was very helpful to get us gardening gloves and a watering can. Thank you, Harold. You're such a good helper. Mr. Honeybee, Can you grab us a shovel and that big bag of potting soil? Of course, My dear. With that, We're all ready to plant our seedlings in their pots. You dig the shovel into the bag of soil and fill each of the pots about halfway. Then, You hold the vase of the strongest seedling still while Melody Bee flutters above the leaves and gently pulls the stem out of the vase. A tangled knot of roots slowly emerges. So many have grown in such a short period of time that they have taken the shape in the vase. Melody Bee flutters over the pot and lowers the first seedling into the soil where we very gently cover the roots with more soil until they're fully tucked in. You run your garden-gloved hand over the top of the soil and pat it down to make room for even more. Melody Bee sprinkles some of the magic plant food on the very top. We do the second one the same way and then water both of them thoroughly. You are very diligent about checking in on the seedlings and making sure they have everything they need. You take excellent care of them, Just like I knew you would. When we began, The strongest seedling was about 2 inches tall. Under your care, It more than tripled its size. Now it stands over 6 inches tall. Mr. Honey Bee double-checks the measurements and it's actually 7 1⁄2 inches tall. You took such good care of our oak tree that now it's more than ready. The other seedling would like more time to grow, So we'll let this one take all the time it needs. Perhaps this one wants to grow into a bonsai tree. No matter how a tree grows up or how big it gets, It will be perfect just as it is. How boring the Honey Bee neighborhood would be if all trees were exactly the same. As you took care of these special seedlings, You might not have noticed, But they seem to have grown just as you have. Following your lead, These seedlings have grown in their own unique ways and are well on their way to becoming the most perfect seedlings they can be. Just like you are growing a little every day into the most perfect you. Stronger, Smarter, And kinder than you were yesterday. When you come back the next time, We will be ready to transplant the tree on the hill in the center of the Honey Bee neighborhood. You arrive back at the greenhouse to measure the seedling. It's now 10 inches tall and so strong. You pick up the pot from the table and see a flyer sitting under it. There's a ring of water that dripped through the bottom of the pot, But you're still able to read it. This is a copy of the Honey Bee neighborhood bulletin that's announcing the tree planting ceremony which is taking place today. All of the neighbors are invited to see you break ground on top of the hill where this mighty oak seedling will preside over the Honey Bee neighborhood for centuries. You are the guest of honor and everyone will be so happy to see you. Melody Bee joins you in the greenhouse carrying a little pouch of special plant food Mr. Honey Bee comes out of the garage with a wheelbarrow and sets it down just outside the door. Are you ready to transplant the Honey Bee neighborhood oak tree, My little Honey Bee? Together, We walk to the center of the neighborhood carrying the seedling, Some extra soil, And Harold in the wheelbarrow. The sun is shining and it's a beautiful day to plant a tree. Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Feel your chest and your spirits lift with excitement. Then, Slowly breathe out through your mouth as we arrive at the oak tree's forever home. Here, In the middle of the Honey Bee neighborhood, There's a sprawling park with tall green grass. Today, It's full of people who are grateful to spend this special time with us. For years to come, As the oak tree and the neighborhood grow, We will all be able to remember the day we planted this tree. When it's 70 feet tall, We'll be able to say we knew it when it was just 7 inches tall. What a precious memory we are making together. The seedling will be transplanted up on the top of this little hill that we need to walk up. Left foot, Right foot, Left foot, Right foot, Left foot, Right foot. When we get to the top, Mr. Honey Bee sets the wheelbarrow down and we prepare the supplies. We have our gloves, Our shovels, Watering cans, And a few other things we'll need. The rest of the neighborhood joins us at the top of the hill as the ceremony commences. Hello, Lovely neighbors. Thank you so much for coming to our special celebration. One of our best friends here, Whom you all know, Has taken such good care of this seedling that now it's ready to plant. It is that much closer to being a fixture in the neighborhood that we all get to enjoy for years to come. As you reach for the shovel, The crowd gives you a round of applause. You wave to everyone with a big smile on your face. With a shovel in your hand, You take another slow, Deep breath in through your nose and raise the shovel up. When you breathe out through your mouth, You dig the shovel into the soft soil where the oak tree will live. Everyone cheers as you dig out the rest of the hole, Big enough for the seedling's many roots. Before we transplant the oak tree, We will need to make sure its new home has enough water for the roots to adapt to its new environment. You slowly saturate the ground with water, Letting it seep into the soil. It takes all four of us, But together we wiggle the oak seedling from its temporary home and lower it into its permanent home at the center of the neighborhood. We cover the roots completely to make sure they're cozy and tucked in. Then we pat it down gently. Melody Bee sprinkles a little extra plant food as a snack for its first night in its forever home. Mr. Honey Bee carefully measures 10 feet out from where the tiny tree is currently planted. He walks step by step until he's 10 feet away. This is how far the roots will spread underground when the tree is fully grown. Within that circumference, A 10-foot circle around the tree, We cannot let any other plants grow. The roots are very delicate when they're young and growing, So we all need to protect this space. Melody Bee notices a little plant that has sprouted in the middle of that circle. She flutters down to the ground and carefully plucks it from the soil, Roots and all. She will give this a home back in the garden so the oak tree can have all the room its roots need. Mr. Honey Bee brought along some extra lumber he had left over. Around the perimeter of that 10-foot circle, He begins to build a little fence to remind everyone of how special this space is. Together, We will build this little barrier all the way around the tree until we meet again where we started. The crowd begins to thin as the ceremony comes to a close. As everyone is walking back down the hill, A single squirrel scurries the opposite way, All the way up the hill to us. Harold barks when the visitor arrives, Doing his best not to chase our new friend. Squirrels and oak trees have a very special relationship in nature. Squirrels not only eat acorns, But they also help oak trees grow more trees. It's a very special service the squirrels provide. They collect so many acorns that they cannot fit them all in their cheeks. What they do is bury the acorns in secret spots like squirrel treasure. Every so often, A squirrel will forget where they buried their treasure, And from that spot, A new oak tree will grow. This squirrel wants to help the honeybee neighborhood oak tree grow so he can have more acorns than he's ever imagined possible. The squirrel agrees not to bury any acorns around here so this tree can grow as big and strong as possible. Not only that, But the squirrel will gather a select group of his best squirrel friends to be the oak tree guardians. Together, They will continue your wonderful work of making sure this ceiling gets everything it needs. They will keep it company at night when the rest of the neighbors are tucked in for sleep, And they will make sure it stays nice and warm. In return, The oak tree will grow up tall and give many, Many squirrels and birds the perfect home. Here, We all help each other in obvious ways and less obvious ways. You are an important part of our honeybee neighborhood ecosystem, My little honeybee, And I'm so happy to spend time with you. We will be able to come back and visit the oak tree to watch it grow. In return, Over the years, It will watch the honeybee neighborhood grow even bigger, Even stronger, Even kinder than it was the day before. Always remember that Mrs. Honeybee believes in you. You are special and you are loved. I can't wait to see you again. Bedtime with Mrs. Honeybee Today, We'll be going on an adventure in the honeybee neighborhood into Harold's doggy dream. Have you ever wondered what dogs dream about? Oh, I want to know, I want to know. Well, Let's find out. Right behind you, Mrs. Honeybee. All you have to do is close your eyes, Get cozy, And listen to the sound of my voice. Mrs. Honeybee will be your guide. Let's begin. You are here in the honeybee neighborhood strolling through the forest of trees that are filled with birds singing their songs. You've decided to take the secret way to the honeybee house, Cutting through the forest, Just like Harold showed you on your last walk together. You're on the lookout for the tree with a hole in its trunk. That's where you're supposed to turn right, Which will lead you directly to the backyard. The sun is shining down on you through the trees, And the leaves crunch beneath your footsteps. Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Let the fresh air fill your lungs. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth and continue down this little hill. The forest that surrounds the honeybee neighborhood is bursting with activity. But just up ahead, You see one quiet tree the one with a hole in the trunk. You tiptoe up to it, Knowing you need to be as quiet as possible when you peek inside. Standing up on your tippy-toes, You peek in to see the friendly owl who lives there. He slowly swivels his head around and winks one eye open from his afternoon nap to say hello. He loves it when you stop by on your way to visit us. You leave him to enjoy the rest of his nap and take a right turn. That's when you see our backyard. The sunflowers in the garden are even taller than the fence. They seem to smile back at you as you unlatch the gate and walk into the backyard. Melody Bee is on the other side of the yard collecting dandelions that are newly fluffed and ready for wishes. She already has a handful picked by the time she sees you come through the gate. Buzz, Buzz, Buzz. Holding enough dandelions for everyone, She buzzes over to say hello. Oh, Hello. I'm in the back way today. Did you see the owl? Did he look okay? He has new neighbors, The woodpeckers. They do not understand his need for daytime naps. They're up early pecking wood while he's settling in for bed. He's actually been a little cranky lately. Here, I picked you a dandelion. I have one for Hale, Too. I know he is so excited to see you today. I'm surprised he's not out here already. Come on, Let's go inside and find him. Hello, My little honeybee. I'm so glad you're here. I was just looking for Harold, Too. I thought I heard him. Do you hear that? Yeah, I do. Where is that coming from? Mrs. Honeybee, Melody Bee, He's in here, In the office with me. Come look at this. Around the corner from the kitchen we follow Mr. Honeybee down the hallway and into the office. That's where we find Harold snuggled up in his big, Cozy bed. He didn't hear us come in because he's still fast asleep. This is where he sleeps while Mr. Honeybee works on the computer. He looks so peaceful sleeping there until suddenly, Without waking up, His ears twitch, His paws move as if he's running on air, And he sleep-barks without moving his mouth. Harold is dreaming. Watching him, We huddle in close so we don't wake him up with our voices. I've been in here researching robots all afternoon. By the way, I think I know just how to build one. But, Anyways, I keep hearing this noise, And I look down, And Harold is running and barking in his sleep. I've never seen him do that before. Look at the way his paws are stretched out like that. It looks like he's flying. Oh my gosh, It does look like he's flying. I wonder where he's flying to and what he's dreaming about. That's exactly what I was thinking, So I looked it up. I wasn't sure if dogs can even have dreams, But they do. Dogs dream about what they know. Dog stuff. He's probably dreaming about the dog park. He loves it there. But he doesn't usually fly at the dog park. Does he even know what flying is? I mean, I fly, But he's never tried to. Well, That one time he did, But woof, That did not go well. He tried to fly? Yeah, It's a long story. Ah, There he goes again. I wish we could know what he's dreaming about. It looks like a fun dream. You and Melody B both look down to the fluffy white dandelions in your hands at the exact time. Then you look at each other and smile, Knowing that wishes do indeed come true, Especially when you have plenty of dandelions that are fluffed and ready. You hold your dandelion up, Twisting it around and around, As if to say, Not only can we wish to know what Harold is dreaming about, But we can also wish to be in the dream ourselves. We can wish for that? Mr. Honeybee, We can wish for anything. Look how fluffy these are. They're just waiting for a wish. We look over to Harold, Who is still sound asleep. We each take out our dandelions and hold them out together. Take a slow, Deep breath, In through your nose, And wish to be in Harold's dream. Then, Slowly, Breathe out through your mouth and blow lightly on the dandelions. White seed fluff flies all around and surrounds us like the softest, Puffiest clouds. You feel yourself being lifted up within this cloud. We can feel our bellies drop like we're on a roller coaster. We're not in the office anymore. You land gently on new ground. It's so soft beneath your feet that you think it's grass. You look down to see that the ground is actually bright yellow and fluffy, Like it's made of feathers. You've never seen grass like this before, But now it's all you see. We are standing in an endless field of it. You reach down to scoop up a cloud of softness, But it blows away before you can stand back up. Out of the side of your eye, You see Mr. Honeybee take a slow step forward. You turn to follow close behind him. Instead of your footsteps sinking into the soft grass like they usually do, You feel buoyant, As if you can float. Without trying, And before you can even realize what you're doing, You glide all the way across the field of feathery yellow. Trees suddenly appear off in the distance where there weren't any before. Gliding on the air, You take a quick turn toward them. The closer you get, The bigger the trees become until they are gargantuan. You and Mr. Honeybee make a game out of winding back and forth through their gigantic trunks. You grab hold of one to stop gliding and lean your back against the trunk to catch your breath. Leaning your head back against the sturdy tree trunk, You realize that this tree is bigger than any tree you've ever seen before. The leaves have changed colors and they fill the treetop overhead. You look through them up to the magnificent blue sky. The sky seems more or less normal and that reassures you. You take a moment to enjoy the breeze and the sunshine you love so much. You point out a little flock of blackbirds that we watch fly overhead. Along with their chirping, We also hear a familiar but oddly placed clicking sound. Are the birds clicking? I think it might be the sky. We join you by the tree to take cover from the strangely clicking sky. Mr. Honeybee holds his hand out flat against the trunk. He slowly pushes against it and his hand disappears into the tree. He quickly pulls his hand back and hugs it into himself. You decide to try it too. Looking at the tree it doesn't seem like a dream tree. It seems real. But when you test it out with your own hand it disappears just like Mr. Honeybee's did. You decide to test it further. You take a couple steps back then run as fast as you can toward the tree trunk. It evaporates as soon as you touch the bark and you're able to jump right through like it was a cloud. You emerge from the other side victorious with your arms up and circle back around just in time for Melody Bee to find something peculiar. Investigating the bushes just behind the trees she plucks a few leaves off and holds them up. That's when you realize the bushes are all different shades of blue. Melody Bee turns around and says Wait! I think I recognize this place. She buzzes all around the bright blue bushes looking for something. When she sees it she carefully rummages through the leaves before reaching down to grab a handful of sticks. These are Harold's favorite fetching sticks. He hides them in these thorny bushes so no one takes them while he's gone. We're at the dog park but it's so colorful. We must be in Harold's dream. I knew he was dreaming about the dog park. So Harold dreams of the dog park in bright colors? Oh! I think I know what's going on. He doesn't just dream in these colors he sees in them. Dogs can only dream about what they know, Remember? And Harold cannot see the colors green or red. No dogs can. So we must be seeing the dog park as he sees it. Whoa! That must be why the trees are so big. Huh? The trees look smaller to me. Oh, Oh, I get it. Harold is bigger than me so the trees were going to look smaller. Oh, Okay. This just keeps getting stranger. Just then, Another flock of birds fly back in the opposite direction this time. They click and squawk as they fly overhead. A few of them swoop down towards us to land on the branch right above you. They settle into their spot in the tree and click back and forth to each other. While we watch, Puzzle. Then, They look down at us wondering what we're so confused about. Mr. Honeybee, In all of your research about dog dreams did you read anything about clicking birds? I honestly don't know how I missed that. If we're in Harold's dream and seeing things as he sees them then we're also hearing them as he hears them. That clicking sound is Mr. Honeybee typing on the computer in the office. Harold's incorporating the sounds around him into his dream just like humans sometimes do. No way! Whoa! The clicking birds fly off into the sky and we slowly fan out into the feathery yellow field to take in the full view. The world, According to Harold, Is bright, Peaceful, And curious. We get a glimpse of his closer to the ground perspective which makes the big world seem even bigger. There's so much to explore and nothing is as you expect it to be. But something is missing. Look all the way to one side and then all the way to the other. There isn't a single dog at this dog park. Maybe Harold dreams of having the whole park all to himself. We continue walking through the field to see what else appears out of thin air. Walking through the tall grass Mr. Honeybee wonders Wait a minute! If this is Harold's dream shouldn't he be here? We shade our eyes from the bright sun and look all around. All you can see is the field the trees and bushes and more birds flying through the sky. You look over your shoulder because something catches your attention out of the side of your eye. You spin around just as something whooshes by. It went so fast that you couldn't quite tell what it was. We look up into the sky for it to come back and suddenly coming from the other direction we see the shadow of floppy ears that we recognize. It's not a bird. It's not a plane. It's Harold and he can fly! Harold swoops back down around us skimming the tall feathery grass with his paws. He then shows off flying around you in circles before soaring back up into the clear blue sky. He flies in zigzag patterns like a plane and even does flips in the air to fly upside down. We all cheer as he heads back down to the ground. When Harold lands he's so excited to see you. His tail wags with enough excitement to wiggle his whole body. He knew you were visiting today but time was moving so slowly while he was waiting. He would look out the back door watching the gate carefully waiting for you to open it. Harold took a few too many naps trying to make time go by quicker and accidentally fell into a deep sleep. At least he didn't miss your visit entirely. Harold parades us around his dream proud to show us his world. We follow along wondering what we'll see next. The birds have stopped clicking and instead are filling the warm air with chirps and songs. Grasshoppers are hopping. The butterflies are fluttering around bright blue flower. The sun shines down as you take big steps through the tall grass that gently blows against your legs. Take a slow deep breath in through your nose feel your chest and your spirits lift then slowly breathe out through your mouth. You feel so relaxed and peaceful here. A butterfly with soft white wings flutters up to you so you slowly put your hand out to meet it. The butterfly lands on your hand and sits with you as you walk to the other side of the dog park where the line of trees stand along the river. A grasshopper challenges you and Harold to a hop race. The butterfly flutters away and you take off hopping as fast as you can. It's a three-way tie when you all pass the trees but the grasshopper gets up ahead with one last hop right onto a lily pad that's floating down the river. You and Harold come to an abrupt stop at the water's edge with a little splash. There's something else he wants to show us. He trots up to an old gnarled tree with roots that stick out above the soil. Its branches twist and turn so much there's one thick branch that trails almost all the way down to the ground. Harold jumps up onto it and looks back at us to follow. You're able to hop up onto the branch with both feet. Mr. Honeybee is right behind you. Harold walks along the branch and climbs up the rest of the way until he disappears into the treetop. Melody Bee flutters up ahead to make sure we don't lose track of him in the infinite dream world. Can you give me a hand up, My little Honeybee? You and Mr. Honeybee reach out your hands and together we climb the old gigantic tree. Right hand, Left hand, Right foot, Left foot. The leaves rustle as we climb higher and higher. Still a little ways higher up in the tree, Melody Bee gasps. Is everything okay up there, Melody Bee? You have to see this. Hurry, Come up, Come up. We rush to climb the rest of the way and stop when we get to one of the tallest branches. From here we can see a full view of the Honey River that runs throughout the whole Honeybee neighborhood and up to the majestic mountains. We carefully walk sideways along the branch, Balancing with each step. Right foot, Left foot, Right foot, Left foot. Harold is sitting at the end of the branch waiting for us to file in. Beside him, There's a very friendly sparrow who waves a little brown wing to say hello. Melody Bee points across the river to the other trees in the forest. That's when you see them. All the dogs aren't fetching in Harold's dream dog park. They're flying. One by one, You see all the pups that usually fill the dog park leaping from the tall trees and soaring through the air, Right along with the birds. The sparrow next to us nudges Harold with her beak. She's been helping Harold practice climbing trees and even flying. The sparrow politely nudges Harold again and again, Pushing him closer to the edge of the branch. He lets out a confident bark and leaps into the air at the same time as the Dalmatian on the other side of the river. That's exactly what Harold did the last time he tried to fly. From the back of the couch, Though. He didn't get too far that time. Luckily, I was able to get a pillow down there to catch him. Actually, I guess that story wasn't so long after all. Anyways, He's gotten a lot better. Look at him go. He must have been watching the birds take off from the branches. This is his favorite tree at the dog park. We sometimes just sit and watch the birds. I didn't realize he was studying them. With all four of their paws outstretched, Harold and the Dalmatian glide through the air and meet each other over the river. They fly upstream together toward the mountains until they turn into little dots in the distance. We are shocked and wonder to ourselves if we can fly in this dreamland, Too. Harold comes back from his flight with his poodle friend and quickly gets distracted by something in the bushes. He charges into the blue bush and frantically flails around in the leaves. We can't really tell what he's doing down there. Is everything okay? Do you need us to come down? Harold finally emerges from the bush with a black frisbee in his mouth. Is that. . . I think it is! That's Harold's lost frisbee. Look, It has his paw print painted on it in white. But usually it's red. Oh, Yeah, That's right. Dogs cannot see red, Or purple, Or orange, Or pink. I'm so happy he found it. He was heartbroken when he lost it that day. He couldn't bring himself to fetch for three days. Aww, He looks so happy. Harold looks up at us begging with his eyes to play fetch. Melody B flutters down to him before she notices we aren't following her. Everyone, What are you waiting for? Can we fly in Harold's dreams? Just then, The tree branch below your feet begins to rattle. Where there was a sturdy branch now feels like sand. We struggle to maintain our footing. There's no choice but to jump from the tallest tree in the dog park. Holding hands like friends about to cannonball off a cliff, Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose and prepare to jump. As you breathe out through your mouth, Take a leap of faith from the tree. Here goes nothing! Melody B meets us in midair where we are falling in what feels like slow motion. We look like astronauts floating on the moon as we flail in the air. For a split second, We are actually flying. Before, We all land heavy on our feet in what looks like the living room of the Honey Bee House. We stand perfectly still, Crouched in place for a moment to get our bearings and figure out where we've landed now. We stand up tall and continue looking around for clues. Is this another dream? You turn around to see Harold happily sitting behind us. Is that dream Harold or real Harold? We all look together at the same time but cannot decide for sure. This looks like the living room just as we left it. There's our comfy couch, There are Harold's chew toys still out, And there are our books stacked on the end table. We begin to move around more and tap our arms, Shoulders, And faces to see if we're real. Harold yawns a big yawn and tilts his head side to side, Curious about what we're doing. Is this real life? I don't know. Try pinching me. My dear, I am not going to pinch you. What else will we know if we're in a dream? I'm sure we can figure it out. Come on Mr. Honeybee, Here's my arm. Oh fine, I'll pinch you. Ow! Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry Mrs. Honeybee, Are you okay? Yes, I'm just fine Melody Bee and I think we're actually back in real life. Harold, You sure gave us quite the adventure little guy. Harold gallops over to us, Eager for pets and belly rubs. He's doing what he usually does when he first sees you. He doesn't seem to know that we are actually in his dream with him. Harold pauses and sits up for a moment as if he's forgotten something. Then he scurries off to the kitchen where his leash hangs on a little hook on the wall. He runs back at top speed and slides across the floor to us when he means to stop. With his leash hanging in his mouth, He whimpers to go for a walk until we agree. You click him into his harness and we head out the door. Usually we enjoy peaceful walks around the neighborhood but today Harold seems to be on a mission trying to make us go faster. Harold, Slow down a little bit. You're going to tire yourself out before we even get to the dog park. Your walk turns to a slight jog. You go faster and faster trying to keep up with Harold's pace. Take a slow deep breath in through your nose. Feel the coolness of the fresh air. Then slowly breathe out through your mouth and run with Harold as fast as his little legs can go. Harold's white fluffineers are pushed all the way back. Together we run all the way to the dog park. He can barely stand to wait outside the chain link fence while you open the first gate and then the second. With his leash and harness off, He finally slows down a little. We follow him all the way across the field just like we did in his dream. The grass has returned to its usual color, A brilliant green that glistens with dew drops in the bright sunshine. The trees are back to their regular size and the bushes are no longer blue. Overhead, The birds aren't clicking anymore either. It's another crisp, Beautiful day at the dog park. You stop for a moment to take in the natural beauty around you. Up ahead, Harold charges toward the same old gnarled tree that we saw in his dream. He stops in front of the bushes and holds his snout up high to sniff the air in every direction. With his nose to the ground, He walks along the bushes until he finds the right one and disappears into the leaves. We stand outside of the bushes waiting for him, Trying to peek in through the leaves to see what he's doing. The leaves rustle with commotion before Harold leaps out from the bushes, Proudly carrying a bright red frisbee. Harold! And exactly where it was in your dream. Holding his frisbee in his mouth, He tilts his head to the side, Confused about how we know about his dream. He sits down with his ears perked up, As if they are waiting for an explanation. I'll explain later, Harold. This one really is a long story. You grab the frisbee from him and throw it as far as you can across the dog park. It spins and glides through the sky before Harold jumps up and snatches it from the air. He runs back right past us, Smiling the whole way. He again wants us to follow him to the tree, Just like he did in his dream. He hops up onto one of the thick, Low branches that sprawl out from the tree trunk. Harold walks along the branch, Choosing his footsteps carefully to slowly climb the tree. We cannot believe what we're seeing. Mr. Honeybee pinches himself just to make sure he's not dreaming. Melody Bee leads the way, Fluttering as we follow closely behind her. Right hand, Left hand, Right foot, Left foot. You look back down behind you to see how far up we've gone, And we're higher up than you expected. Harold keeps going with his frisbee, Still in his mouth, Undeterred by the heights. When he gets to the tallest branch that reaches out over the river, He carefully balances until he sits down at the end. When we get up next to him, We can see that, Just like in his dream, He has met his little brown sparrow friend up here. She waves hello as we each carefully sit down on the branch. Our feet swing below us, And we look over the river toward the majestic mountains. The setting sun casts a spectacular pink light against the mountains, And the rushing river sparkles as it catches the last bit of late afternoon sunlight. You wish that Harold could see just how brilliant the pink hue is, But you look over at him and see how happy he looks just to be here. Here, At his favorite place, In his favorite tree, With his favorite people. Little did we know the fun that lives in our tiny friend's dreams, Or that he could climb trees. One question looms in our minds as our feet happily swing up high in the tree. Does Harold climb up here simply to sit with the sparrow? We get our answer before anyone can ask the question out loud. Harold hands his frisbee to his little sparrow friend. She takes it into her beak and takes off into the sky. She glides through the air in circling patterns before dropping the frisbee in a random faraway spot. Harold moves to action, Jumps branch by branch all the way down the tree, And chases after the frisbee. The sparrow returns to her cozy spot on the branch and waits for Harold to climb back up. This is what Harold does at the dog park for so long some days. He's found friends to throw the frisbee for him when our arms get tired. Like we always say in the Honeybee neighborhood, You can never have too many friends. Sometimes it's the little ones in high places that can teach you to soar in your very own special way. Always remember that Mrs. Honeybee believes in you. You are special and you are loved. I can't wait to see you again. Today in the Honeybee neighborhood, We'll be surprising our little furry friend Harold with a birthday party and a very special gift. He's going to be so surprised. I didn't spill the beans about the party or the gift. Let's hope Melody Bee didn't either. I didn't, I didn't. All the beans are unspilled. Harold still has no idea what we have planned for his birthday party today. I can't wait to see his face when he opens his present and his little puppy face. Mr. Honeybee, My dear, Did you hide his gift in your garage? Gift? I thought Melody Bee was getting his gift. Me? I thought Mrs. Honeybee was. Really? I thought Mr. Honeybee was going to pick up the gift today, Before the surprise party. I'll go pick it up now. I'll be back with the gift in no time. Uh, Where do I pick it up? Well, What should we get him? We don't even have an idea of a gift yet? Oh my goodness, This is not good. The party is today. Don't panic Melody Bee. Harold is our bestest friend in the whole world. We're not going to let him down for his birthday, Are we? No. We've known Harold since he was a puppy, So we'll be able to think up the perfect gift. Of course we will. Hmm, What does he like to do most? What does he do all day? When I leave for my classroom in the morning, He's usually laying in his bed, Sound asleep. That's where he is when I come back from the garage, After a long day of prototyping. What if we make him the best, Most coziest bed, Full of cutting-edge technology? I can have a backscratcher building, And have a secret compartment for treats. And be really big and fluffy. Wait, Wait, Wait. You two really think that Harold sleeps all day? All of a sudden, I feel like I know a secret. What's the secret? He waits for you two to leave. Then he comes out to the garden for his doggy bag, For the road. Doggy bag? The road? All of a sudden, I feel like I did something wrong. Whoops, Should have kept it a secret. But yeah, He usually takes some blueberries. Sometimes he takes carrots, Because I make him take carrots, Because they're good for him, And he can't always have fruits. So, Where does he go with his garden snacks? Beats me. Oh, Sometimes I sneak Beats in there too, But he has a good nose and sniffs them out. So, Let me get this straight. Harold leaves almost every day? No, It's every day. Okay, Harold leaves every day, And we have no idea where he goes. I figured correctly that you were not tracking Harold properly. As usual, I've done the work for you. Roger Robot to the rescue. He says all the time. Here, This is a report of Harold's exact movements and locations for the last, Uh, What is this? Seven days. Will that work? That should be a good sample. Thank you, Roger Robot. You help us before we even know we need it. Do you keep track of little Harold and make sure he's okay? Anticipating that question, I've installed a heart rate monitor on his GPS collar, And it lets me know if he's ever in any kind of trouble, And exactly where that trouble is, Thanks to the GPS. Oh, You got him on the Global Positioning System. What? No, No, That technology is outdated. Humans. No, No, I have a much better software in this go-pup skedaddle collar. GPS for short. Look, Look, Right here. Is that little red dot Harold? We can see exactly where he is? Look at all the coordinates of where Harold goes all day. He's a busy pup. He comes back exhausted. That's why he's sleeping when you come in from your garage, Mr. Honey Bee. Look at all these places. Oh, I have an idea for what we can give Harold. Stash the report. Stash it. He's coming. Meet me around back to finish getting ready for the party. Our little Honey Bee will distract him while we set up the decorations. Hurry, Hurry, Hurry! We've got to make Harold's birthday special. All you have to do is close your eyes, Get cozy, And listen to the sound of my voice. Mrs. Honey Bee will be your guide. Let's begin. You are here, Peeking around the side of the porch, Waiting for the signal from me and Mr. Honey Bee for when the coast is clear. We're in the backyard setting up streamers, Balloons, Games, And two enormous bouncy houses connected with a funhouse maze for Harold's surprise birthday party. We're going all out for Harold's birthday this year because he's the best pup around. But you already know that because you're one of Harold's favorite people, My little Honey Bee. When needed, You're also one of the best distractions whenever we need to keep Harold occupied. Like when we're setting the table for dinner, Or when we accidentally touch his leash and set off alarm bells that only his floppy little ears can hear. So you're in charge of keeping Harold distracted today while Mr. Honey Bee, Melody Bee, And I finish decorating. And so far, Out here in the front yard, In the bright sunshine, That's been a very simple task. You look once more around the side of the house and Mr. Honey Bee signals that we're just about done. Harold barks out for you to play with him and rolls over in the grass for belly rubs. That is something you cannot resist, And he knows it. Laying down in the soft grass next to Harold, Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Feel your chest and your spirits lift, Soaking in the warmth and brightness of this beautiful day. Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and start a game of fetch with Harold. His favorite squeaky toy is right beside you, And you know that a single squeak will send him into a fetching frenzy. Slowly reach out for it so he doesn't see the squeak coming. Brush your hand against the soft green grass until you can feel the plush fur of the toy. Then Harold sits up at attention, Staring directly at the toy in your hands as you sit up. After a couple fake-outs to either side, You throw the toy to the other side of the yard and Harold takes off. That was an excellent throw! Harold runs under it, Tracking the ball like a football player, Before he leaps into the air and grabs it. He runs back to you in a flash and jumps in your lap while he happily chews his toy. You pet his soft ears, Looking back to the side of the house where you're expecting Mr. Honeybee to come any second. Hello there, My little Honeybee! And Harold! Mrs. Honeybee wanted to tell you something. Uh, No, No, Not you, Boy. Our little Honeybee. It's something about, Uh. . . Oh! Wanna play fetch? Go fetch, Boy! Quick, Go around to the backyard. Mrs. Honeybee is expecting you. Atta boy! Bring it back here! You slip away around the porch, Just as Harold fetches his toy, So hopefully Mr. Honeybee can distract him with another throw. As soon as you round the corner, You see streamers and balloons and a mountain of gifts from all the neighbors. There are mini-pupcakes, All kinds of squeaky toys, And even a patch of fresh dirt where there will be a digging contest. Harold's going to love that. It looks to you that we are already as set up as we can be for a puppy surprise party, But Melody Bee buzzes out through the back door, Worried. When Mr. Honeybee comes back with Roger Robot, They are holding what looks like a video game controller. Except, This isn't just any remote. This is their latest prototype. It's connected to Harold's collar, And its state-of-the-art technology measures how happy Harold is. Tentatively called the Pup Pepometer, This machinery measures the pep in a pup's step at any given time from any distance. This way, We can make sure that our gifts will make Harold the happiest he's ever been. We can measure Harold's happiness at each point in this special birthday adventure, In which we follow Harold for a typical day that we had no idea he had. An adventure that we're calling a Harold's Nose Nose Adventure, Because a dog's strongest sense is his nose. And today, We're following Harold wherever it leads. You're mesmerized by all the many settings on this newest prototype, And are as eager as Roger Robot to test it out. We tiptoe around the side of the house to get a look at how this works. Holding the Pup Pepometer in your hands, You aim its little antenna at Harold, Who's running back from fetching his toy. Lots of lights and red numbers flash, As if it's calculating a moving target, Until the number 5 comes up on the screen and stays. That's a 5 out of 10. He's moderately happy playing fetch. I would think he'd be at least an 8 out of 10, But maybe he's a bit tuckered out since we've been distracting him for so long. Oh wait, Look up there. It says, Species Unknown. I think it's picking up Melody B's happiness rating, And she's really nervous about not spilling the beans on Harold's surprise party. Not a focus. We're coming, Melody B. Oh, Thank goodness. I can feel the beans sneaking up on me. Melody B is relieved to have us back out in the front yard with her, So she can focus more on not saying anything about the surprise party that we're trying to keep a surprise. Before we head out on our adventure, We need to get a good baseline reading of Harold's happiness with his most favorite activity. A little game we like to call trick and treat. It's simple, But makes Harold so, So happy. You always come prepared with a handful of tasty morsels in your pocket for just this reason. You never know when a game of trick and treat will break out, And you like to come prepared. Holding your hand up, You tell Harold to sit, Focusing on you as if he has lasers in his eyes. He promptly sits and gets a treat. He then shakes, Sits up, And even dances in a full circle, All for treats. Now, When we measure Harold's happiness, It's a 10 out of 10, Which is an extremely happy pup. That is why you are Harold's favorite person, My little honey bee. Harold is thrilled at his first surprise of the day, And doesn't hesitate a moment longer before taking off after the first scent that catches his snout. We all run after him, Surprised by how quickly his four little paws move, But unsurprised by our first stop. And his first stop, Nearly every single day. The Honey Bee Neighborhood Pupple Park, A park for pups and people. According to Roger Robine, Harold has stopped here at the park every day for the last several months, And it appears he has a standing appointment with a very friendly schnauzer who he greets at the gates. Harold happily introduces us as his bestest friends to each of the pups at the park. Once they've greeted each other, They all immediately sprint to the most important place at any park made for dogs, The Fire Hydrant Funhouse. At the Pupple Park, There's a large area that is dedicated to, You guessed it, Fire hydrants, A dog's favorite pastime. Each of the dogs leisurely sniff around and around the yellow hydrant, As if they're picking up the latest scoop. Because, Actually, They are. Harold's cycling through tons of emotions. His happiness is up high, Then way down low, Then high again. I've been looking into this phenomenon. It puzzled me at first, But if you watch closely, You might recognize what's happening. He follows along after every single pup that visits this park. Each pup comes here first thing, As soon as they get here, And don't leave without visiting the funhouse. Fire hydrants are how dogs talk to each other. It's the WWW. . . The World Wide Web? No, Melody Bee, Don't be silly. It's the World Wide Woof, The internet for pups. Oh, So they post things about their days and how they're feeling? Exactly. He's sniffing out the latest scoop. He's getting a pup date. Oh, Mrs. Honey Bee, I know what I can get him. I can give him his very own fire hydrant. He can be a doggie blocker. I'll bus over to the fire department right down the street and get him one, Pronto. While Harold and his friends continue to sniff and ride a rollercoaster of emotions sniffing the pup equivalent of the evening news, Melody Bee proudly returns and presents a shining, Brand new, Bright-as-the-sun yellow fire hydrant to Harold. He and all his friends look on curiously. When she sets it down, They circle it from a cautious distance. Harold bravely steps forward to sniff it briefly, Then sits back down in front of it and tilts his head to the side. Does he love my present? The pup pepometer isn't registering anything at all. What? Really? Melody Bee, Of course he doesn't love it yet. He hasn't posted anything. This hydrant is a blank page waiting to be filled. I'm sure he'll love it once there are more posts to read. I guess that's true. Oh, And maybe we can put this one out in front of the house by the sidewalk next to the Little Free Honey Bee Library so all the dogs can post as they walk by, Even some cats. Okay, Okay. Just dogs allowed. Noted. Harold, We're going to put this up in the front yard so you and all your friends can post right out front. Don't you love this new hydrant Melody Bee got you, Boy? Aw, See? Now it's registering a 5 out of 10 because it's the thought that counts. Well, If we're counting, Isn't that an F? Mrs. Honey Bee, When you're grading, Isn't that an F? That's not the way to think about this, Melody Bee. Your gift will just keep getting better and better with time. Come on, It looks like the pups are sniffing after something else. Together, After their fire hydrant funhouse, The dogs at the park love to do something else. Something somewhat unexpected. They love to climb trees. They lead us to an old gnarled tree that leads out to the Honey River. The tree trunk is growing crookedly and juts out over the river, Hovering just above the rushing water below. Harold jumps up and we follow along. He and his friends each jump up to a different horizontal branch and walk all the way to the end. Then they sit and watch. Curiously, We follow them, Walking step by step, Balancing on our own tree trunks that are almost perfectly sideways. Walk carefully behind Harold with your arms out to the side and your head up tall. Keep your chin up high. Looking down will only make you wobble. Keeping your ears as far away from your shoulders as comfortably possible, Walk careful steps out over the Honey River. Right foot, Left foot, Right foot, Left foot. When you get out to where Harold is still watching, As if waiting for something, Roger Robot does a quick scan. His happiness is even lower than before. It's at a four. He must be focusing on something intently. Before we can wonder too long what they're watching for, We see Harold leap from the tree into the river just as a gigantic leatherback turtle floats underneath the branch. We quickly look downriver where Harold waves a paw at us from the back of the biggest turtle you've ever seen. And when you look back, There's an entire bale of more turtles heading our way. We have to move quickly. On the count of three, We follow Harold and each jump down to the back of our own leatherback turtle who are happy to have us on their afternoon commute down the Honey River. Leatherback turtles are the world's largest. This one you're on is more than five feet long. Is that almost as tall as you, My little honeybee? These turtles make their way down the river until they reach the ocean. And they do this every day, So Harold must hitch a ride like this often. Roger, What's Harold's pep at now? He looks really happy. Look at that smile. I'd say that's another ten out of ten. From what I can tell, He's at a seven. A seven? Really? Wow. So far, He was the happiest playing trick and treat. That's going to be a difficult happiness to beat. That's his favorite game, And you're his favorite person, My little honeybee. Here, On the back of the turtle, Basking in the sunshine, Take another slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Feel the cool air coming in through your nose, Filling your lungs, And expanding your belly out. Take another little sip of air at the top of your breath. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth. Harold stands up with his tail wagging to signal that our stop is coming up next. In a single file line, The turtles all wash up on the riverbank and deposit us onto the glittering shore. Harold barks his goodbyes to his turtle taxis and proceeds to sniff the ground hot on the trail of our next stop. We follow along curiously, Looking around to where we were deposited out on the edge of the honeybee neighborhood. When we round the last corner, We come up to a chain-link fence that Harold jumps two paws up against. That appears to be a signal. Maybe Harold needs our help opening the latch on the gate. Before you can reach out to open the latch, It lifts all on its own. You step back, Confused. How did it do that? Even more confusing, Harold's paws are now able to push the gate right open. Behind the fence stands a wall of junk. That's when you can see the sign on the back of the gate. This is the honeybee neighborhood junkyard, Or to Harold, A treasure trove of wonderment. And standing in front of all this junk is the proud owner, A big, Slobbery junkyard dog who is overjoyed to see his friend and us, His new friends. Through Harold's eyes, We see what he and his other pups sees, An enormous mound of possibility. Possibility that he's already made something from. Harold leads us around the mound to his little corner of the world where he stashes his favorite finds. Looking at all the magnificent rusted stuff, We lose track of Harold for a moment, But find all sorts of fun. Mr. Honeybee's eyes lock in on a gleaming something that catches the sunlight and his attention. When he tries to pull that one thing out, An avalanche of junk almost topples over him. Look at this, Everyone. What is it? Besides a tetanus risk? Oh, Good point. It's quite dirty. All we have to do is wipe it off a bit. Ta-da! This, This is a cinematograph. I recognize part of that word, Cinema. Is this an old movie projector? Yes, Exactly, My dear. See this gear right here? You put the film in here and then, When it's working, This will spin like this. Single pictures are printed on the film in a negative, So when a light shines through, It projects the pictures wherever the light is pointing. When you turn it on, The pictures move. That's why we call them movies, Short for moving pictures. Oh, That's why when we go to the movies and sit all the way in the back center of the theater, There's always someone up there behind the window. Yep, They're playing a digital version of this same technology. We can set this up in the backyard for movie nights around the bonfire. Oh, That sounds fun. One ticket to the cinematograph, Please. Oh, It looks like Harold's found his fun little find. What do you have, Boy? He's driving a remote-controlled car with a wheel that looks just like mine. Mr. Honeybee, Am I part of a remote-controlled car? Look at my wheel. You said I was part rocket. Uh, Yeah, You are part remote-controlled car. It was the only wheel I had on hand. But your other parts are all similar to the parts NASA uses, Like your propellers. I bet you're faster than that car. Roger that, Mr. Honeybee. Three, Two, One. Harold, This race is on. It's a good thing Roger Robot is keeping Harold busy, Because I know the perfect gift for him. I'll make him a brand new, New to him, Remote-controlled car for him to drive. I see everything I need right here. Measure his happiness on that one so I can compare it. I'll have this one done in a jiff. You aim the pup-pet-bometer at Harold, But keep accidentally getting Roger, Who is chasing Harold in the remote-controlled car, And not too thrilled to know he's made up of more RC parts than rocket parts. Following them around and around a makeshift track until Harold gets the lead over Roger. Take another slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Clear your mind of everything except your focus on following Harold's snow-white fluff, Sitting in his old, Beat-up remote-controlled car made of junkyard parts. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth, And get an accurate reading of Harold's happiness, Just as he makes eye contact with you. Wow, It says ten again. And look, Harold's about to jump over us, Little honeybee. You win, Little guy. You win. Mr. Honeybee, I need to upgrade my wheels. Get NASA on the phone ASAP. What'd you say, Roger? We need to call NASA when we get home. Again? Okay, Will do. Look. Look what I was able to make from scraps I found lying around. It has a remote and everything. Harold's gonna love it, Mr. Honeybee. Here he comes. Harold, Look. Mr. Honeybee made you something for your birthday. Happy birthday, Boy. It looks like his happiness is a six. What was that, Boy? The other car has what baked in? Oh, I understand. Mr. Honeybee, His remote-controlled car, The old one, Might be a bit beat up, But it has all his memories baked into it, And he likes that the best. Oh, I guess that makes sense. We can ride around the neighborhood in this new one, Though. Anna can carry his new fire hydrant home. We're kinda striking out on figuring out what to get Harold for his birthday. His friends are probably already at the house. The party's gonna start soon and we still have nothing. Or maybe we're looking at this adventure all wrong. I know just what Harold would love the most. Come on, Harold. Follow me for the best birthday present ever. We get back home just in time for the cake to be delivered, But with one crucial difference in the order. This cake will contain the best birthday present we could ever give Harold, One that he'll love most certainly, And will have his pep soaring. All of his friends are gathered in the backyard, Waiting for the big surprise. Mr. Honeybee asks Harold to drive his new remote-controlled car up into his garage and set up his new fire hydrant by the mailbox in the front yard, Then meet us back in the backyard. This will be enough of a diversion for us. While Harold is occupied, The multi-tier cake is delivered on wheels that Roger inspects. The baker smiles pleasantly and opens a compartment in the back of the cake for each of us to step inside. You, Me, Mr. Honeybee, Melody Bee, And Roger Robot. The baker rolls us on the cake into the backyard and parks us right under the balloons. Now we wait. While we wait inside the cake, We each take off our shoes, Remove one of our socks, And hold them in our hands. Even Roger Robot has a sock to put over his wheel when it gets cold out. With our socks in our hands, We're ready and waiting. But we don't have to wait that long until Harold comes running around the side of the house to hear. . . At first, Harold is overwhelmed with surprise. He sees all the streamers and the balloons and his birthday banner, But something is missing. Five very important somethings. That's our cue, Little Honeybee. Take another slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Feel the sensation of your heart beating once, Twice, Three times, Full of love for Harold. