For three days we slept about 80 feet from this Rattlesnake

We went camping for the Fathers Day weekend. Lots of good food, fun with the family, no sleep (groan)… It was over all a good weekend. The kids all got really good nature lessons. They got to see many types of bugs, tadpoles, a green snake, many birds and at night, bats flying around. Very interesting and lots of fun.

We found a Rattlesnake near the camp, which was a little unnerving at first. After awhile we were going out regularly to check and see if he was still there. It was all pretty foolish in retrospect. We started the weekend warning the kids to be extra special careful looking for snakes and to run away and tell us right away if they were to see one. Then what do we do? Take the kids out to see it (from a distance of course). But in the grand scheme it was good learning for the kids for what they are and what they look like. Of course we were very careful to make sure the kids were a good distance from him and the adults were between him and the kids.

This snake was sleeping under a large log at the campground we were at. It was less than 100 feet from where we were camping. This shot is taken from about 5 feet. His body was about 5 feet long and as thick as my wrist.

Good stuff.

I received exciting news today. It was just announced that Free Realms has soared past one million registrants in only 17 days, an unprecedented achievement for a new IP. To celebrate this accomplishment, Sony Online Entertainment will be rewarding all registered players with Free Realms gifts. Current players will receive a limited edition in-game t-shirt for their character and pet. Selected players will also receive 200 Station Cash along with the new t-shirt. And, the lucky one millionth person registered to Free Realms will receive a free LIFETIME subscription to the game, a one-of-a-kind in-game astronaut suit, and 10,000 Station Cash.

Check out the new t-shirts here.

In Free Realms, players can customize their characters, explore, quest, battle monsters, and play a wide variety of minigames in a safe, online environment, packed with stunning visuals, distinctive environments, and social networking capabilities. Players are free to do or be anything: Fight like a ninja, cook a tasty meal, raise a pet, battle goblins, set out on epic quests or connect with friends through a safe, social networking site.

Also available is the Free Realms Trading Card Game: a full-featured trading card game, playable both digitally within the Free Realms online game and offline via physical card decks available wherever you buy trading cards.

Now on a personal note, Mr. A, my little 4 1/2 year old wizard in training absolutely loves this game. We have been in checking out all the sites and experiences available in the game. He has thoroughly enjoyed learning to be a brawler, a cook, a race car driver (demolition, even), and has figured out how to train a pet. I just asked him and he says he loves fighting the goblins the best, and earning money to be able to buy stuff to fight better. The only drawback for him is that I need to make sure and read all the text to him to keep him moving the right direction. But as long as he is following the arrows on the screen, he can usually find his way to where he needs to be next.

If you haven’t checked it out yet, signing up is free and much of the content is free, though you can buy a membership for a nominal monthly fee which adds more content .

Here are a few screen images from Mr. A in “Snowhill”, one of the quest areas in the game

Come join the fun in Free Realms!

Here’s a few additional links you