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth and burst out of the cake. Harold is overjoyed to see us and dances circles around us covered in his favorite flavor cake. I realized on our adventure, My little Honeybee, That nothing makes Harold happier than when he's with us, His best friends, And especially you. He loves when you come to visit. That's why the best gift we can give to our best friends is ourselves. Quality time and undivided attention with all of us. But also, For Harold in particular, Socks are a wonderful gift idea. As strange a gift as socks, Directly from our feet, Seems to us humans. For dogs, They're precious because they hold your scent, And our pups love our scents. And furthermore, As we now know from such a fun-filled birthday adventure, Harold's nose knows best. And Harold's nose is laser-focused on the socks in our hands. We all dangle them overhead and he's mesmerized by the lovely scent of all of his friends. Then we throw them into the grass and he takes off, Fetching one after another until his tiny snout is stuffed with socks. Without stopping or offering to give them back to our one sockless foot, He buries the socks in his many hiding places as a treasure, Storing them away for when he misses us most. When he's running back toward us, You once again aim the pup-pipometer at our furry little friend to see how happy he is. Harold's happiness is at 15! I thought it only went up to 10. His happiness is off the charts. We got him the best gift we could ever get him. Quality time with those who love him most. Wow, He must really love us. And our socks. And cake. Always remember, Mrs. Honeybee believes in you. You are special and you are loved. I can't wait to see you again. Bedtime with Mrs. Honeybee Today, In the Honeybee neighborhood, We'll be going treasure hunting. Err, Matey, Let's look for some treasure. Melody Bee, You don't have to be a pirate to search for treasure. Aww, Are you saying you don't like my pirate outfit? You look great, Melody Bee, Like a real pirate. Okay, Let's get this treasure hunt started. All you have to do is close your eyes, Get cozy, And listen to the sound of my voice. Mrs. Honeybee will be your guide. Let's begin. You are here, Walking the back way to our house, Cutting through the forest. You're not going the way Harold showed you, Though. Today, You're making your own way, Twisting and turning through the trees, Knowing only the general direction you need to go in and trusting that you'll get to where you're meant to go. As the sun shines down on you through the trees, Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Feel the coolness of the air coming in through your nose and the warmth of the sunshine on your skin. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth and continue along your own path, Crunching leaves under your footsteps. Before you know it, You arrive at our backyard fence. Harold knows you're close and barks his hellos from the other side of the gate. When he hears your footsteps approaching, He tries digging under the fence to get to you. Instead, You open the gate and let him leap up into your arms for a big hug. He covers your face with puffy sniffs and kisses. He wants to hear all about your walk through the forest and what you've been up to. No matter how long you're away, He misses you terribly when you're gone. Melody Bee sees that Harold has disappeared and buzzes immediately to the back gate, Thinking he got out. Harold! Oh! Little Honey Bee, You have him! Mrs. Honey Bee, Mr. Honey Bee, Guess who's here? Is it my little Honey Bee? It is! Hello, My little Honey Bee. Today, We're going to go back the way you came. Oh, Yes we will! We've packed up all the snacks we'll need for an afternoon hike through the forest. I love walking new trails because you never know what you'll find. True! Remember when we found a lemur? Oh yeah, That lemur came by recently again. I forgot to tell you. We swung on the hammocks for a while. He was so sweet. Aww, That sounds lovely. Maybe we'll find a platypus today. You know they… Have venom like a snake and lay eggs, Even though they're classified as mammals? Exactly! It's good to know you're all listening. We head out on our hike, Traveling back along the new way you came. We follow your footprints, Just like we would mysterious pawprints we find in the forest. And we keep an eye out for anything interesting or out of place. Those could be adventure cues and clues just waiting to be found. Take another slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Feel the sensation of your heart beating once, Twice, Three times filled with joy. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth. Harold stops to sniff the air, Then abruptly changes directions. We follow him without hesitation, Knowing his snout always leads to great things. We weave through the old trees that grow alongside the new ones, Jumping over muddy puddles that form on the forest floor. It looks like Harold found one of his favorite things, Fetching sticks. He leans down to pick them up, But is struggling. Here, Let us help you, Boy. That's what these thumbs of ours are for. Mr. Honeybee bends down to pick up three small tree branches that must have broken off a nearby tree. They are the perfect size for us to use as walking sticks. As you grab yours in your hand, You look around to see if you can find a small one for Harold. He loves adding to his collection of fetching sticks. Beside you, There's a little bundle of sticks already tied up with a little piece of rope. You pick it up, And immediately, Harold knows those are his new fetching sticks. Unwrap the sticks from the rope and throw one for Harold. He scurries off into the woods after his new-to-him toy. While he's fetching, You notice that just up ahead, There's more rope, And even more rope. Together, We pick on one end of it, But don't immediately see where the other side is, Or where it ends. Oh, Our first forgotten forest treasure of the day! For many reasons, People enjoy the forest, But leave behind a bunch of stuff for people like us to eventually find and make into new things. Doing this, We clean up the forest so it feels nice and tidy, And we get to go on brand new adventures that we wouldn't usually go on. As we pull the rope up, We can see that it's been buried under leaves that have fallen to the ground. This must have been here for a while. We follow it for a few steps, Until we finally get to the other end, Just as Harold comes back with his stick. At once, He drops his new fetching stick to play tug-of-war with his even newer rope toy. You and Harold pull one side, Me and Mr. Honeybee pull the other, And Melody Bee flutters above, Refusing to pick sides, Helping whichever side needs it. With one big yank, You and Harold win the game. Harold runs off with the side of the rope and leads us to another forest find. What did you find now, Boy? Mr. Honeybee reaches down to find two pieces of wood and a tire. I know exactly what we can do with these. Build a boat? We can boat down the Honey River in a forest treasure boat. Maybe. Actually, Yeah, The river is a good idea. If the river is a good idea, We'll need a boat idea too. Not necessarily. Oh, Mr. Honeybee has an idea. I can tell by that look. What are you thinking up, My dear? You know how much I love swings. Oh, Yes. You love building swings just as much as swinging on them. Exactly. We're going to build a swing. Not just any swing, A rope swing with an optional tire that launches us into the Honey River. With our forest found materials in hand, We make our way through the forest to the banks of the Honey River. This majestic, Endless river flows down from the mountains and twists and turns through the entire Honeybee neighborhood. It's one thing that connects us all. So what feels like worlds and worlds of people is really just one big loving world. This river is so special that it makes regular old summer days into ones that we remember forever. When we get to the sandy banks of the river, We take off our shoes and dip our toes in the water. Since the sun above pours sunshine into the river, The water is surprisingly warm. We go up to our ankles to enjoy it before we build our rope swing. With your feet in the water, Surrounded by nature, Sunshine, Singing birds, And fresh air, Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Feel your chest and your spirits lift on this wonderful day. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth. We get to work on our swing using whatever we can find around us to help build it. Mr. Honeybee shows us how to find the right tree to hang it from. One that is on a high enough bend in the river so we can swing off it. We walk along the river to see where it's deep enough, Then look for a tree around there. After we find the perfect spot, You and Melody Bee climb up the tree to catch the ropes we throw. It takes a couple tries, But together, You and Melody Bee tie the strongest knot you can around the sturdiest tree branch. From down on the ground, Mr. Honeybee and I pull on it with all our might to make sure it's strong enough. Mr. Honeybee tests it out with a little swing back and forth. The tree branch creaks, But it holds up just fine. He tries swinging a little higher, Then higher, Just holding on to the rope itself. When he's convinced it's safe, It's time for us to make us seats from a tire and a piece of wood. We can stand on the swing or spin on it too. Better yet, Anyone who finds this forest treasure built from recycled forest treasure can stand or spin or swing into the river too. Just think of how many memories this swing will be a part of. Once the base of the swing is finished, Mr. Honeybee tests it out one more time before you jump up to be the first rope swinger. Are you ready? Hold on tight, My little Honeybee. Holding on to the rope with both hands, You stand up on the tire to be spun in winding and unwinding circles. Then you switch to the wood base and stand ready to be pushed high into the sky. On the count of three, Two, One, We push you on the rope swing out over the river. You let go just when you need to and fling through the air and into the rushing Honey River. Harold and Melody Bee dash after you to see how it was and help you out of the water. Your cheeks are a little sore from smiling so big. One by one, We each try it and eventually see who can swing the furthest out. On your next go, You hold Harold in your arms and together you swing into the river. He shows you how well he dog paddles all the way back to the bank before shaking his fur off. Little sprinkles of water splash against your legs and you chase Harold around back into the river to play. The sun is high overhead, Shining down on us and our surprise adventure within an adventure. Luckily, We packed enough snacks and towels just in case we ended up staying out for longer than expected. You use one of the towels to do Harold's favorite thing, Towel drying his fur. He growls and barks happily under the towel being dried from snout to tail. It's his most favorite part of any river day. After Harold's all dried off, You dry yourself off with a big soft towel then lay it out on the ground to lay in the sunshine. Take another slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Feel the warmth of the sun shining down on your skin. Then slowly breathe out through your mouth and let yourself sink into this joyful moment surrounded by your best friends enjoying a beautiful day at the Honey River. Always remember, Mrs. Honeybee believes in you. You are special and you are loved. I can't wait to see you again. Bedtime with Mrs. Honeybee Today, In the Honeybee neighborhood, We'll be having a yard sale to raise money for our garden. We'll raise money for the Honeybee Fun Fund. Honeybee Fun Fund? Honeybee. . . That's so much fun to say, But what does it mean, Mrs. Honeybee? The Honeybee Fun Fund is the money we raise to help uplift those in our community. And we'll have a little fun along the way. Look at this! Whoa! Is that a samurai sword, Mr. Honeybee? It sure is. I almost forgot we had this. Who knows what else we'll find once we start going through everything. The Honeybee Fun Fund is our little way of supporting our people and having fun. I'm so excited to see what else we'll find and who we can help. All of the proceeds from our yard sale will go to the Honeybee Neighborhood Fun Fund. And whatever we don't sell will go directly to those in need. Oh, Look at the clock. It's almost time for the yard sale to start. All you have to do is close your eyes, Get cozy, And listen to the sound of my voice. Mrs. Honeybee will be your guide. Let's begin. You are here in the shiny, New-to-us Honeybee Neighborhood golf cart, Doing a loop around the street before stopping at our house. The sun is shining brightly this afternoon, So you put the visor down to shade your eyes and enjoy the warm breeze blowing against your cheeks. Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Feel the coolness of the fresh air coming in through your nose and filling up your lungs. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth. You drive past our house once for another quick go around the block, But Harold already caught wind of your presence. He scratches at the door until I hear him and open the front door for him. We walk out onto the porch, Just as you do a quick turn on two wheels, Then straighten out and come up our driveway. Well, Hello! Look at you, My little Honeybee, Putting some miles on the golf cart. Harold leaps from my arms down to the ground and up into yours. He wags his tail so much that his whole body wiggles, And you cannot possibly pet him enough to calm him down. Instead, You jump out of the golf cart for a romp around the front yard. While you're playing in the grass with Harold, Laying down and letting him give you slobbery puppy kisses, Mr. Honeybee opens up the garage. Hello, My little Honeybee. I was hoping you'd visit today. We're going to need all the help we can get. Mr. Honeybee walks dutifully back into the garage, And you, Then Harold, Follow him. There are already three piles started. Melody Bee flutters out carrying an armful of gardening tools that she cannot see over. She flutters right into you before she realizes you're here. Oh, So sorry, Little Honeybee. I didn't see you over my pile of stuff. Hmm, Can you grab this for me, Please? I need three hands, But I only have two. Melody Bee hands you a knee pad and a little shovel. She says the knee pad can be donated, And the little shovel can be sold. She points to the pile on the garage floor that's for donations, And the one for sellable stuff. We have so much stuff to either give away or sell at the Honeybee Neighborhood Yard Sale. Some lucky someones are going to get gardening stuff galore. And tools galore. And electronics galore. Oh, And. . . Cooking appliances galore. I come out of the house with a sizable pile of stuff, Just like Melody Bee, But my stuff is from the kitchen. I sort it into three piles, Then go back into the house for more. As I walk into the house, Harold is trotting out, Struggling to carry three squeaky toys in his mouth. He lays them out on the garage floor and studies them carefully. Then, After much deliberation, He puts two in the donate pile and one in the sell pile. He runs back in the house to go through his leashes. You look back to the golf cart where you brought your own pile of stuff to sort. Think of what you can donate to people in need. Do you have multiples of things? Or things that made you so, So happy long ago, But you haven't paid attention to in a while? Those are some of the things you brought with you. Walking back to the golf cart, Take another slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Feel the sensation of your heart beating once, Twice, Three times full of gratitude for all that you have. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth and decide what you can donate to bring some joy to someone who might need it. Whatever you don't donate, You can add to the sell pile, Which will go directly to the Honey Bee Neighborhood Fun Fund. You look over to the jar in the garage, And it's about halfway full. There's so much fun to be had as a community, And this is one all-around great way to make it happen. Come on, Let's go up in the attic. I know there's tons of stuff up there. You follow Mr. Honey Bee, Carrying a ladder upstairs and into the hall where a little part of the ceiling can be pushed up. He opens up the ladder, Then the ceiling, Before disappearing into the attic. You step one foot onto the lowest ladder rung, Then look up into the attic, Which is still completely dark. Harold and I join you in the hall, Having cleaned out the kitchen and the living room of stuff we could part with. How's it going up there, Mr. Honey Bee? Aha! Let there be light. Is it as full as we thought up there? More full. Fuller? More fuller? I think just full is technically right. Can something be fuller than full? Yes. Our attic. Good point. Let's go with fullest, Then. Wow, Wow, Wow, Wow! This is the fullest attic I've ever seen. I guess I'll just start handing things down to everyone. I can see from the box labels that a lot of this stuff we definitely don't need. Melody Bee joins us in the hall, And one by one, We take stuff down from the attic and add to our piles. When we're done with the attic, We go to the closets, And when we're done with the closets, We end in the garage. Mr. Honey Bee has already cleared out most of the stuff. All we need to do is stash away the donation pile in bags so we don't confuse it with the yard sale stuff. Then we polish up the stuff we're going to sell first thing in the morning. We'll lay everything out on tables or tarps, But for now, We separate it all into loose categories to make it easier for our neighborly customers tomorrow. The last preparation we need are signs. We make big signs with yard sale written on them and arrows leading all of our neighbors to our house bright and early. When the morning comes, It brings all of our neighbors just like we were hoping. Seeing all our stuff laid out on the driveway makes us feel accomplished and satisfied. Not only are we building the Honey Bee Neighborhood Fund Fund with the yard sale proceeds, But we're also recycling our stuff. Instead of throwing something we don't use out, We're passing it along for another someone to use and love just like we did. Whatever doesn't sell will simply be added to the donation pile. Then that too will be a tremendous help to those in need. This simple act is so much good for us, Our community, And the world. Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Feel gratitude swelling in your heart as the fresh air fills your lungs. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth and stroll around the driveway to chat with all our friendly neighbors. Melody Bee is over there by the gardening stuff, Telling stories that belong to each shovel. A couple of beavers who work at Mr. Honey Bee's favorite local hardware store are interested in buying the whole lot of them. The hardware store is always looking for extra supplies to have on hand and these will be perfect. I'm so happy you're going to give the shovels a good home. They do excellent work. Thank you, Friends. Melody Bee deposits the first sale into the Fun Fun Jar and grabs your hand when she gets back out to the driveway. Come on, Let's go see how Mrs. Honey Bee is doing with the kitchen stuff. She must have the best stories. You and Melody Bee joined me at a table with pots and pans and whisks and other utensils laid out on it. I am right in the middle of a story about that one time I added garlic salt instead of regular salt for a cookie recipe. You should have seen Mr. Honey Bee's face when he taste tested one of the garlic cookies when I wasn't looking. Oh my goodness, Are you telling them the garlic cookie story? I promise that the mixer doesn't taste like garlic. It'll be perfect for the cookie batter. And I'm always available for a taste test to make sure of it. Mr. Honey Bee, You're well on your way to another garlic cookie, Aren't you? So be it. Having the first taste test is worth it. I'll take one for the team. An avid baker who also accidentally used garlic salt instead of regular salt in a brownie recipe decided to buy the whisk. It will suit her collection perfectly. At the end of the day, More and more neighbors gather in our driveway. We talk to each one of them, Learning their names and sharing stories. This is a great way to get to know everyone around us. Sometimes we get so preoccupied with our busy days that we forget to look up and say hi. But today, At the yard sale, We're getting a chance to talk at length with everyone who visits us. They are all so excited to meet you. They've heard so many good things about you from the other neighbors. They know what a kind, Loving, And brave person you are. And they're excited to get to meet you for themselves. When you're waiting behind a table of neatly folded clothes and assorted stuffed animals, You hear the tiniest voice coming from the other side of the table. You walk around to see a little boy who sweetly walked up to a stuffed teddy bear that caught his eye. He's too little to reach it, So you reach over and hand it to him, Then kneel down with him as he plays with it. He loves this teddy bear so much and squeezes it tight for big bear hugs. His dad walks up behind him and looks at the price we put on the tag for the stuffed animal. When he sees it, He tries to grab the teddy bear from his son's hands telling him that they cannot afford this bear, That he can get another one another day. The little boy's smile turns upside down and his eyes fill with tears as he hands the bear back. The father and son turn around to walk away. You know how important it is to help people in need and to pass along any joy that you can. And you know that is the real reason we're here doing this yard sale at all. Knowing that, You pick up the bear and call the little boy back. With one hand, You rip off the price tag and hand the teddy bear to the boy. His face lights up almost as much as his dad's. You just made their day, My little honeybee. And more than that, You did the right thing which you can always feel good about. I am so, So proud of you. As the yard sale winds down, We add whatever didn't sell to the donation pile and drive it over to our neighborhood charity. When we get back, We can feel satisfied about what we did here today. We did so much good for the world and for the honeybee neighborhood which is our home. Now we have the fun work of enjoying a freshly cleaned out house and deciding what on earth or beyond we're going to do with the Honeybee Neighborhood Fun Funds. Always remember, Mrs. Honeybee believes in you. You are special and you are loved. I can't wait to see you again. Bedtime with Mrs. Honeybee Today, In the Honeybee Neighborhood, It's a snow day. All night, Snow has been falling and now look. It's like the whole neighborhood has been covered with fluffy blankets of snow to explore. Are you ready for this snow day adventure, My little honeybee? All you have to do is close your eyes, Get cozy and listen to the sound of my voice. Mrs. Honeybee will be your guide. Let's begin. You are here not only in the Honeybee Neighborhood, But today you're waking up in the Honeybee House. You slept over on the big cozy couch because today is a special day. It's so special that you woke up even before the alarm you set. Looking at the alarm clock, You have a couple more minutes to snooze. Pull your blankets up to your chin and sink into the warmth and coziness for three, Two, One. The alarm clock goes off, Gently waking you back up from what seemed like only a blink. You reach over to turn it off just as your fluffy alarm clock comes running into the living room to say good morning with slobbery kisses. It's Harold. He jumps up to the top of the couch that sits against a long window. The blinds are closed, So he noses them open, Struggling to see out. With one big pull, You open them up to see a thick blanket of freshly fallen snow. So excited, You press your hands and face against the glass beside Harold, Who is sitting up on the back of the couch doing the same. Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Feel the icy coolness of the snowy air coming in through your nose. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth and fog up the window. It squeaks as you wipe it down with your sleeve pulled over your hand. That's when you realize the sun's up and out, But you don't see Mrs. Or Mr. Honeybee downstairs getting ready for their day. Doesn't Mrs. Honeybee have to teach her class? Wondering if maybe they overslept, You and Harold walk to the stairs through the kitchen. That's when you see two magical words written in letter-shaped magnets on the fridge. In bright colors, It says, Snow Day. Harold runs in happy circles around your feet before running over to the hook where he keeps his leash and noses open a cabinet. He pulls out tiny snowshoes for his tiny paws. They hang from his snout as he happily trots over for you to help him put them on. You both sit down on the kitchen floor, And he lifts his first paw. Before you put on the last one, Which is a little tricky because Harold won't sit still, You hear a knock at the window. It's Melody Bee. Harold, Are you ready for a snow day? She has her pink earmuffs and scarf on. You start to get up to let her in, But Mr. Honeybee comes around the corner and gets to it first. I've got it, My little Honeybee. He is wearing a puffy coat and gloves and is carrying two shovels that look old and worn. Melody Bee buzzes in and gives you a big hug to say good morning. Both are so happy you're here for another visit. With all of Harold's booties on, Mr. Honeybee leads you to the coat closet beneath the stairs and leans against the railing to yell up. Oh, Mrs. Honeybee, Are you ready, My dear? Yes, I'm coming, I'm coming. I couldn't decide which scarf to wear. Hello, My little Honeybee. You better bundle up, It's cold outside. It's literally freezing outside. We have plenty of warm coats, Scarves, Gloves and earmuffs. You dig through the closet to find the coziest snow clothes to bundle yourself up with. As you layer them on, Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Feel your chest and your spirits lift. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth and feel the warmth wrapped all around you. Here you go. This shovel is for you. This is the shovel that generations of Honeybees have used. They don't look that special, But they're full of wonderful memories. Yay, I'm excited. Let's go make more memories. All bundled up in our cozy snow clothes, We excitedly open the front door. Our excitement fades when all we can see is a wall of snow that's taller than all of us. That doesn't stop Harold or Melody Bee, Though. They both dash into the snow. Harold is strong enough to dart right through it, Leaving a Harold-shaped hole as he tunnels through. Melody Bee, Though, Gets herself stuck in the heavy, Packed snow. I got you. Hold still. I can pull you out. Together, We pull Melody Bee out. She flutters her wings to dry them out as you and Mr. Honeybee get to digging. You each create your own tunnel in the snow to get out the front door. These will be competing snow mazes. You dig the snow out, Shovelful by shovelful, Switching sides so you can go faster. Right hand, Left hand, Right hand, Left hand. Melody Bee follows Mr. Honeybee's tunnel and we are ducked down, Walking along the tunnel you're digging out. All of us are following Harold's curious barks that help lead us through the endless snow. You keep digging and digging, But without realizing, You and Mr. Honeybee dig right into each other. Hello again. I think we need to go that way to get out. You can see the sunshine struggling through the snow and ice. It makes little rainbows on the tunnel walls. Digging out the last few shovelfuls, Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Feel all the space created by your breath between your ribs. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth and breathe through the snow into the cold sunshine. By the time you dig yourself out of the snow, Harold has already started building a snow dog in his image. A little white dog with a round body and a nubby tail sits in front of him as he diligently works on rounding the snowball into a head with two little bumps for ears. He stands up to finish it, But realizes it's missing something. His snow dog needs a snout. He rolls another ball of snow, Then flattens it a little to match his snout. When he finishes his snow dog, He stares at it, And stares at it. When we walk over to admire it with him, Standing right in front of it, He lunges and bites off his snow dog's snout and chomps on the delicious snow. Harold, You just ate your snow friend's snout. Watch out, Everyone. Hide your noses. Harold's out here eating them. When you notice how much Harold loves munching on the snow, You make him a little snow cone, And he eats it right out of your hand. We each get to work on building our own snow people. You ball up the snow as big as you can for the base, Then a smaller one for the torso, Then the smallest one for the head. You put a big smiley face on yours because you are so happy to have a snow day. Write your name in the snow in front of your snow person. Melody B works on building her snow bee, But is having a bit of trouble. Can someone help me do her wings? I can't get this one to stick. You help Melody B make wings for her snow bee, And while you're working on that, She finds a nearby icicle that will make a perfect stinger. With this stinger, I declare snow bee the protector of this snow village. The snow bee's first charge is to defend the entrance to the igloo fort that Mr. Honey Bee built, Where the snow people and snow creatures you created can take shelter from the snow. Marveling at how big it is, You are able to duck into the entrance and walk through a short walkway before it opens up into a rounded out igloo. I used a sheet of ice that I cracked off the driveway to make a sun roof. Although I guess when it gets too sunny, It'll melt and just be a hole in the roof. Mr. Honey Bee, Do not mention M-E-L-T-ing. The snow people are listening. Oh my goodness, You're right. What was I thinking? Inside the igloo, Looking up at the sunshine which hasn't yet melted the sun roof, Take a slow deep breath in through your nose and spin around inside the expansive igloo. Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and walk back out to the front yard to see where Harold and Melody Bee went. Ducking your way out of the igloo, You turn the corner and are sloshed with a gigantic snowball. Melody Bee and Harold are giggling from the sidewalk. Bet you three can't get us. Come on, Harold. Determined to prove her wrong, We each gather up the biggest snowball we can and zigzag down the driveway across the street and into the forest. Melody Bee and Harold are great zigzaggers and are dodging all of our snowball attempts. As you run through the forest, Crunching frozen sticks and soggy leaves beneath your feet, Take a slow deep breath in through your nose. Your chest expands like the snowballs you roll. Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and launch one after another at Melody Bee and Harold. You narrowly miss them each time and don't realize that they've led us all the way up a hill. You slow down to catch your breath and walk the rest of the way up this hill. Right foot, Left foot, Right foot, Left foot. When you get to the top, It's a beautiful view. There, Melody Bee and Harold dig sleds out of the snow that they stored for this very purpose. Yeah, Sled race. We each sit on a sled. On the count of three, Two, One, We push ourselves down. Harold runs after us and jumps onto your sled with you. That extra oomph allows you to go even faster down the hill. You twist and turn, Winding through the trees with Harold cheering you on. We are in a three-way tie behind you, But are on your tail. You carefully look back behind you to make sure we stay there and expertly shred the snow to either side of you as you zoom down the hill. Harold barks back at us and that distracts you for just a moment. Before you can do anything about it, Your sled crashes into a snowbank. You and Harold fly through the air before landing softly on the powdery snow, Giggling. Are you okay? Here, Let us help you up and dust off all that snow. You and Harold won. I know just the way to celebrate. We come back in the house to our fingers around warm cups of hot chocolate like we do after every snow day. The hot chocolate sloshes in your favorite mug as you hold it out, Waiting for the best part. Three marshmallows for my little honey bee, One for kindness, One for love, And one for self-belief. Together, We enjoy our hot chocolates and warm up enough for another romp in the snow. Always remember, Mrs. Honey Bee believes in you. You are special and you are loved. I can't wait to see you again. Bedtime with Mrs. Honey Bee Today, In the honey bee neighborhood, My best friend Melody Bee learns how fun life can be on two wheels. Even though she's convinced her two wings are enough, Melody Bee is going to learn how to ride a bike. It's always good to learn something new, Isn't it, My little honey bee? Oh, How fun! Who's learning something new? You'll see, Melody Bee. Wait, What? Have you ever seen a bee ride a bike? All you have to do is close your eyes, Get cozy, And listen to the sound of my voice. Mrs. Honey Bee will be your guide. Let's begin. You are here, In the honey bee neighborhood, Walking up to our house. The sun is shining down on today, And the garage is wide open, As if it's inviting you in. Take a slow, Deep breath, In through your nose. Feel the warmth of the sunshine on your cheeks. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth, And walk into the garage. We invited you over to help us with a monumental task. You arrived just as we have gotten started, Already deeply focused on our work, Going through Mr. Honey Bee's garage for a neighborhood yard sale. We don't hear you arrive, But Harold does. He leaps out a pile of old blankets that he's perched on top of, And gallops toward you. That finally gets our attention. Why, Hello, My little honey bee. You're here just in time to help us dig through our forgotten treasure. You just never know what you'll find in here. Years of accumulated things, Some used, And some completely forgotten about. Like this can of pink paint. Look at this thing. We haven't opened this in. . . How many years do you think it's been, My dear? Um. . . That has to be about 15 or so. Maybe 20. Wow, Two decades this paint has been sitting here. You'd never know it, Though, By looking at it. Somehow it hasn't aged a bit. I call dibs on this one. The garden can use a splash of pink. We can also paint the park benches, Too. Oh, That's a good idea. Let's start a couple piles. One to recycle like Melody Bee mentioned, One to donate, And one for the yard sale. The proceeds will go to the Honey Bee Neighborhood Fun Fund. So this one goes in the two recycle pile. With Harold by your side, You start to dig through the first pile you see. You find boxes filled with Christmas lights that still work. Those can go to the yard sale. There's a big plastic bag full of teddy bears and stuffed animals that look a little well-loved but still capable of bringing so much joy to those who need a plushy hug. That will be donated. You keep moving through the piles, Stacking everything into neater piles in the middle of the garage. Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose and feel the sensation of your heart beating once, Twice, Three times. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth. You're now crouched over an old chair trying to grab something interesting at the bottom of a pile of stuff. It looks like a tiny bike. You can't quite get a hold of the handlebars. Mr. Honey Bee and I come over to help. Together, We unearth the tiniest bike you've ever seen. It's a little bitty bike. The tires still have air in them and there's a basket in the front. You peek back in the pile and see that there's another one. We reach in and pull that one out, Too. It's the perfect size for you to ride. Oh, We definitely need to test these out before we decide which pile they go in. You sit down on the bike and ring the bell for fun. Then, You ride around in little circles while Harold chases you around the garage. Melody Bee hears the commotion and quickly flutters over to join us on the other side of the garage. Whoa, What is that? What do you mean? What is what? What is that thing that's going round and round with the round things? Melody Bee, Are you asking what a bike is? Bike? Bike. It's only the best invention ever. Second to the wheel, I guess. It was invented in the early 1800s, I think. The first bike ever was called a Velocipede. I'm not even going to try that one. So, Does that mean you don't know how to ride a bike, Melody Bee? I don't know if you've all met. . . Have wings. Look at these puppies. No, Not literal puppies, Harold, Sorry. But look at these flutter machines. I don't need a brike or a bike or whatever that contraption is. Melody Bee tries to distract everyone by holding up an old coin she found, But it doesn't work. As a rule of thumb, We always try to challenge ourselves to do new things and we never stop growing and learning. Sure, Melody Bee can fly. She can probably even fly faster than she can pedal. But there's something special about trying something out that you never knew existed until today. Are you sure you don't want to ride a bike? You'll be the first bee to ever do it. What an honorable title. Um, I'm working my way diligently up to Queen Bee. That's plenty honorable for me. Melody Bee, What if you think about it in a different way? Like. . . Think of all the bike rides we can go on together. Mr. Honey Bee and I have bikes and we have an extra bike for our little honey bee. We can go on a bike ride today. Oh, That does sound. . . But why can't I just buzz along like I do when we go for walks? Because you already know how to buzz and flutter as you so proudly showed us. You don't yet know how to ride a bike. You can learn something new. You. . . You. . . You could evolve the bee as a whole species forward in their evolution by learning to ride a bike. Why do I have to be in charge of evolution? I can already tell. I'm going to learn how to ride a bike today, Aren't I? You sure are. Hop on. Do you mean jump like a grasshopper? With Harold still at your feet, You put on your helmet and swing one leg over the bike to show Melody Bee how to sit on the seat properly. She looks at you, Then looks at the bike, Then manages to get up onto the seat. If she leans all the way forward, She can reach the handlebars. Mr. Honey Bee adjusts the pedals and the handlebars on both bikes so they're perfect fits for both of you. Then he helps Melody Bee put on her helmet. Just sitting on the bike, Melody Bee already looks somewhat proud of herself. She's not usually one to sit down, So every aspect of this is new. Melody Bee is so happy you're here to help her challenge herself in new ways. Okay, Melody Bee, Riding a bike is all geometry, And do not try to tell me you don't know about geometry. I've heard you talk at length about how the hexagon is the most perfect shape to maximize honey production on the honeycomb. You can do this. Using my own honey-making skills against me? Mm-mm. Fine, I hear you. It's all about geometry. Mr. Honey Bee goes on to explain the details of the bike's mechanical function and carefully illustrates where the many points of friction are that allow the bike to move at all. Melody Bee's eyes glaze over with information and she dreams of yesterday when she still didn't know what a bike was. Mr. Honey Bee's enthusiasm about center of gravity snaps her back. She knows all about gravity. That's an important concept in fluttering. Oh, That I can do. Center myself like I'm flying, Then pick up the breeze? Well, No. Well, Actually, Maybe, Yeah. Try it. Full of the same confidence she has with flying, Melody Bee launches the bike down the driveway, Fluttering her wings behind her. The bike wobbles wildly beneath her and her fluttering wings keep her in place as it falls to one side. I just ask that you notice how well my wings work. Just notice it. Maybe we should work on the garage some more? Just a suggestion. Let's try something different, Melody Bee. See if we can get you going. I guess I should have known that the teacher among us would be a bit better at this. Before we do anything else, We all pause with Melody Bee and clear our minds of any frustration. Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Allow the fresh air to gather in your chest and collect everything you'd like to release. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth and let yourself feel heavy and supported in this moment. You are supporting a friend in her growth and that's an important job. Melody Bee rings the bell on her bike to signal that she's ready to try again. Okay, This time, Let's go slower and honor the process of this whole new thing. Mr. Honey Bee, Can you take off the pedals? Take them off? Do you mean put on training wheels? No, No, No. We just need to get those pedals out of the way. Um, Sure. Of course I can. But isn't that an important part of riding a bike? Well, I guess you're learning something too today, My dear. Mr. Honey Bee takes the pedals off. That allows Melody Bee to push herself while sitting on the bike to acclimate to what it's like to be on a bike at all. She feels more of a sense of control and that helps her wobble better. Melody Bee goes in slow circles, Walking the bike around and around. You decide to give her some encouragement by riding alongside. He's smiling from ear to ear as Harold joins in. She's feeling so confident that she wants to try to go down the driveway again. But only if you go with her. You pull your bike up to the top of the driveway and slowly begin riding down with Melody Bee. She's able to run while holding on to the handlebars and balancing. She goes faster and faster. You turn one way to ride down the sidewalk and she turns the opposite right into a rose bush. Ow! Why must roses be so beautiful and so painful? Their stingers are even more pokey than mine. Together we carefully help Melody Bee out of the rose bush. You do the honors of picking her a little rose to make her feel better. She happily accepts it and holds it up for a big sniff of the fresh aroma. Melody Bee is more determined than ever to get back on the bike. Feeling confident and capable with you by her side, She hops back on and walks, Then runs. While running, She tries picking up her feet. She goes for longer and longer stretches without putting her feet down. Melody Bee is ready for her first bike ride. We each hop onto our bikes, Strap on our helmets, And roll down the driveway to meet Melody Bee. Harold hops in the tiny basket at the front of her bike and we're ready to go. We all agree to go slowly until she gets the hang of it. But she blows us all away by pushing off and getting the hang of it right away. You pedal harder to get up to where she is and together you go around the corner and into a cul-de-sac where you can work on more circles. Melody Bee insists on trying to race and Harold's ears flop in the wind, Riding blissfully throughout the Honey Bee neighborhood, Waving to all of your friends. Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Feel the sun shining down on you and the joy of this moment. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth and try to get up ahead of Melody Bee. Mr. Honey Bee comes around the side of both of you and zooms up ahead. He isn't in the lead for long though. Hi everyone! Bye everyone! We continue down the road, Alternating between races we surprise each other with and peaceful rides, Enjoying the warm breeze. Melody Bee is now able to join us for our bike rides. These bikes will have to stay in the garage though. So many more miles of memories to put on them. Always remember, Mrs. Honey Bee believes in you. You are special and you are loved. I can't wait to see you again. Bedtime with Mrs. Honey Bee Today, In the Honey Bee neighborhood, We'll be making Mr. Honey Bee's favorite dinner. Spaghetti! It's not every day that a spaghetti dinner leads to a legendary adventure. But today just might be that day, My little Honey Bee. Mr. Honey Bee has searched every plate of spaghetti he's ever eaten for one special noodle. A noodle unlike any other. One that grows longer the longer you cook it. Legend has it that if you can follow where it leads. . . Well, You'll see. Will today be the day we finally feast our eyes on the caboodle noodle? You're one spaghetti noodle away from an epic tale of gigantic portions. All you have to do is close your eyes, Get cozy, And listen to the sound of my voice. Mrs. Honey Bee will be your guide. Let's begin. You are here at the Honey Bee house just in time to help make Mr. Honey Bee's all-time favorite dinner, Spaghetti. You hear a commotion in the backyard, So you go along the side of the house and open the backyard gate. That's when you know for sure someone must be home because you can smell the slightly sweet aroma of freshly made spaghetti sauce simmering on the stove for hours. Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Smell the delicious dinner being prepared and feel the joy of its anticipation. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth. When you turn the corner, You see everyone out in the garden harvesting fresh herbs and garlic. As always, Harold hears you first. Mr. Honey Bee, Melody Bee, Our little Honey Bee is here. I hope you weren't at the door knocking. You can always just come right in, My little Honey Bee. Come on over. We're just picking a few more leaves of basil. Do you want any herbs for your spaghetti? I think I'm going to try adding more oregano this time. If you ask me, I think it's time to pick some thyme. That is age advice, Mr. Honey Bee. After his pun, Mr. Honey Bee proudly plucks the last stem of thyme off the plant and tops the bowl of herbs off with it. Melody Bee adds some sage to the mix as well. They each head back inside with Harold trotting behind them. But we know something they don't know, Don't we, My little Honey Bee? Shhh! Neither of them know about our secret herb that we're growing in its own little pot in the greenhouse. His name is Alphys Parsley. We'll grab a couple sprigs from him too. These will be the perfect addition to our sauce. Together, We join Mr. Honey Bee and Melody Bee back in the kitchen where the herbs are folded into the sauce at just the right time. It bubbles happily, Gobbling up every last bit of the chopped up herbs. As you know, The last step is to cook the noodles, Which you grab from the pantry. Harold monitors each of your footsteps to make sure you don't drop any delicious morsels. Without looking at exactly which one, You grab a package of noodles from the many and head back to the stove. Harold is running around your heels more than usual, But you figure he's just happy to see you like he always is. You open the package and drop the stiff, Dry noodles into the boiling water. Like always, I do my fanciest ballerina twirl, Then end with a dash of salt for the noodles. You need to twirl to get the right amount of salt sprinkled into the water. As you crumple up the noodle package, You realize that one lone noodle is still stuck to the side of the pot. You flop it back into the water before throwing away the packaging. When you return to check on the noodles, You again see that one long noodle has flopped out of the pot and is hanging over the side. It's such a long noodle that you can't seem to find the other end. You bend down to get eye level to the pot and follow the noodle down the side of the pot, Along the counter, And back across the floor, Tracing your footsteps all the way back to the pantry. Harold sees what you see and just before he opens his mouth to take a gigantic bite of the longest noodle he's ever seen, Mr. Honeybee stops him in his tracks. Harold, No. Don't eat that. I think this is. . . It can't be. My dear, I think it has to be. . . What is it? It's a noodle? I'm not following. Well, I'm following, But I'm just following the noodle, Not the conversation. You tell them, Mr. Honeybee. Everyone, Please stand back. Give the noodle some space. This isn't just any noodle. You and Melody Bee stand back in reverence of the mysterious noodle while Harold all but drools over it, Held back from his instincts by Mr. Honeybee who lets us wonder for a dramatic moment. This is the caboodle noodle. It has to be. It has to be. I've only heard about it in legends, But I knew it was real. I just knew it. Our regular Sunday spaghetti dinners definitely upped our chances of meeting a caboodle noodle in person. Wow! Can you believe it? So, It's a noodle? I guess technically, Yes. But it's also every noodle in the whole world put together. It's spaghetti's longest noodle that keeps growing once it's cooked. Generations of Grandma Honeybees have said it like this. If you ever encounter a caboodle noodle, You're supposed to drop whatever you're doing and follow it. This noodle supposedly leads back to the noodle farm where the biggest plate of spaghetti sits waiting for those who can get to it. I grew up hearing all about this, And now look! It's in our kitchen. We have to follow it. We have to follow this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, My little honeybee. Who can refuse the caboodle noodle's invitation to adventure? We sure can't. And experienced adventures like us will surely get to the spaghetti treasure waiting at the end of this noodle trail. Without another thought, We pile into the pantry to see how we could possibly follow the noodle anywhere from the pantry. Harold sniffs out a tiny trap door that suddenly appears. Mr. Honeybee lightly pushes on it, And it creaks open. We're all able to step in, One by one. We're now walking through the walls of the honeybee house, And goodness, Do these walls talk! The wood beams creak under our footsteps, And we make our way through the walls, Up the chimney, And onto the roof. We dust the soot off ourselves, And Melody Bee flutters up to the noodle that's wrapped around a streetlight, Which then connects to a nearby telephone wire. The noodle is so strong that we're able to climb across it, All the way to the streetlamp, Then up to the telephone pole. When we hop onto the wire, We balance as carefully as we can. The caboodle noodle is intricately wrapped around the cable, So we're careful to step over it, While still balancing with our arms out to the side. Right foot, Left foot, Right foot, Left foot. Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Feel the space created in your chest, Find your center there. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth, And continue balancing along the telephone wire, High above the Honey Bee neighborhood. Some neighbors gather, And we wave as we pass them. By now, They know we're always up to some kind of adventure. They look forward to hearing all about it in the Honey Bee neighborhood bulletin. At the last telephone pole, The noodle drapes down between the trees and into the forest. It has been a bit misty out, And there's a dew sprinkled along the noodle, Which makes it slippery. Looking down over the forest, You cannot quite see where it ends. Melody Bee flutters around it, But she can't even tell. She slides her hand along the noodle to see just how slippery it is. I think we're going to have to zip line down the noodle. Harold looks up as if to ask who gets the honors of holding him while they zip line, And he focuses in on you. Still balancing on the telephone wire, Harold jumps up into your arms and gives you a slobbery puppy kiss. You, Of course, Agree to zip line with him and bravely decide to go first. Holding Harold in one arm and the noodle in the other hand, You launch off the telephone pole like you're zip lining through the rainforest. We follow right behind you. The wind rushes by as we pick up speed. Harold's fluffy ears fly back. He's having so much fun. We slide down the caboodle noodle around several dizzying twists and turns that lead us deep into the forest and finally to the banks of the Honey River. Where did the noodle go? Can you see it? Harold's nose doesn't work as well with water. He paces along the sandy banks but cannot find it. We cannot let this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity be lost to the rushing river rapids. You think quickly and step along the bridge of rocks across the river. From there, You can see that the noodle isn't lost at all. It's in the river. Take another slow, Deep breath in through your nose to fill your lungs with all the fresh air that you can. When you breathe out through your mouth, Lead the way to jump into the rushing river. Like the fish we swim next to, We adjust to being underwater as we let the rapids carry us where the caboodle noodle leads. Eventually, We get to the ocean, Which we know because suddenly our noodle trail is tangled in knots around two curious octopi tentacles. We do them the favor of disentangling their feet and they go happily on their way, As do we, Traveling through schools of rainbow-colored fish, Coral reef, And even a couple shipwrecks. Everyone, Please make a mental note of this shipwreck. We need to come back here. Mr. Honeybee gets a little distracted in the shipwreck, But we're able to pull him back to our current adventure, Which is continuing on through the depths of the sea. Once we see the sunshine again, We know that we're approaching dry land. Harold dog paddles out ahead of us and runs onto the sandy shore of a beautiful island. His little paw prints lead the way into a breezy island surrounded by sparkling blue water. The island paradise takes your breath away, So you get it back with a slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Feel the coolness of the fresh air coming in through your nose and taste the sea salt mist. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth as the warm sun shines down on us, Drying our clothes and giving us the energy we need to get to the end of this noodle. We are more determined than ever. We climb up steep hills that lead to even more spectacular ocean views. When we get to a peaceful pasture of farmland, The noodle suddenly ends. We look back at the glistening ocean, Wondering if we missed something. Then, We smell it. Well, Harold does. This doesn't seem like just any old farm, Everyone. Look! Melody B points out that in addition to veggies and herbs, Just like the garden we have at home, This is a noodle farm. We're here. We made it. The spaghetti treasure should be around here somewhere. Find it, Harold. Sniff it out. Harold takes his new job very seriously and, With a snout to the ground, He follows the delicious aroma of the world's biggest plate of spaghetti. He's hot on the trail, Leading us up and down rows and rows of noodles sprouting fresh from the ground. We get up to a grove of olive trees and turn the corner to see it. The biggest plate of spaghetti sparkles in the sunshine. There are three gigantic forks for us to use. It takes both of our hands to stand over the plate and spin the noodles around the fork for a big bite. You get the honors of taking the first bite of the treasured spaghetti. Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Feel your chest and your spirits lift. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth and lightly blow on the noodles to make sure they're the perfect temperature. Then, Take a big bite, Slurping up the last of the noodle. It's so delicious and tastes just like the homemade spaghetti we make each week. Together, We slurp up the spaghetti and, Of course, Give Harold a few noodles to nibble on. The legend of the caboodle noodle just got a new hero, My little honeybee. Always remember, Mrs. Honeybee believes in you. You are special and you are loved. I can't wait to see you again. Bedtime with Mrs. Honeybee Today, In the honeybee neighborhood, We're going on a rescue mission to save Harold's doggy friends. We just got the news today that a local animal shelter has too many dogs and not enough kennels. Yes, Harold, Where all your friends live. Don't worry, Pup. We'll figure out how to save them. Oh, Melody Bee, Did you hear the news? About the animal shelter? Yes, Mrs. Honeybee. I rushed over as soon as I found out. We've got a fluffy predicament on our hands. We'll need all hands and paws on deck to solve this. Let's go save those dogs. All you have to do is close your eyes, Get cozy and listen to the sound of my voice. Mrs. Honeybee will be your guide. Let's begin. You are here in the honeybee neighborhood walking up to our brightly colored door to knock. There's an unusual amount of activity buzzing in the air today. Barks from riled up dogs are heard from near and far. You can already hear Harold barking his input as if all the dogs of the neighborhood are having a discussion amongst themselves in the open air. Mr. Honeybee opens the door and welcomes you in as he updates you on the urgent situation that is developing. Good timing my little honeybee. We don't quite know the full details of what's happening but Harold has been talking with the neighborhood dogs all afternoon. He's still out there. Mr. Honeybee leads you to the sliding back door where me and Melody Bee are anxiously listening and waiting to get the scoop. You look out into the backyard to see Harold with his paws up on the fence and his snout up in the air. He's answering distant barks with howls and whimpers and little barks mixed in. Mrs. Honeybee can you hear what he's saying? Something about being squished? Yes, Something about being too many and feeling squished? And something else about wanting to go home? I heard home too but I'm still picking up the whole dog language thing. You'll get it Mr. Honeybee. You picked up bumble language very quickly. Dogs have a very complex communication system. You stand at the back door with us. We're all trying to listen without looking like we're listening. When Harold looks back at us behind the door we quickly look away and busy ourselves doing something else. When he notices that you've arrived he runs in from the backyard and paws at the door to come in. What is it Harold? What's going on? Harold explains that the neighborhood dog shelter has reached its capacity for residents. It no longer has room to take in any more houseless pups. The resident dogs are worried because they're so squished and they heard word that the whole shelter was going to be shut down. They contacted Harold because they knew he had us to always help him. The dogs at the shelter and all the future dogs the shelter will help need us. We need to intervene but how? We step out into the backyard to put our heads together. Standing in the sunshine take a slow deep breath in through your nose. Allow the fresh air to wipe your mind clear of everything besides this moment so you can focus on a solution. Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth. Why don't we at least go over to the shelter so we can see what we're really talking about here. I know I can build something for them but let's see the situation at the shelter. When we arrive we quickly see how overwhelmed the staff is. Everyone we see is holding at least two puppies walking several dogs on leashes and at the same time trying to wrangle other pups that have managed to escape their homes without itching to get in there and see all of his shelter friends. We walk up to the gate just as one of the staff members is passing by. You kindly offer our help wherever it's needed and she breathes a sigh of relief. The shelter has more dogs than they know what to do with and if they don't find the entire shelter will be shut down. She whispers most of them just need some love and attention for now. We can't do it all ourselves. She lets us in for the task of playing with and snuggling all the dogs we can. You find the nearest pup you can and start a game of fetch that attracts three more. When they get tired and go back to their kennels willingly to sleep you find a puppy pile around the corner. All these new baby puppies are whining desperately wanting snuggles. You hop into the middle of the puppy pile and they give you as many puppy kisses as you can handle. Once those puppies are lulled to sleep you join Mr. Honeybee who is hauling big bags of kibble over his shoulder to fill the trough of dog food for everyone. This sound attracts half the dogs on the property to that exact location. They rush behind you and Mr. Honeybee to gobble up the food. You carefully squeeze through all the pups and barely make it out of the growing pack. While the dogs are eating we think about what else we can do to help. I have an idea. Mr. Honeybee takes off back to the parking lot without telling us his plan. Together we stay behind and take a look around the shelter. How can we fit more dogs in here? The big kennels are packed full of dogs. They already have bunk beds and kennel roommates to maximize space. That's when you mention that better than making more space for dogs what if more dogs had a home? Great idea my little Honeybee. We just need to find more dogs homes. Melody Bee do you think we can convince Mr. Honeybee that we need to adopt all these dogs? Mr. Honeybee will be way easier to convince than Harold. Just look at him smiling at you for even suggesting he not be the only dog anymore. Aww I didn't mean it Harold. He's the only pup for us. But where can we put all your friends? Just then we hear a big truck beeping like it's backing up. At once we run out to the parking lot to see Mr. Honeybee backing in a big truck one that's big enough to hold all the extra dogs. Look it's a pick pup truck. Get it? Not a pick up truck. We got it my dear. What are we going to do after the pick pup truck picks up the pups? I'm not sure. I was hoping you three would have come up with an idea by now. What if we follow the ice cream truck around to their ice cream? We ask them if they would like to give a loving home to a wonderful pup. And who knows they might get a new home and an ice cream cone. It's worth a shot. Who doesn't want a loving home a loving dog and an ice cream cone? One by one we fill the pick up truck with all the houseless dogs and begin driving around we cannot find it anymore but we drive by something that gives Melody B another idea. Is that people park up on the hill almost done? Doesn't it have a big fence around it? What's a people park? Do you mean the park? It's a people park. If we call the dog park the dog park then we have to call the park for people the people park. Are there parks for other animals though? That's a great question. Why don't all animals have parks? Water has parks amusement has parks cats need parks bees need parks. To answer your question Melody B yes the people park is done and yes there is a fence all around it. Oh I think I know what you're thinking. What if we combine the people park with the dog park? Wouldn't that be a great place for all the houseless dogs? And all the people who play at the park will always have someone to play with. With our plan in place I turn the truck around to head up to the people park that has just been built. The dogs in the back of the truck bark with excitement. Since it's such a beautiful day you roll down the window and let your arm hang out like it's flying on the breeze. Take a slow deep breath in through your nose feel your chest and your spirits lift then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and know that you are helping so many pups in need. When we get to the people park you and Mr. Honeybee jump out to help me back the truck up to the fence. We will have to quickly open the back of the truck and the park gate so no dogs get out. You open the gate and together we form a path for the dogs to go straight from the truck through the open gate. On the count of three two one Mr. Honeybee opens the trailer. All the pups rush out of the truck and into the park basking in the sun running free and wild through the grass. Mr. Honeybee points to the far side of the park where there's a line of trees. We can build as many houses as they need right along the trees. Oh, And we can give them automatic feeders like Harold has. They'll have everything they need including people to love them. What a fantastic solution. We make a great team. Oh no, I can't cry before our teamwork is even done. Don't cry Melody Bee. Don't cry. With a team high five we get to work building dog houses for everyone. There's even more room to add more if needed. While we work diligently we also let ourselves be distracted by all the adorable dogs who are so grateful for our help. Puppies dogs and even senior dogs are among the bunch. We line the dog houses with warm blankets that are donated to the shelter. Any old towel or blanket that people don't use is perfect for rescue shelters. With the feeders in place the houses built and ready we stand back to appreciate our hard day's work. The dogs bark and play happily without a worry in the world just like they should be. We built a safe haven for the dogs who had nowhere else to go. Now they will always have a home. That's when we hear the gate open again. The people park has its first visitors but it's not just a people park anymore. This is the world's first hmm well what should we call it? How can we combine a people park and a dog park into one name? A a Pupple Park The Honey Bee Neighborhood Pupple Park The Honey Bee The first of its kind but surely not the last. Harold now you'll have a dog park and a pupple park full of friends nearby. We watch with smiles on our faces and gratitude in our hearts as the people and the pups match up with one another. The younger babies toddle over to the puppies who share their enthusiasm for sand. The older pups gravitate to the older kids and adults who can throw their toys far and they play riveting games of tug of war. The even older pups sit beside the grandparents who enjoy the park just as much as everyone else. Together they read in the sunshine feed the birds and enjoy the joy in the air. Take a slow deep breath in through your nose feel the sensation of your heart beating once twice three times then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and feel good about making this world a better place. Before you can decide on a pup to play with one of your favorite kinds of dogs comes up to you and nudges you to play. You run off after the pup who chose you and play the rest of the afternoon away. By the end of the day we all collapse onto the grass watching the sunset. The almost houseless dogs curl up in their warm cozy dog houses for the night. You pet Harold's fluffy ears so excited to be a founding member of the Honey Bee Neighborhood's first Pupple Park. Always remember Mrs. Honey Bee believes in you. You are special and you are loved. I can't wait to see you again. Today in the Honey Bee Neighborhood we'll be playing an epic game of Freeze Tag. Tag, You're it! Melody Bee we haven't even started playing yet. I know, Just practicing. You're pretty fast Melody Bee but I'm faster. I've got Harold on my team. Come on little guy. All you have to do is close your eyes get cozy and listen to the sound of my voice. Mrs. Honey Bee will be your guide. Let's begin. You are here in the Honey Bee Neighborhood walking up the driveway to our house. But today there's no need to knock on the front door because we're all outside. It's such a beautiful day that we decided to spend it outside in the sunshine. Take a slow deep breath in through your nose feel the simple small joy of the sun shining on your skin. Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth as you pick Harold up and hold him in the crook of your arm petting his floppy ears. My little Honey Bee today we're going to do something we haven't done before and it's going to be so much fun. Harold let's show everyone what we've been practicing. Harold leaps down from your arms and runs in circles around my feet following the command which is twirling around me like an orchestra conductor. After a few dizzying circles my hand stops and I say freeze. Harold stops in place and stands perfectly still. He doesn't even blink or wag his tail. You try petting his head but he still doesn't budge. Mr. Honey Bee laughs at Harold trying his best not to react. Then he leans in to expose Harold's greatest weakness I don't think anyone can withstand being tickled no matter how frozen in freeze tag they are. Mr. Honey Bee tickles Harold on the side of his belly right by his arm where he is so so ticklish. Harold squirms trying to contain his wiggles but he cannot stand it. He unfreezes and charges Mr. Honey Bee for slobbery kissing. You did great though boy. You're going to do so well in this game. Today my little Honey Bee we will play freeze tag and Harold can play with us. I'll be it first you better run. You take off as fast as you can being as silly as you can run up and down the driveway and in circles around me and Melody Bee and Harold. This game is going to be the most challenging for Melody Bee because she'll have to hover in mid-air when she freezes. Everyone waits eagerly for me to yell freeze but until then you run and run in the sunshine. Then once you nearly forget what you're waiting for you hear freeze. In an instant you freeze every single one of your muscles. While you're frozen here take another slow deep breath in through your nose still your mind body and self from the inside out then slowly breathe out through your mouth as I slowly walk around inspecting everyone who is frozen in place. Mr. Honey Bee has his arm up in the air Harold has it the easiest he was rolling around in the grass so he's just laying on his back with his paws and snout up towards the sun. You are able to hold your frozen position perfectly. Melody Bee though is shaking and wiggling she cannot hover for very long before anyone else she drops to the ground with a big sigh. Ah! I was trying to remember to run so I could freeze easily. You win this round Mrs. Honey Bee but just you win. Go! Again we run around in wild patterns being as silly as we can but this time we run hand in hand and spin in circles until we're dizzy. Melody Bee opens her mouth as if she's going to say freeze many times but fakes us out. We continue running around until we hear her say freeze all of us freeze completely. Mr. Honey Bee is lifting Harold high up in the air but both of them are frozen. We are frozen side by side trying not to giggle and move ourselves in any way. Take another slow deep breath in through your nose feel your chest expand and create more space for your breath then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth. Everyone freezes successfully so Melody Bee yells out Okay unfreeze everyone you're too good at this. We unfreeze and continue romping around but Mr. Honey Bee doesn't join us. Harold is wiggling in his uplifted hands but he cannot wiggle out of Mr. Honey Bee's grasp. Mr. Honey Bee is the freeze tag winner. You can unfreeze now though you definitely won. Dear you can unfreeze now I think Harold wants to go back down to the ground. Mr. Honey Bee can you hear us? I can't move. You can't oof? You don't need to oof you can just unfreeze. Melody Bee I think he's saying he can't move. Mr. Honey Bee can you move? No I'm stuck. Harold finally wiggles himself free and jumps down into your arms but Mr. Honey Bee cannot move at all. With your one free arm you pull on one of his arms while I pull on the other just to see if we can move them for him. We pull and pull trying our best to not hurt him in his frozen state. He still doesn't move. Harold jumps down to the ground and paws at Mr. Honey Bee's legs but he still doesn't move. Harold does Mr. Honey Bee's favorite trick to see if making him laugh will help unfreeze him. Harold stands up on his hind legs then slowly walks backwards step by step. We can hear Mr. Honey Bee laugh but still no movement. My dear is this one of your funny pranks? Are you tricking us? He's totally tricking us. We're not going to fall for it Mr. Honey Bee. If you're tricking us you're going to get tickled. No! No tickle! No! Tickle's incoming! You better move! All of us tickle Mr. Honey Bee relentlessly. If he was pranking us he definitely wouldn't be able to withstand a tickle attack. Or so we think. Melody Bee wants to test out one more thing. No one can withstand a buzzing bee in their ears. Here come the buzzes! You better move Mr. Honey Bee! Oh goodness! That tickles even more! What's happening to me? We know for sure now that Mr. Honey Bee is not pranking us. No one absolutely no one can withstand Harold walking backwards a tickle attack and bee buzzes in the ear. This is something else. Something we've never seen before. We're going to have to experiment with this situation and for that we have to think like Mr. Honey Bee himself. A tinkerer extraordinaire. We're out in the front yard standing in the shade of a tree so we look all around us to see what we can use in this predicament. The first thing we see is the hose and you're thinking exactly what I'm thinking. You run over to get the hose as I explain our line of thinking to Mr. Honey Bee who is understandably hesitant. Mr. Honey Bee my dear we're going to try hosing you off. That works for ice cubes they melt in the warm sun tea you know since we can't dunk you in sun tea. Wait do you think we can dunk him in sun tea? Oh I don't know if we have a glass that big. No please don't please please don't. Okay okay don't worry we won't dunk you in sun tea. That was silly. Let's try spraying you down with the hose. If you must my dear. Together we steady the garden hose and spray Mr. Honey Bee from head to toe. When we see that he's not unfreezing at all we give him another round like sending a car back through the car wash when it's extra dirty. Mr. Honey Bee's eyes wince closed then I try holding the hose over his head on shower mode so it's like spring rain on flowers. We keep that on him and give the grass a good watering too. Mr. Honey Bee is able to squint open his eyes but he's not too thrilled about being hosed down. That idea didn't seem to work but it gave Harold and Melody Bee separate ideas. They each run to get things while we stay with Mr. Honey Bee. Harold comes back with his favorite ragged towel and after he gets a hose bath his favorite thing in the whole world is being towel dried. He thought that could help Mr. Honey Bee. It's worth a try so we towel dry him but he's still as frozen as ever. Now he's wrinkly and his hair is standing up too. When Melody Bee comes back she takes a completely different approach. This happens to my flowers sometimes when they need to be pollinated. They'll just freeze completely. They won't bloom. They won't do anything. So I have some pollen here. Mr. Honey Bee just holds still. Well, I guess you already are. You're doing great. Keep doing what you're doing. Melody Bee gives us each a palm full of pollen. In her estimation all we need to do is blow it onto Mr. Honey Bee so he can begin to bloom and maybe for people that means unfreeze. With the pollen in your upturned palm take a slow deep breath in through your nose then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and blow the pollen over Mr. Honey Bee. Since he's not all the way dry all the pollen sticks to him really well. Melody Bee happily cheers at a pollination well done. But Mr. Honey Bee doesn't seem nearly as excited. He's now soaking wet hair sticking straight up and covered in pollen. We try my blue dryer to thaw him the air compressor in his garage and everything else we can think of. Each of our attempts layers over Mr. Honey Bee without helping to unfreeze him. That's when you bring up the best idea yet. Why don't we let the sun thaw him? The sun does that naturally to snow each spring. We just have to get Mr. Honey Bee out of the shade. Standing up tall with his arms in the air like he's still holding Harold playing Mr. Honey Bee nervously looks his eyes side to side as we prepare to pick him up. Together we are strong enough to do anything. So we pick him up and hoist him over our shoulders with Melody Bee and Harold. Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Careful. Where are we going? Well, I'm thinking that if the solar panels on the roof spend the whole day absorbing the sun, You need to be on the roof, My dear. Together, Step by step, We climb up a ladder all the way to the roof. Right hand, Left foot, Left hand, Left foot. Slowly but surely, We make it all the way up there and lay out on the soft blankets for us all to enjoy a nice afternoon on the roof. Mr. Honeybee stands up, Still in the same position. The neighbors that walk by think they're waving to him, Which he prefers that he was. He struggles to say hi to them, So we wave everyone by so they don't think anything is wrong. On the roof, We make Mr. Honeybee as comfy as possible. We sit down beside him, Waiting while the sun does its brilliant work. As time passes, We eventually lay down, Basking in the warm sunshine. Take another slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Feel the warmth of the sun shining on your cheeks. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth, And let yourself feel heavy on the roof. As we doze off a little, We're suddenly woken up by Mr. Honeybee talking normally. Hey, I think it's working. I can move my arms. Mr. Honeybee is finally able to put his arms down. He shakes them out and wiggles them all around. His legs are still frozen and can't move, But he can reach down to pet Harold, Who was very worried about him. With a little more time in the sun, Mr. Honeybee fully thaws and is surprisingly ready for another round of freeze tag, With one important exception. Well, I'm it from now on in freeze tag. We all get down from the roof and enjoy the rest of the afternoon playing freeze tag in the sunshine. Always remember, Mrs. Honeybee believes in you. You are special and you are loved. I can't wait to see you again. Bedtime with Mrs. Honeybee Today, In the Honeybee neighborhood, We'll be going on an adventure into a new world made of chalk. Have you ever drawn with chalk before? I love chalk With a little magic, Anything that we draw can come to life. Right, Mrs. Honeybee? That's right, Melody Bee. We can go anywhere in Chalk World. We're only limited by our imagination. Hmm. What about. . . Whoa! That's a beautiful flower, Melody Bee. But why would you want to visit a flower? You're a bee. You visit flowers every day. I love flowers. It was the first thing I thought of. Here, I'll make a few adjustments. Oh, A bouquet of flowers? Aww. Is that for me? Yes, Mrs. Honeybee. You are so sweet, Melody Bee. Thank you, My dear, For this adventure. We're going to be thinking a little bit bigger than flowers. I've got a special idea in mind. All you have to do is close your eyes, Get cozy, And listen to the sound of my voice. Mrs. Honeybee will be your guide. Let's begin. You are here, Walking down the sidewalk to our house. The sun is shining down on this beautiful afternoon. Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Feel your chest and your spirits lift. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth. You notice yourself looking down at your feet as you walk today. Right foot, Left foot, Right foot, Left foot. Along the way, Under your footsteps, You see something unusual. First, A big, Yellow, Happy face with a winking eye. After that, You see a galloping, Purple unicorn with a rainbow mane and sparkly boots for its hooves. The closer you get to our driveway, The more intricate the images become, Until you get all the way to our front porch where you can hear Mr. Honeybee and Melody Bee in the backyard. Melody Bee, Can you please hold the other side of the tape measure? About here? Or is that too big for the squashes? You said zucchini likes to spread out with big leaves, Right? Oh yeah, Definitely. Zucchini leaves are so big that they conceal the squash from birds and other hungry friends. Then, This seems like plenty of room. You peek your eyes over the fence and jump up to wave your hand so that they can see you, But they don't. You're taken by surprise when I open the wooden gate. Hello, My little Honeybee. Did you see all our chalk art on the driveway? Mr. Honeybee, Melody Bee, Harold, Our little Honeybee's here. Hello, My little Honeybee. Here's a piece of chalk. Like always, We need your help. Hi! We've learned this afternoon that I am not the best creature to help draw a straight line. I'm excellent at hexagons, But straight lines? No way! Can you help us draw the outlines for our new garden boxes? The zucchini are almost ready to be transplanted. You walk all the way to the garden before Harold finally wakes up from his nap in the sun. When he sees you, He rushes over to you for pets and kisses. He's always so happy to see you just like we are. With Harold at your feet, You walk over to the patch of grass where the garden boxes will go and help Mr. Honeybee trace out a perfectly straight line that will form the edge. While you're doing that, Melody Bee is over in the sandy soil where she grows succulents drawing something of her own. Look at this! I drew us a new friend. I call her Rosie. She's a rose but with hands and feet and a big smile. Rosie lives in a rose garden that lost its color, But because she's so bright and smiley and happy, She brings the color right back. Aw, Hello Rosie. It's nice to meet you. We're the Honeybees. Here, Let's see what I can draw. Mr. Honeybee grabs as many colors as he can hold in two hands then gets to work. First, He draws a circle for a head with a little yellow antenna at the top. He draws another circle for feet because this friend rolls everywhere he needs to go. He draws a little red heart in the center of his belly. Mr. Honeybee finishes the details of a robot he's just about finished prototyping. The chalk he used has ground down to stumps against the sandy soil. When Mr. Honeybee finishes drawing, He stands back to present a new friend. I call him Roger. Roger Robot. Mr. Honeybee wipes the palm of his hands together and clouds of chalk dust fill the air surrounding us like fog. When the dust settles, We look around to see who said that but don't see anyone. We look back at the chalk drawing of the robot Roger Robot and see that he's changed positions. Now he's waving and is turned around with his back facing us as if rolling away. Wow! Did Roger Robot just come to life? Well, The chalk version of him did somehow but he seems to have rolled away. Roger, Come back! I just need a few more pieces and your prototype should be finished. Can you help? We look down at the chalk-drawn robot which is laying perfectly still on the sandy soil. A light breeze kicks up and blows his antenna away into the garden. Aww! Bye for now, Roger. I'm sure you'll figure out how to bring Roger to life, Mr. Honeybee. You're a tinkerer, You're extraordinary. Maybe Roger went into the mysterious chalk world? Oh, I know that one. It's the world that waits in the palm of our hands and beneath our feet. We see them all over the Honeybee neighborhood. You try, Mrs. Honeybee. Take us somewhere far, Far away. Hmm. I think I can think something up. I pick up some of the chalk and hand some for you to help. All that's left in big usable pieces is the white chalk. What can we do with white? We get right to work on a new chalk wonderland and when we finish we stand up to reveal a lifelike drawing of all four of us standing in a cloud world surrounded by clouds and stars that we cannot see but know they are there. We wipe our palms together to get the chalk dust off of them and once again chalk dust surrounds us like a fog. Before we realize what happened we look down to see that we are now standing on puffy white clouds but they don't look like regular clouds they're the chalky clouds that we drew. Not only are we standing on them but we can jump and twirl too. That's when we realize that we aren't quite ourselves. Now we're chalk people with colorful chalky outlines. Mrs. Honeybee my dear did you forget to draw my ear? Look I only have one. I'm so sorry Mr. Honeybee here let me draw you another one. I reach out and begin drawing Mr. Honeybee an ear but not just any ear he will now have one giant floppy elephant ear that has an earring. Um well I guess this works. Oh I need some ears you can't really see mine. Will you help me draw ears for Melody Bee my little honeybee? Together we draw Melody Bee two bunny ears on the top of her head. Hey look at these. Wait I don't know how how bunnies do this. These get in the way of my antenna. All I'm going to pick up is static now. Where do bunnies keep their antennas? I don't think bunnies have antennas Melody Bee. Sure they do. They're probably just hidden like my ears. Where are we going to go next? I have my ears on. I'm ready for anything. Oh I know. The chalk version of Mr. Honeybee begins to draw but hides what he's drawing from us so it's a surprise. While we wait we jump and play in the chalk clouds that are just as soft and puffy as real clouds. Take a slow deep breath in through your nose feel your chest expand out round making more and more room for your breath. Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth. You can jump up high into the sky from the cloud and bounce like you're on a trampoline. The three of us hold our chalky hands out to form a circle then jump as high as we can. While we're floating Mr. Honeybee finishes his chalk drawing. Instead of dropping back down into the puffy chalk cloud we drop down onto a gigantic castle on a grassy hill surrounded by a moat. We land on the roof of the castle and run over to the wall to peek over. When we look down that's where Mr. Honeybee presents the dragon protector he drew. This is Cecil the Sizzler. Cecil the Sizzler immediately shows us why she's named that and lets out a fiery roar. She alone is in charge of protecting us and this castle up on the hill. On the opposite wall there's an old door. We creak it open wondering where it leads. Because it's so dark Melody Bee draws us a single candle on a tiny golden plate so we can walk down the stairs slowly watching our step. Right foot left foot right foot left foot When we get to the bottom of the spiral stairs we open two humongous doors onto a luxurious palace that is fit for royalty. We look out the window and see Cecil diligently protecting us but on the other side of the castle we see our horses. Mr. Honeybee thought we could have some fun today so he also drew us to be knights in shining armor. Armor appears plate by plate and fortifies you in this chalky castle world. Take a slow deep breath in through your nose and strengthen every single one of your muscles. Feel how strong you are as a knight in shining armor. Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and let your body be squishy in your armor. Our horses approach the door as we walk out to their stables. I quickly draw some carrots to offer our hungry horses before we take off on a knightly mission to rescue a prince and a princess who have been tricked by a devious forest fairy. We ride our chalky horses through the forest jumping over streams and fallen trees. When we get to the pit where the princess and prince are stuck we dismount our horses and pull them out. They are so grateful to be saved. They think we deserve to relax after such an important mission. So the prince and princess take some chalk and draw us something special. An island paradise with plenty of sunshine and crystal blue water. When they finish the drawing and wipe their palms together the chalk dust surrounds us like a cloud and we're off into another world before we can even wave goodbye. We land in the sand and enjoy the warm sunshine on our faces. As the waves roll in and crash on the sandy shore we prop ourselves up on our elbows and realize that we miss our furry friend Harold. Adventures are so much more fun with him around. How can we get out of the chalk world once we're in it? Hmm, That's a good question. I guess we should have figured that out first. Oh, I think I know how. I get right to work drawing all of us back in the garden in the honeybee neighborhood where Harold should be waiting for us. In the blink of an eye we land back on the grassy ground where the new garden boxes will go. The straight line is still drawn out on the grass and by now the wind has swept away the other chalky friends. Harold is so excited we're back. Since we had so much fun today we refresh our chalk and set out to cover the neighborhood sidewalks in delightful pictures for our neighbors to drop into whenever they would like to. We can draw a castle world here a cloud world two streets over another world that's full of bubbles and maybe even one that's deep underground with all the lava that will explode out of a volcano. The possibilities are endless and the more people that walk by the more their imaginations will add to our pictures. It's the gift that keeps on giving and going and giving. Always remember Mrs. Honeybee believes in you. You are special and you are loved. I can't wait to see you again. Bedtime with Mrs. Honeybee Today in the Honeybee neighborhood it's bring a honeybee to work day. That's today? Yes, Mr. Honeybee. Our little honeybee will be here any moment to come to school with me. Oh my, That's right. I'll pack an extra lunch for our little honeybee today. Good thinking, My dear. I'm so excited to show our little honeybee what it's like to be a student in my class. All you have to do is close your eyes get cozy and listen to the sound of my voice. Mrs. Honeybee will be your guide. Let's begin. You are here snuggled up in your bed in your house in the Honeybee neighborhood. You enjoy your last few moments of snoozing before your eyes pop open before the alarm has anything to say about it and you sit straight up. You greet this exciting day with enthusiasm. You can't seem to get the day started fast enough. You fling open your curtains and see that the sun isn't even fully awake yet. You rush out the door clutching the strap of your backpack as you hurl it onto your shoulder and walk the short way to us where you see Mr. Honeybee and I still enjoying our morning tea out on the porch. My oh my don't you look spiffy my little Honeybee. Someone's ready for bringing a Honeybee to work day. You are here just in time to join us for our little morning walk with Harold. He's going to be so happy to see you before we leave for the day. We enjoy a peaceful stroll around the block with Harold. Even a short walk helps all your nerves calm down. Now you're able to sink into the joy of this moment. Take a slow deep breath in through your nose. Feel the coolness of the air coming in through your nose and expanding your chest. Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth as we round the last corner on our way back home. Melody B opens the front door before we can and she can hardly contain her excitement. In addition to the biggest smile she's also wearing her brand new first day of school outfit because she'll be joining us too. She has a new scarf and a new backpack. So how do I look? Like the most studious B I ever did see. You are definitely ready for school. I'm so excited! Is the backpack too much? Don't tell anyone but it's totally empty. Your secret is safe with us Melody B. Mr. Honey B what are you going to do all day without us? Harold and I will probably go down to the river for some fishing or because we're so excited we might just end up watching the clock until it's time to pick you up from school. Or is it work? I guess it's both. Mr. Honey B if you're going to pick us up from work school how are we going to get there? Are you going to drop us off? That sounds fun. Oh Mrs. Honey B you haven't told them yet? Told them? Told me? Told us? What don't we know? You're smiling so I know it must be good. Please tell them I mean us. Well my little Honey B and Melody B today we're driving the bus and picking up everyone along the way. Here it is. The big yellow school bus has double doors that open up for you and Melody B as their honored guests. You take big steps up into the bus right foot left foot right foot left foot then you have the bus completely to yourself. Whichever seat you like is all yours. Window seat up front I've never been on a bus before but I've always noticed their lovely colors. Your job starts now though my little Honey B. I will need your help navigating to everyone's house. I reach back to hand you a big map that you stretch out in front of you. There are little stickers where each student lives. We look out the window to see Mr. Honey B and Harold waving us goodbye. We wave back and are on our way. One by one we pick everyone up. They're all so excited to see you because they've heard so much about you and all of our adventures. There are just a few more houses to stop at and the once empty bus is now full buzzing with activity. The students sing songs and play games all the way there. You get to know everyone and hear about what they've been learning lately. You're having so much fun on the bus ride to school that when we arrive you remember why you're here in the first place. The bus unloads its passengers and all the students file into the schoolyard and then into the classroom. We walk behind them to make sure each and every student gets safely inside. The classroom is dark until we arrive so you flip up the light switch and brighten up the room even more. While all the students are getting their chairs down from the desk Melody B slowly saunters down the hallway looking at all the pictures of students that line the walls. She stops for a moment in front of a trophy case that has a big shiny trophy and several blue ribbons hanging down from it. Melody B is the last one to the classroom door and before she can get in one of the students slams the door with Melody B on the other side. Hey, I'm going to school today too. Can someone open this door? Ignoring Melody B's cries the student walks back to her desk thinking she's done a good job keeping a bee out of the classroom. You quietly get up from your seat behind the teacher's desk at the front of the classroom and open the door for Melody B. Thank you little honey bee. This must be why more bees don't go to school. It's tough out here. Melody B joins you at my desk before I call you both to the front of the classroom to introduce you. Before you even get up to the front the students already start cheering for you. They know all about you my little honey bee. Class, As you all know we have two special guests that will be joining us today. You've heard all about my little honey bee here and this is Melody B our other helper for today. Hi everyone! They will be helping us out today. Like always you can raise your hand if you need help and one of us will be there. We usually get the day started by saying one thing we're grateful for. Does everyone have theirs? Who wants to go first? Oh, Oh, I'll go first. I am so grateful to be here at school learning with all of you. Each student in the class carefully considers what they are grateful for today. Sitting behind the teacher's desk at the front of the classroom swiveling the chair from side to side think of one thing you are grateful for. Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose feel your chest filling with gratitude and the sensation of your heart beating once twice three times then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and send all your gratitude out into the world to pass it along so its goodness can grow. We go through our schedule of activities. First, We go over the homework from last night. As we correct math problems and learn spelling you write all the correct answers on the board in your best writing. The students raise their hands for you to come help them and you're able to with ease. Melody B buzzes around as your shadow trying to learn as much as she can during her school day. You are so, So smart my little honey bee. When we're done with homework the bell rings for recess. We all run out to the playground and scatter. You enjoy a couple games of tetherball climb across the monkey bars and even win a game of basketball that started. It's a beautiful day to be out in the sunshine and you enjoy meeting all the new friends around you. When the bell rings again you follow everyone back into the classroom for story time. This isn't just any story though. This is popcorn story time. We all get comfy in a circle on the floor. You are sitting beside me with Melody B on your other side. I'll start the story with a sentence then you add a sentence then Melody B adds a sentence and so on. Before we start everyone settles into their comfy positions on the floor. Make sure you're as cozy as possible. Okay class I'll start the story but we get to tell it together. Hmm Oh I know once upon a time there was a glowing octopus that lived at the deepest darkest depths of the ocean. Hmm Every day this octopus would swim to a new shipwreck to see what he could find. As the story goes one day this octopus found a big black top hat in one of the shipwrecks. He felt so fancy in his top hat that he was encouraged to think out of the box about his life even out of the ocean. Because of that he ventured onto dry land in his top hat. Because of that people on the land began to notice him. Such a fancy octopus strolling around dry land in his top hat. Not just strolling around this octopus in the top hat was actually running a presidential campaign. He ran for president and passed out flyers to everyone who saw him stroll by in his fancy top hat. Until finally the day came for the election. It was a close race but the purple glowing octopus came out ahead above the rest and won the presidency. The octopus achieved world peace then returned home to the deepest darkest depths with a new sense of what he was capable of. The story brought us all the way to a second recess. It's a short day today so Mr. Honeybee will be here soon to pick us up for lunch. We go back out into the sunshine to enjoy its warmth on our skin. Take another slow deep breath in through your nose. Feel your chest and your spirits lift. Then slowly breathe out through your mouth as you help round everyone up from second recess. You and Melody Bee are such helpful helpers. You stay at the back of the class to make sure everyone gets inside. To end this short day we go over the homework for tomorrow and all the students get the last of their questions in. It takes all three of us me you and Melody Bee to answer all their questions but we finally do just in time for the last bell of the day to ring. Thank you for your help my little Honeybee. I don't know what I'm going to do without you and Melody Bee tomorrow. Every day should be bring a Honeybee to work day. Just then the door creaks open and Mr. Honeybee peeks his head in as quietly as he can hoping he's not interrupting the class. When he sees that it's empty he opens the door and comes in. Hey, How'd it go? It was so much fun. We have an octopus president now. Finally! I've been waiting for a cephalopod to get into office. We had a great time today. I was just telling them that I don't know how I'm going to get by every day without my assistants. I mean, We can always come back Mrs. Honeybee. Of course you can. I'd love that. Are you ready for lunch my little Honeybee? You get to pick anywhere you want to go. We tell Mr. Honeybee all about our day at school as we drive to lunch to fill up on your favorite meal. It's been such a delight spending the day with you. Always remember Mrs. Honeybee believes in you. You are special and you are loved. I can't wait to see you again. Bedtime with Mrs. Honeybee Today in the Honeybee neighborhood our adventure will fly by. We will join Melody B and her new tiger beetle friend for a game of tag. I bet you've never met a tiger beetle before probably because it's so hard to catch them. Do you know what happens when tiger beetles fly as fast as they can? Come on, Let's find out. All you have to do is close your eyes get cozy and listen to the sound of my voice. Mrs. Honeybee will be your guide. Let's begin. You are here in the Honeybee neighborhood walking through the forest to our house. You decided to come the back way today because you are on your way to meet Melody B and her new tiger beetle friend for a game of tag. As leaves crunch beneath your footsteps take a slow deep breath feel the coolness of the air then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth as you come upon our backyard gate which you recognize because the sunflowers are drooping their heads over the fence to greet you. Melody B is already outside and you can hear her playing with her friend. You open the gate to join them. Hello! You're here! This is my friend Tiger Beetle. He's not just any beetle he's a tiger-y one. If there's anything a tiger beetle is excellent at it's tag. We were just about to start a game. Not it! Buzzing before you is a very friendly bright green beetle that shimmers in the sunshine. He flutters up to you to say hello. Tiger beetles are known for how fast they can fly but looking at him you feel confident you can outrun a tiger beetle. Take a slow deep breath in through your nose and stretch your arms all the way up and your legs all the way out to limber up for tag. Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and take your place to begin. You lunge forward getting ready to run like you're at a race. The tiger beetle will be it first. On your marks get set go! You and Melody B zoom around the backyard hopping over the potted plants and weaving through the hammocks and the trees. You breeze by the sunflowers then run through the little field of them that you have formed. You've gone so fast that the tiger beetle has changed direction and is now zooming after Melody B. She flutters and flutters zigzagging through the leaves of the tree just above the hive until finally the tiger beetle catches up to her and tags her. Oh, You are formidable at tag tiger beetle but I was just warming up. Melody B revs up her wings and wiggles her stinger like a cat getting ready to pounce. Then she bursts into flight. First she chases you again through the sunflowers around the side of the house where there are chickens. You step over them carefully. You bob and weave as Melody B buzzes all around you trying to tag you but you are too fast at ducking that she changes course and goes after her new tiger beetle friend. He's pretending to go slow at first then goes faster and faster until you can hardly see he goes so fast that he becomes a flash of green light darting around the backyard through the garden in a zigzagging circle. He goes so fast for so long that Melody B has to rest for a moment. She calls out to him but he doesn't seem to hear her. You try calling out to him because he's flying directly into the side of the house. He doesn't seem to hear you and crashes into the house so hard that he bounces off and back into flight. Now he's scared dizzy and panicking. Melody B shouts out to him again. Tiger beetle are you okay? We can stop for a minute. I think you pretty much won. Mr. Honeybee and I hear all the commotion outside so we open the slider door to see what's going on. Are you two okay out here my little Honeybee? Melody B is your tiger beetle friend okay? I don't think so but we can't get him to stop. The tiger beetle frantically flies all over the place looking into the beanstalks and the peas that grow vertically. A few sunflower petals fall to the ground as he zips by in dizzying circles. Everyone watches in anticipation wondering what to do and how to help him. Suddenly in the blink of an eye he heads toward the back door. Harold appears in the doorway and they crash into one another before the tiger beetle zips into the house bouncing against each and every wall. Mr. Honeybee and I rush in after him but he also bumps into each of us at least once. We duck for cover as he zips back and forth in a frenzy trapped inside the house and moving faster and faster. Harold doesn't quite understand what's happening but his puppy instincts kick in and pursue whatever is trying in his perspective to get away from him. Harold leaps up after the tiger beetle which sends the beetle into even more of a tailspin. He darts from wall to wall bumping into everything along the way. At one point he gets stuck in the blankets of the couch where Mr. Honeybee is able to at least keep him in a place that's soft so he won't crash into anything else but he's terrified. It's okay little fella you're okay in here. Melody Bee gathered up some of her other beetle friends who know exactly what's happening to this tiger beetle. She cautiously buzzes inside looking over her shoulder to make sure she won't bump into her new friend. Melody Bee flutters up to you standing beside me and Mr. Honeybee who are sitting on the couch. You're doing your best to hold Harold in place but he is trained on the tiger beetle that is still flailing about under the soft blanket. Okay I figured out what's happening. I knew this was a thing but wow did not know it was this much of a thing. What is it Melody Bee? Is something wrong with the tiger beetle? Well yes and no but mostly no. Good thing. Do we need to research this? I am always ready to research. He's a tiger beetle you say? Yes yes that might be helpful but I know what's happening. Tiger beetles are so good at playing tag because they can fly fast. So fast in fact that they temporarily blind themselves with how fast they're flying. So I don't have to feel bad that's part of the good news I guess. Anyways he should be fine shortly I think. Is there anything we can do to help him? There has to be. Let's go figure it out. We can keep him wrapped up in this blanket so he doesn't bump into anything. Okay I'll hold him and sit with him while you go do some research my dear. Hey little guy I'm Mrs. Honeybee that was Mr. Honeybee and you know Melody Bee and our little Honeybee we're all here to help you okay? Let us know what you need. How are you doing in there friend? Melody Bee slowly lifts up one corner of the blanket. Together you both peek into the darkness to see how our friend is doing. When you can't see anything staring under there you both lean in closer. Suddenly out comes the tiger beetle once again in a panic. Mr. Honeybee comes out of the office holding his laptop in his hand ready to announce his new findings but instead he runs right into the tiger beetle again. Harold is once again chasing the beetle and trips Mr. Honeybee double after he tries to steady his footing from the beetle bump. I grab Harold to hold him in my arms and we stand perfectly still trying not to add more commotion to the situation. Take a slow deep breath in through your nose quiet yourself inside and out to be as still as possible. Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and watch for the tiger beetle which is zipping around you but not bumping into you yet. You duck whenever he comes near though. While you're watching Mr. Honeybee reads what he found out about tiger beetles. Tiger beetles do blind themselves from running so fast like Melody Bee said but I think I figured out how to help. The beetle comes hurling back towards us so we all duck while Harold lunges trying to get the tiger beetle Mr. Honeybee continues while he ducks down. Tiger beetles live in burrows underground so I don't think he's scared at all when he was wrapped up in the blanket. They live where it's dark just like that so if we can wrap him in a blanket again we should be able to get him back out in the sunshine. That might help him calm down. You get the same fuzzy blanket from the couch and hand one corner to me another to Melody Bee one to Mr. Honeybee and you hold the fourth in your hands. When the tiger beetle bumps into the wall across from us we get ready. He's heading right towards us now. We're going to catch him in the softness of the blanket then wrap the four corners around him so he thinks he's back at home in his burrow. Here he comes. The blanket absorbs his bounce and we fold the blanket around him gently. In an instant he's calmed down. With the blanket swaddled around him we carefully carry him back to the couch to calm down for a minute before releasing him outside. Melody Bee again leans in to check on her new friend. Tiger Beetle is there anything we can get you while you rest? In a dry crackly voice that can barely speak he asks for water and something else but Melody Bee cannot hear him through the blanket at first. What was that Tiger Beetle? Water? Mrs. Honey Bee is getting you water now. Oh, No. Not water. Waffles? Um, Mrs. Honey Bee do we have waffles? We have all we need to make some waffles coming right up. You and Mr. Honey Bee follow me back to the kitchen where we get all the ingredients we need for the best batch of waffles we've ever made. Mr. Honey Bee sets the waffle iron on the counter and we look over to make sure Melody Bee and the Tiger Beetle are still doing okay. She gives a thumbs up and a big smile. He sips the water from inside his blanket barrel and is finally calming down after a frantic afternoon. Once the batter is mixed up and smooth you carefully pour the batter into the waffle iron. You can feel the warmth from here. As soon as Mr. Honey Bee closes it you begin to smell the delicious waffles baking. Take another slow deep breath in through your nose. Smell the delicious aroma of waffles then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth as the first waffle bakes to golden brown perfection. One by one we stack the waffles on a plate and you drip syrup over the top. We carry it outside along with our Tiger Beetle friend in his blanket barrel. We sit them on the patio table in the backyard right next to each other and open the top of the blanket so he can smell the waffles. He rushes right to the stack of waffles but luckily the syrup is so sticky that he cannot move any further. He stays still long enough to see again and to enjoy the whole stack of waffles. We enjoy the rest of the afternoon having breakfast for lunch along with our new friend and lounging in the backyard sunshine. Always remember Mrs. Honey Bee believes in you. You are special and you are loved. We can't wait to see you again. Bedtime with Mrs. Honey Bee Today in the Honey Bee neighborhood we'll be following a mysterious set of paw prints into the forest. What has thumbs like a human a tail like a raccoon and hangs in trees like a monkey. I'm stumped. What is it Melanie Bee? It's a little well I can't spoil the surprise Mrs. Honey Bee. Quick before they sneak away. All you have to do is close your eyes get cozy and listen to the sound of my voice. Mrs. Honey Bee will be your guide. Let's begin. You are here in the forest taking the long back way to our house that Harold showed you long long ago. You've always remembered it because you meet so many animal friends along the way. It seems like a new one pops up with each walk. That's what you love about the forest and the Honey Bee neighborhood. There's always something going on. Take a slow deep breath in through your nose feel the crisp coolness of the forest air coming in through your nose and filling up your lungs. When you cannot take in any more freshness slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and crunch the leaves beneath your feet as you walk. Right foot left foot right foot left foot You made a habit of watching where you're walking out here because there are gnarled tree roots that grow above the soil. Sometimes you like to balance on them. Today when you do that you notice something interesting in the dirt beside you. It looks like a paw print but not like heralds which are little and round from his paw pads. This paw print if we can even call it that has thumbs. You're so close to the house that you can see our backyard from here. You shout out to Mr. Honeybee. Little Honeybee is that you? He peeks his eyes over the fence and sees you balancing on the tree root. You point down to the ground and tell him that you found thumb prints in the soil. Intrigued Melody Bee peeks her eyes over the fence right beside Mr. Honeybee. Did you say thumb prints? On the ground beneath a tree? You show him by following the trail that leads all the way to our backyard. Without stepping on them you follow them through the gate around the garden beds and over to where the hammock hangs between two trees. Someone with thumbs and four feet must have enjoyed our hammocks last night. Mrs. Honeybee come out here. You have to see this. Why hello my little Honeybee. What did you find? A thumb print? It's a paw print but it has thumbs. It's not like any other animal tracks I've seen. Definitely not a paw print like Harold's. Harold come here boy. Harold wakes up from his nap and runs out to the backyard so excited to see you. He leaves paw prints in the grass and the dirt beneath the tree. You pick him up before he treads on the mysterious paw prints. Just like Melody Bee said the two paw prints look nothing alike. These are not from a dog or a cat. They are definitely not from a bird or a squirrel. Or have you ever seen a monkey in this forest Mrs. Honeybee? Hmm we have a bunch of really kind beavers but I haven't met a monkey yet. What about you Melody Bee? In all your pollinating and wild harvesting have you ever seen a monkey? I don't think so. Who else has thumbs that are long like this though? We must have a monkey that we didn't know about. Let's follow them and see who the thumbed paw prints belong to. Come on! Like wildlife investigators we venture out of the backyard and into the forest. The paw prints circle around and stop when they get to a tree. It's as if the mystery animal the possible monkey goes into the tree for a break then comes back down and resumes walking along the soft soil of the forest floor. You look back and notice that where you've walked you've also left footprints. They're step by step alongside the mysterious paw prints that we're investigating. Maybe some forest creature maybe even this one we're trailing now will wake up one morning and investigate our footsteps. You never know how you'll meet new friends on any given day. We walk deeper and deeper into the forest. The trees overhead are so dense with leaves that the sunlight only shines through in splotches. Every so often you step into a sunbeam that shines right through the treetops and you stop for a moment to enjoy its warmth. Standing in your very own sunbeam take a slow deep breath in through your nose feel your chest and your spirits lift surrounded by the beauty of nature then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and look up ahead to where the paw prints continue on. They seem to never end but up ahead Mr. Honeybee finds out that they do just kinda end. Do you see any more paw prints Mrs. Honeybee? I don't see anything. No, I don't either my dear. Melody B can you fly overhead and see if you can find them starting up again? Sure, I'll do a quick flutter about. Be right back. While Melody B takes to the skies we do what we can on the ground with one of the world's best sniffers who is always by our side. Harold can you sniff out where this mysterious creature went? Maybe up a tree? Smell this paw print right here. Harold traces the outline of the thumbed paw print with his snout careful to sniff up any trace of scent. We stand around him waiting for him to move but instead he sits down and looks straight up maybe he sees Melody B. We look up to see what he sees and do indeed see Melody B fluttering down above our heads. Um I think I found the creature but I'm not sure what it is. It's resting up in the tree upside down. It's sleeping upside down like a bat? Kinda but fluffy and with a long tail. Could it be a koala? No we definitely have koalas. I've met a few of them on my walks with Harold. They live in eucalyptus trees. No I think this is a raccoon monkey. Maybe the Honey Bee neighborhood has the first ever raccoon monkey. Raccoon monkeys don't exist Melody B. I just saw one. Oh and it winked at me. It has these really bright blue eyes. So I think the name is blue-eyed winking raccoon monkey. Well now we know. You all want to head back and have some lemonade? We can't head back yet. We have to see this blue-eyed winky creature for ourselves. It's up in this tree? Yep right up here. I'll show you. We climb up the tree following Melody B right hand right foot left hand left foot Once we get near the top we slow down until we come to a sturdy branch that will hold all of us. Melody B points across from us in the tree and there we see our mystery creature. But not just one there are two a brown one with bright blue eyes and another with a striped tail that does exactly look like a cross between a raccoon and a monkey. Oh there are two raccoon monkeys. See they're right there. We do have them Mr. Honeybee. Wow I stand corrected. Let me try something. Mr. Honeybee balances on the tree branch to pull a contraption out of his pocket that will help us identify exactly what this creature is. He takes a picture of each of them. A bright light flashes toward them and the blue eyed one opens his eyes and waves. Mr. Honeybee clicks on his device doing some impromptu research into the scientific name for these new friends. To see if they have a name yet. Wait these guys aren't raccoon monkeys. They're ewe lemur flavifrons. That's technically who they are and they do indeed have thumbs. Are they lemurs? I've heard of them before. Yes that's them. They are pretty interesting actually. They are the only primate besides humans that can have blue eyes. Oh and they have two tongues. Just as Mr. Honeybee says that both of the lemurs stick their tongues out at us with their thumbed paws behind their ears to make silly faces while they hang upside down. These lemurs are certainly friendly and we're friendly too. Without hesitation we decide to introduce ourselves to our new friends. Hello lemurs we're the honeybees. We saw your interesting paw prints in our backyard. You can visit us anytime you'd like. The lemurs turn their heads to be right side up and wave hello again before climbing along the underside of the branch toward us. They are incredible acrobats who effortlessly swing through the tree just like a monkey would. When they get to us they snuggle in between all of us and Harold gives them a good sniff before accepting them as friendly creatures. The lemurs hold out their tiny hands for us to hold ours up. You slowly put your hand out and lightly press it against the lemurs. It's shocking how similar your very different hands seem. Harold barks wondering why he didn't get any thumbs. That holds him back so much. If he had thumbs he'd use them to open the refrigerator where the treats hide. With our feet swinging from the tree branch we spend the afternoon with the lemurs learning all about how they live up in the trees. They take us on a tour of their favorite trees and to meet some of their lemur friends. There are so many more of them than we ever expected. We follow the two lemurs down the tree and along the forest floor. We see their paws making prints and leaves crunch under their footsteps. They've asked us to follow them because they want to show us something. We agree and follow them through the forest of trees winding through the sporadic rows of trunks that sprouted up where they pleased. You didn't realize it but we actually followed the lemur uphill and are now on a precipice overlooking a newly formed grove of trees that are just starting to grow. The lemurs explain that they like to refer to themselves as the creators of the forest in that they are diligent seed spreaders. They spend most of their days foraging for seeds to eat but the seeds that they don't eat they bury in the soil. Since they travel so far and wide throughout the forest all the trees we see here are seedlings that sprouted from newly sown seeds they gathered. Interestingly the lemurs are pollinators just like Melody B is. When Melody B hears that she can't help but immerse herself in the life of a very different pollinator than she's ever met before. The lemurs teach Melody B new pollination tricks and together we learn so much about our new friends who made this forest adventure so, So special. Always remember Mrs. Honeybee believes in you. You are special and you are loved. I can't wait to see you again. Bedtime with Mrs. Honeybee Today in the Honeybee neighborhood we'll be taking my dog Harold to the vet. How's your paw little guy? Aww it looks like it's still bothering him. I think I've got the solution for now. Harold's favorite treats. He loves those. Here I'll give him one now. Oh Harold come here boy look what I've got. All you have to do is close your eyes get cozy and listen to the sound of my voice. Mrs. Honeybee will be your guide. Let's begin. You are here in the Honeybee neighborhood walking around the corner to our driveway. It's cloudy and cool out today. The perfect day to leave on our annual ski trip. The clouds will bring a blanket of fresh snow to the mountains and we will enjoy ourselves skiing snowboarding and sledding down them. And just think of all the snow people we can build. A smile comes across your face thinking about all the fun we'll have as you walk up to the brightly colored front door. Take a slow deep breath in through your nose feel the coolness of the chilly air coming in through your nose and rounding out your chest. Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and knock on the door. You can hear Harold's distant bark from inside the house like usual but you don't hear him running up to the door to greet you. Instead Mr. Honeybee opens the door wearing a worried look. Hello my little Honeybee. I wish I had better news for you. Come on in. Mr. Honeybee leads you into the living room where me and Melody B are sitting with Harold on the couch. He's whimpering with his head hanging low. When he sees you he is suddenly full of excitement that his little body can't hold and he jumps down from the couch with a yelp. Oh no Harold you have to be careful with your paw. I'll go get him some ice for his paw and some for him to crunch. He loves eating ice and snow. Hopefully that'll make you feel better Harold. You join me and Harold on the couch while Melody B and Mr. Honeybee get an ice pack and an icy snow cone started for him. He lays beside you curling his paw under his body like it hurts him tremendously. You sit beside him stroking the top of his head and his floppy ears that don't have the same perk in them today. Here you go boy here's some ice for your paw and some ice to munch on. My little Honeybee I'm so glad you're here. Harold is too. Something is very wrong with him. We got up to leave on our ski trip and were packing up his stuff for doggy daycare and all of a sudden he started limping on his front paw. Then he couldn't put any pressure on it. Now he won't let us even touch it. I'm afraid we'll have to take him to the V E T instead of going on our trip. Harold needs us. Without hesitation we all decide to postpone the ski trip until we know for sure that Harold is alright. His ears suddenly perk up again but this time with concern because he heard the word V E T. We don't like to say it in front of him but he's even learned how to spell it now. Suddenly Harold takes off again then yelps and continues to limp up the stairs flinging his carrier which he knows only takes him to the vet in the car. We have to coax him out with treats and more treats but he finally lets us put him in his carrier and load him into the car. We have no choice but to see what the vet says. Driving to the vet's office you sit next to Harold in his carrier. Sometimes he loves to sit on your lap and look out the window with you but when you look into the top of his carrier he seems to be in too much pain to take him out. You decide to let him rest but roll down the window a little so he can at least feel the cool breeze. Take a slow deep breath in through your nose feel the sensation of your heart beating once twice three times then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and send all of your love to Harold. We're here Harold you should be feeling better in no time. We rush inside the vet's office and into the first available room. A veterinary nurse is waiting in the open doorway waving to us with a hopeful smile. He welcomes us into the exam room and you lift up Harold's carrier to put him on the metal table. Under the fluorescent lights everything seems harsh but the nurse understands this and turns off the bright lights and opens a long vertical blinds for a softer light. The kind vet nurse holds his hand out for Harold to smell. He sniffs it and looks to you to see if he should trust this new person. You nod him the okay and he wags his tail against the sides of his carrier before walking out onto the table. Good boy Harold can you lift up your paw so the nurse can see it? The vet nurse is very gentle as he examines what he can see of Harold's paw. He scans it for injuries administers a couple reflex tests and does a thorough examination of Harold's heart ears and snout. From what he can see everything looks great. The nurse doesn't see any signs of broken bones fractures or sprains. There's no indication of pain when he touches any part of Harold's paws and there isn't anything stuck in his paw like a small rock or a stinger. The vet looks at Melody B once then again as to ask if she accidentally stung him. I would never! No, No I was out in the garden when this all started. Tell them Mrs. Honey B. Melody B was outside prepping the irrigation system to run automatically while we were on our ski trip. All of a sudden Harold just started limping. The vet nurse sees exactly what we describe when he tries to put Harold down. Suddenly Harold limps again and yelps and winces in pain. Concerned the nurse asks to take him back to see the vet for more tests. We of course agree to do whatever is necessary for our furry friend. With a kiss to the snout you say goodbye to Harold for now as the nurse takes him back. His big worried eyes are the last thing we see before the door shuts behind them. Oh my! What do you think it could be? I wish I knew. Ugh! I hope our Harold is okay. I wish we could be with him for his tests. After waiting for what feels like forever the door opens. Through it walks a smiling vet wearing a white coat and a stethoscope around her neck. We don't see any sign of Harold but she's smiling so we're hopeful that she has good news. We wait anxiously as she sits down with us. Instead of talking about Harold's condition or his paw the first thing she asks is if we were planning to leave on a ski trip today. We were all packed up to leave. Harold usually goes to doggy daycare when we go so he was all packed up too but we can't send him there like this. Wait, Does our ski trip have something to do with Harold's paw? The vet laughs and continues that she did a battery of tests everything she could possibly think of for a paw injury. An x-ray confirmed there's no broken bones or fractures. All other tests confirm that Harold is one healthy well-loved pup but. . . But what? But what? The vet thinks for a moment figuring out how to best tell us what is actually wrong with Harold. You are trying to keep a positive outlook especially considering all the good news you heard from the vet. But what could possibly be wrong with Harold if nothing seems to be wrong with Harold? Is there anything we can do to help him? The vet calms us down with another reassuring smile. She says that physically Harold is just fine absolutely nothing wrong with him. He's good to go to doggie daycare today but. . . But what? Doc, That's a good thing, Right? What could possibly be the but? That's when the kind vet explains that Harold is fine physically but feels crummy emotionally. While she was administering test after test on Harold he would not stop talking about how much he misses all four of you while you're gone. He does love doggie daycare but he misses us so much that he can't bring himself to enjoy it fully. There's nothing wrong with his paw but he knows how much we love him and that we'd cancel our ski trip in an instant if he wasn't feeling well and that's exactly what we did. Now I didn't even think of it from his perspective did you my dear? I didn't either I always assumed he loved doggie daycare. He does love it he comes back so happy to tell us about all the activities and new dogs he meets. One time he met a llama I guess he just loves us more than even the coolest doggie daycares. We talk with the vet a little longer and she tells us that she sees this a lot. Dogs miss their humans so much when they leave that sometimes they take extreme measures to make their emotional pain more legible. Legible? Legible Melody B able to be understood by others. Oh got it. That was helpful for me too. As we've seen here today even slightly older dogs can learn new tricks. Harold didn't trick us on purpose but that was the only way he knew how to tell us what he really felt and that we can appreciate. We talk amongst ourselves for a bit and come to the conclusion that of course we can take Harold on our ski trips with us from now on. We always assumed he loved doggie daycare like his own sort of vacation but now we know the truth about how Harold feels. We tell the vet that Harold can always tell us exactly how he feels even if it comes out wrong at first or sounds funny. The vet's smile gets even bigger and she calls back to Harold who is listening on the other side of the door. Did you hear that Harold? You can come with us. Of course he can buddy. We'd love for you to come with us. Without hesitation Harold bursts through the door and leaps up onto the slick metal table. Not judging the height of the table correctly he crashes right into it and falls down to the hard tile floor. He whimpers in pain just like he did before. Luckily the vet saw the whole thing. She scoops him up for more tests in the exam room in the back. We wait anxiously before she once again returns but this time with Harold bandaged up in her arms. Oh no! Did he really hurt himself? Turns out the happy jump Harold attempted cost him a sprained paw. He will have to stay off of it for a few weeks and will need plenty of rest to heal up. We leave the vet's office with specific instructions to love on Harold as much as we can but the ski trip is effectively postponed until Harold can enjoy the snow with us. Always remember Mrs. Honeybee believes in you. You are special and you are loved. I can't wait to see you again. Bedtime with Mrs. Honeybee Today in the Honeybee neighborhood we've had a power outage. The whole neighborhood is dark and we can't see a thing. A tree seems to have fallen on electrical wires. We don't know how long until the lights are back on. Oops! Sorry Mrs. Honeybee didn't see you there. That's okay Melody Bee. Let's make some tea and figure out how we're going to get these lights back on. But I can't see anything. How are we going to see anything? Whoa! I found these flashlights in the garage. The batteries might not last that long but they're working for now. All you have to do is close your eyes get cozy and listen to the sound of my voice. Mrs. Honeybee will be your guide. Let's begin. You are here standing in the middle of our living room with your back to a roaring fire. After a busy day we decided to end the evening with a game of charades after dinner. I swish around the folded up pieces of paper in the top hat that sits on the arm of the couch before choosing one. I open it up and read it. Then think carefully. When I put the folded paper in my pocket you know that it's time to guess. This one will be both a phrase and a place. You watch as I lift my arms up but they meet in a circle overhead. Then I stand up as tall as I can and turn to one side so you cannot see the circle I'm making with my arms anymore. I slowly turn all the way around with my arms still up. What could I possibly be acting out? Ballerina. Aww. You'd make such a lovely ballerina, Mrs. Honeybee. Why thank you, Melody Bee. I have always been quite fond of twirling. When I spin slowly back around you can again see the full circle. Everyone on the couch is baffled but Mr. Honeybee gives his best guess. Um, Snow globe? Close. Globe is close. Hmm. Globe is close. Suddenly when I mid-spin all the lights in the whole house cut off with a zap. The fireplace is our only source of light and it casts a shadow along one side of the circle I'm making with my arms. Whoa! What happened? I think we lost power. The electricity must be out. Oh wait, Wait, Wait. This is perfect for my clue. Look. Mrs. Honeybee all the lights are off. It's almost totally dark. Exactly. The dark side of the moon. You got it, Mr. Honeybee. Wow. What a happy accident this was. Talk about being in the right place at the right time. Okay. I'll grab the flashlights and candles from the emergency kits. I'll check to see if it's just our house or if it's the whole block. We might be able to use one of the generators I've been working on in case this very thing happened. You, Melodybee and Harold cozy up to the fireplace which is the last remaining source of heat and light. But it's still going strong. I come back with plenty of beeswax candles flashlights and blankets. We light the candles then snuggle into the blankets assuming that Mr. Honeybee will be able to restore electricity from the panel on the side of the house. We sit patiently in the dark silent living room. Take a slow deep breath in through your nose feel the peacefulness of a moment without electricity as the fire warms you. Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth. The candle you're holding out in front of you dances in your exhale and you get up still wrapped in your blankets like a burrito to see how Mr. Honeybee is doing in the garage. We follow behind all so curious. Out in the garage we find that he's manually opened the big garage door and the neighbors are out in their front yards equally concerned about the power outage. Mr. Honeybee is talking with them but sees us come out and runs over to us. He's more excited than we expect him to be. Okay everyone. It's okay. The electricity in the whole neighborhood seems to be out. Oh no! Oh goodness. Really? No, No. It's okay. Just watch. I have just the thing. I've been working on it. Well, You'll see. I mean, You really will see. Let me tell you. Mr. Honeybee disappears into his garage working away at his workbench with his battery-powered headlamp on his forehead. You're carrying a candle for us but a flashlight seems to be more practical. Instead we spread out all the candles we have to form walking paths so we don't trip or stub our toes. We lighten up candles just to see where we're going because otherwise it's pitch black in the house. The fire is starting to dwindle so Melody Bee sparks it back up with kindling. Once we have the house prepared for us to potentially be in the dark for a while we take our flashlights to meet the neighbors back outside. We walk past Mr. Honeybee who is still busily focused on his workbench threading wires through something and flicking switches on and off. Outside none of the usual street lamps are on. At first the darkness feels a little scary. Some of the neighbors are terrified of the dark but we bravely console them and let them know that Mr. Honeybee is working on something that should help. Harold jumps up into your arms for you to carry him. You flick on your flashlight and shine it into the bushes scanning everywhere around us. Suddenly from the bushes two shiny circles look back at you. Harold barks but you know how to calm him back down. You know it's probably a neighborhood cat or opossum both of which are very friendly. Their eyes shine in the artificial light. You remember from our many camping trips that experienced campers call it eye shine because that's exactly what it is. While you're scanning the perimeter of the house with your flashlight you shine your light right on Mr. Honeybee as he emerges from the garage. He puts his hands up to shield his eyes from the bright light. You point your flashlight to the ground and watch as he explains what he's wheeling out under the tiny lamplight that shines strapped to his forehead. The power is out neighborhood wide and we don't really know what's causing it yet. I was imagining this exact scenario when I made this. Mr. Honeybee unveils a huge flashlight that is connected to a gigantic engine. He pulls something to start it and it rumbles like a car. It flickers at first then buzzes and hisses as it fires up the brightest light you've ever seen in your life. It shines right at you and feels like it shines through you. It's so bright it no longer feels like night time. It hardly seems dark outside. All you can see is a bright white light that shines far beyond this block of the neighborhood. All the neighbors are effectively blinded though. To be fair, We are no longer in the dark. Mr. Honeybee turns his headlamp off and squints his eyes closed as he proudly announces his latest prototype. Everyone, Do not fear the dark. Here we have the magnificent, Bright light of the Solar Charge Deluxe 3000, The generator I built to power the whole entire neighborhood for times just like this. The neighbors clap, Somewhat hesitant, Because while they are happy to have power and light again, They cannot open their eyes without creating a shield with their hands. Even Mr. Honeybee is starting to feel really warm standing next to the light. Phew! Is it hot out tonight or what? What's happening? Hmm. . . Wow! This really is something, Mr. Honeybee. Do you think it needs any more. . . Tinkering? I don't think it can get any brighter. That might be one of its problems, My dear. The lights are all on now, But we still. . . Can't see. You know what? You're right. That might be a good idea. I'll turn this off so I can open my eyes and reduce the wattage. Can anyone see the off switch? Here. I think it's up here. Melody Bee, Can you fly toward my voice? I think the power button is on the top. Right here. Where's here? Outer? Melody Bee navigates into the light and shuts down the Solar Charge Deluxe 3000. We all blink our eyes open and closed several times until the kaleidoscope of colors fades. Now the darkness seems even darker compared to the bright light of the most powerful generator. But when we sat still for just a moment, The most curious thing happened. Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Feel the coolness of the nighttime air coming in through your nose and clearing your mind. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth. Allow yourself to feel the ease with which your eyes naturally adjust to nighttime's darkness. Even without the flashlights or the candles or any generators, Our eyes adjust and show us what we need to see even at night. The longer we go without any artificial light, The more our eyes adjust. After a few long moments of adjustment, We are able to see just fine. It's only when one of the neighbors turns on their flashlight that the darkness becomes even darker. It's the light that makes the darkness scary. In reality, A reality that our eyes are well adjusted to, We can see just fine in the total darkness of a power outage. After even more long moments of wondering what we're going to do, Harold gives us the best idea. All the neighbor's eyes have adjusted too and they begin to file back into their homes. We help Mr. Honey Bee lug the solar charged Deluxe 3000 back into the garage for more tinkering and walk through the gate into the backyard. Without any of the street lamps or house lights, What some people refer to as light pollution, We can see the stars even better than we usually can. We climb up into the tree house and stare out the windows at all the constellations moving and puffy clouds moving by. What started as a game interrupted turned into a whole new way to see our world. Always remember, Mrs. Honey Bee believes in you. You are special and you are loved. I can't wait to see you again. Today, In the Honey Bee neighborhood, We'll be starting a lemonade stand and business. Why lemonade, You ask? Well, It solves a problem. A parched, Thirsty problem at that. We have everything we need to succeed right here. For the greater good. We have lemons. Let's make lemonade. We're going to serve the best lemonade ever and make our customers so happy. Oh, And we'll learn a thing or two about business on the way. Our ripple of good begins with us. All you have to do is close your eyes, Get cozy, And listen to the sound of my voice. Mrs. Honey Bee will be your guide. Let's begin. You are here in the Honey Bee neighborhood around the corner from our house. But today, You're not alone. A stampede of running feet are trailing behind you. As the horde inches closer, You see that these are marathon runners. They're all wearing shirts of the charities they're supporting and are rooting each other on. It's a particularly warm day today. You've already tied your sweatshirt around your waist to cool off a bit. Your leisurely walk to our house picks up to a brisk one, Then to a light jog, Right foot, Left foot, Right foot, Left foot. The front runners of the marathon begin to approach you, And you run right along with them, Blending in until you have to turn to the corner of our house. Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Feel the coldness of the air coming in and gathering in your expanded chest. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth and continue running with the marathoners. The corner to our house comes much faster than usual, But you don't stop there. You wave the runners goodbye and sprint all the way to our door as fast as you can. By the time you get there and knock, You have to catch your breath with your hands on your knees. As always, Harold answers the door first, Running so fast that he should have been in the marathon that just passed by. He slams against the door like he does when he doesn't stop his pause in time. And Melody B, Clamoring after him, Cannot quite open the door lock yet. She fumbles with it before Mr. Honeybee saves the day by answering the door. Hello, My little Honeybee. Wow, You're out of breath. Did you run here? Wait, Why did you run here? Melody B and Harold rush up to give you big hugs and notice the last of the marathon runners passing by down the street. Oh, Is today the Honeybee Neighborhood Marathon and Walkabout? Mrs. Honeybee, Is the marathon today? Yes, I think it is. Oh yes, See them over there? They're the Walkabouters. Let's wave. Together, We smile and wave at the rest of the marathoners who are doing their part to help. We welcome you inside, But Mr. Honeybee stays at the door, Transfixed on the Walkabouters. Mr. Honeybee, Are you coming? Dear, What are you looking at? Oh, Sorry. I was just thinking of something. Were you thinking about how the platypus is a mammal but lays eggs and has venom like a snake? Huh? No, I wasn't. Oh. What were you thinking about then? Follow me, Everyone. We need to get to the finish line before the runners do. We follow Mr. Honeybee who takes a shortcut through the park to where the marathon finish line is. When we get there, We are met by a few early bird spectators awaiting the marathoners they're supporting. But otherwise, It's very quiet. Mr. Honeybee looks around and sighs as if he's disappointed. Harold jumps up on his leg for pets to see if he just needs a little fluffy pick-me-up. He reaches down to pet Harold and thinks out loud, In just a little while, We're going to have hundreds and hundreds of people rounding that corner after finishing a miles-long marathon and there's nothing here for them. Their loved ones are here and there's a ribbon they'll run through. I'm sure more people will arrive a little later when the marathoners are closer to the finish line. That's good. That means we have time. Time for what, My dear? Time for problem solving and good deeds. The two things there's always time for. And if there isn't time, Make time. Hey, Harold gets it. So, Everyone, Gather around. What will those runners and walkers need most when they finish this marathon? To sit down for a week? Well, Yes, But no. A foot massage? Also true, But also no. Maybe it would be faster if you just told us, My dear. They'll need water. Oh, That's true. They probably brought their own, But imagine having cups of it here waiting for them. That's a great idea, Mr. Honeybee. But that's not it. Just assume we're not going to be able to guess before the marathoners reach the finish line, Mr. Honeybee. Okay, Everyone wants water, Right? Maybe some of them will want, Oh, I don't know, Honey-sweetened lavender lemonade. We have that? Exactly, Melody Bee. We have that and can possibly have much, Much more of it than we do. So we'll offer them lemonade, Too? We'll set up as much water as everyone needs. That's what everyone will need most. For those that want a super special treat, We'll sell them lemonade. Sell it? Well, Let's think about it. We'll have to buy the ice and the cups. And we'll have to squeeze the lemons, Which is labor. So we have to think of all that it will take to do this good deed. But that's not all. Oh, No, That's not all. If we sell it for a nickel, Just think of how much we can make by offering lovely celebration treats to tired, Thirsty people. We can split what we earn between the charity the marathon is supporting and the Neighborhood Fun Fund. Oh, That's true. Our Fun Fund is just about empty now, But this will surely fill it up. And the yard sale, Too. Then we can finally decide as a neighborhood what fun we're going to do to celebrate. Exactly. One problem solved can turn into so much good if you think about it from the right perspective. Come on, Let's get started. The runners will be here in no time. When we get back to the house, We get right to work. You, Melody Bee, And I head out of the lemon tree to pick as many lemons as we can. Mr. Honey Bee gets to work on building the actual stand from scrap lumber he always has waiting for projects in his garage. We fill our arms up with lemons until we cannot hold any more, Then start an assembly line into the kitchen where we pile them onto the counter. When we have a tumbling mound of lemons, We know we have enough. Melody Bee buzzes out to get some fresh honey from the hive. A little dollop of honey is all you need for the best lavender lemonade you've ever had. Together, We go out to the garden to pick sprigs of lavender that are ripe. The bright afternoon sun is directly overhead. It's warming up the lavender plant enough for it to bloom and send its beautifully soothing aroma out to all the bumblebees and butterflies. Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Smell the sweet scent of fresh lavender in the garden. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth and pluck the ripe lavender blossoms from the stems. You'll know the blossoms that are ready because they are deep, Dark purple. If we harvest the lavender at the right time, It will produce the best aroma and taste for our lemonade. When we fill up our harvesting basket, Melody Bee joins us back in the kitchen with Mr. Honey Bee and Harold. Mr. Honey Bee filled ice chests with ice and set them up in wagons in the garage. They are ready to be wheeled out to the finish line when we are. That way, The water and the lemonade can be ice cold for the tired, Thirsty marathoners. Harold is doing his best to drag big jugs of water out from the garage and stack them in wagons too. We'll use that to fill up the cups Mr. Honey Bee got. All we have left to do is turn lemons into lemonade. One by one, We begin our assembly line. We cut the lemons in half, Squeeze out each side into a big bowl that already has the thoroughly washed lavender and honey at the bottom. We're careful not to get any seeds in there and every so often, We give it a good stir to mix everything up. We fill bowl after bowl that we carefully pour into pitchers that we stack one by one in the ice chests along with the water. Mr. Honey Bee keeps a careful eye on the marathoners and helps us keep pace. He leads us to finish squeezing lemons together in the kitchen and starts setting up the stand itself. After a few trips back and forth, Mr. Honey Bee and Harold come back to announce that the first of the runners are approaching the finish line. How's it going in here? It's going well, My dear. We have a good system going. Our little Honey Bee is always so helpful and today is no exception. Wow, You've been working hard. There's so much lemonade and it smells delicious. Harold and I just finished the stand and it's all ready for the lemonade. Just one more squeeze and we're done. We roll our wagons full of enterprising lemonade to the finish line taking the shortcut through the park. The first of the runners are just about to round the last corner when we arrive at the finish line. There are many more spectators now who are just as warm and thirsty as the runners. Before we can even set the lemonade up in the stand, We have a line of our first customers. They all fish for nickels and when we tell them that the funds are going to the Marathon's charity and the Neighborhood Fun Fund, Some people even decide to donate extra nickels. Harold stands out front of the stand to give puppy kisses to all our customers. The Marathoners are starting to cross the finish line now but you and Melody Bee are just in time. You meet them at the finish line with ice cold water handing it to everyone one by one. The Marathoners are so grateful for the water. Many of them take a few and splash cool water on their sweaty faces to cool off. Melody Bee gets you a couple times with splashing water but you get her back just as many times if not more. Mr. Honey Bee and I run the stand until you two finish handing out the waters then you join us back at the stand where we can hardly keep up with demand. We are frantically accepting nickels in exchange for ice cold honey lavender lemonade. The Neighborhood Fun Fund jar keeps getting fuller and fuller. Finally, As the sun begins to set the line finally starts to dwindle. We feel as though we ran a marathon ourselves but today we successfully solved a problem with an innovative solution. This is how you turn one good deed into two, Three, And more. We helped thirsty runners, We built up the Neighborhood Fun Fund and the best part we even supported the charity of the marathon. We can feel satisfied about a job well done today my little Honey Bee. Such a good day can only be finished by delivering the funds from our lemonade stand directly to the charity organization who put on the marathon. They had no idea we were doing such a thing but are so grateful for our support. They helped many many people in need and now they're able to help so many more. As you hand over the funds in the form of a gigantic jar of nickels with a few quarters and dollars strewn about you feel the gentle satisfaction of doing the right thing of giving what you have to give. As we close down the lemonade stand and the day we think about all the fun things we can do as a neighborhood with the now overflowing Honey Bee Neighborhood Fun Fund. What should we do my little Honey Bee? We'll need to put it to a vote. Always remember Mrs. Honey Bee believes in you. You are special and you are loved. I can't wait to see you again. Bedtime with Mrs. Honey Bee. Today in the Honey Bee Neighborhood we'll be racing golf carts. Have you ever driven a golf cart before? Where are you going to find golf carts my dear? You never know what will just fall out of the sky. Melody Bee, Are you saying a golf cart will fall out of the sky? Weather report says cloudy with a chance of golf carts. Melody Bee you're being extra silly today. I can't wait to see what this day will bring. All you have to do is close your eyes get cozy and listen to the sound of my voice. Mrs. Honey Bee will be your guide. Let's begin. You are here in the Honey Bee Neighborhood walking up to our front door first thing in the morning. The sun is up and so are we. Mr. Honey Bee and I are already on the porch enjoying our morning tea when you arrive. Mr. Honey Bee pulls out a chair for you. Harold wakes up from his first nap of the day just in time to yawn hello as you sit down with us. He jumps into your lap where he promptly resumes his snooze. Looking out over the crisp morning the neighborhood is cycling through the beginning of its day. The birds are out singing their songs. The bees and the butterflies are fluttering about the newly bloomed flowers pollinating. And the school buses and carpools arrive to pick up their passengers. The friendly neighborhood bus driver waves hello as she stops at the house across the street. We smile and wave back before pouring another cup of tea. Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Feel the cool, Crisp morning air coming in through your nose and invigorating your sense of the day. Then, Slowly breathe out through your mouth and lightly blow on the tea to cool it to the perfect temperature. Little ripples from your breath form along the top of your teacup before you take a sip. You look up as the door opens and Melody B joins us with another pot of tea she just brewed. Oh, Hello little honeybee! I knew you were coming today so I brewed an extra pot of tea just so we have enough. This one is sweet orange with a hint of cinnamon, Cloves, And cardamom. Mmm, It smells delicious, Melody B. I can smell it from here. Looks like you need a refill, Mrs. Honeybee. And you too, Mr. Honeybee. Mm-hmm. Thank you, Melody B. This is perfect for a chilly morning like today. Holding the little saucer plate in one hand, I lift the teacup for another big sip. As I lower the teacup back down to the saucer, The strangest thing happens. Out of nowhere, Something whooshes by and lands right in my teacup. Whoa! What was that? Are you okay, My dear? Did that thing hit you? No, No, I'm okay. Just a little tea splashed. Let me see. What is. . . Oh! Look, It's a golf ball. A golf ball? Oh my goodness! Let me see it. Yep, That's certainly a golf ball, All right. Before we can really process the sudden appearance of the first golf ball, We again hear another now familiar whoosh. Yet another golf ball plunges into your teacup. A little splash of warm tea trickles down your arm. Whoever's hitting these golf balls gets a hole-in-one if I'm keeping score. Who's out golfing right now? All the ice finally melted from the grass, So I think the golf course across the way is open now. But that's a long way to send a golf ball through the air. Melody B goes in to get us two new golf ball-less teacups and brings them out so we can have a refill of tea. As we sip our new teacups, We carefully watch the sky to make sure no more golf balls are headed our way. One of the golf balls drops from the table, Which again wakes Harold up from his slumber just in time to fetch the rolling ball. He leaps from your lap and gallops after it as it rolls down into the grass. He proudly fetches it and brings it back to the porch for us to throw again. Before we can, Someone else arrives. Not one, But four golf carts pull into the driveway following the golf balls that just flew through the air. One of the golfers gets out and asks if, By chance, We've seen any golf balls fly this way. Mr. Honeybee laughs as he stands up to respond. Boy, Did we ever see some golf balls. We have two of them right here. Both of them landed right here in our teacups. So whoever shot these last two definitely got a hole in one. The golfers cannot believe that they made such a long distance hole in one. Harold and Melody Bee bring them the golf balls we have from our cups and they inspect them. Each of the golfers label their golf balls so they can tell who these belong to and decide to give those golfers extra points. Down at the bottom of the driveway, Harold and Melody Bee stand back admiring the golf carts. Whoa, Are these yours? They look like they're having a fun time down there, So we join them. The golfers invite us to sit in each cart as we test out putting our hands on the steering wheel and our foot on the gas pedal. We pretend to race each other in the driveway. Harold hops up into the golf cart with you to be your co-pilot. You pull the steering wheel to either side, Imagining it turning on two wheels around a sharp turn. Harold imagines his floppy ears blowing in the wind of going faster and faster still in the golf cart with you driving. That's when the golfers give us the surprise of a lifetime. As a thank you for catching their golf balls, They want to let us drive the golf carts around. Really? Are you sure it's okay? The golfers talk amongst themselves quickly, Then turn to say that there's no other way. They would love to be able to repay us in golf cart rides. They nervously ask if they could possibly do that. Melody Bee responds, Sure you can. Wow, Thank you so much. Did you hear that, My little Honey Bee? We get to race golf carts for real. Take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Feel your chest and your spirits lift. Then slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth and put the golf cart in reverse. It beeps as you back up and Harold snuggles into your side to get ready to go fast. The four of us pull out of the driveway and line up in the middle of the street in a straight line. One of the golfers goes out in front of us with a checkered flag taken off the back of one of the carts. The golfer waves the flag up in the air telling us, The golf cart racers, To prepare our engines. The engines rev and rumble under our feet. When the golfer pulls the flag down, We push the gas pedals as hard as we can to take off with a screech. Mr. Honey Bee starts off in the lead weaving between our carts, But you catch up to him in no time and take one of the turns just a wee bit faster than him. Melody Bee comes up along one side and reaches out her hand while she drives with the other. You switch between watching the road and looking over at Melody Bee. Then you hold out your hand to high-five her. Harold joins in with a fluffy paw and then Melody Bee uses that as a distraction to get ahead of both you and Mr. Honey Bee. No one realizes, But I'm watching from behind all of you and skid around the next corner getting ahead of all of you. See ya later, Gators! After that turn, You, Melody Bee, And Mr. Honey Bee weave around each other trying to catch up and catch up you do. Turning sharper around the corners helps you go faster so you hold Harold with one arm and turn the golf cart on two wheels with the other. You look over to see Harold smiling a big puppy smile. Seeing him happy makes you feel happy too. We continue around and around the neighborhood turning up and down each street waving to the neighbors who have come out to cheer us on. Just then, We look over to Mr. Honey Bee who is approaching a little hill of grass that he doesn't yet realize is a big hill of grass. He hurtles full speed ahead up this little big hill and launches into the air. He and his golf cart land softly in the grass and keep on going without a hitch. We are having so much fun and the golfers tell us to keep on enjoying their carts. So we do for the rest of the morning. Harold barks for you to go faster and try the grassy ramp for yourself. You turn the golf cart all the way around and head back for the hill. Approaching it, You are nervous but you know that you're going to land it perfectly. As you approach the grassy hill take a slow, Deep breath in through your nose. Feel your chest, Your spirits and your golf cart lift. Then, Slowly, Breathe all the way out through your mouth and land the golf cart gently in the grass just like Mr. Honey Bee. You did it! The golfers wave us back to our driveway to let us know that they need to get back to the golf game. We drive back to our driveway laughing the whole time. We've had so much unexpected fun today, Haven't we, My little honey bee? As we park the golf carts, One of the golfers approaches us with another special gift. This golfer saw how much we loved riding these carts and wanted to leave one of them with us. You mean, We'll have our very own Honey Bee Neighborhood Golf Carts? Before I get my hopes up all the way, Is that what you mean? The golfer says, Of course! This golf cart is now all ours. Now, You can use our golf cart to ride over to our house when you visit. We all hop into our new golf cart for you to drive us around, Maybe on all four wheels for now. Always remember, Mrs. Honey Bee believes in you. You are special and you are loved. I can't wait to see you again.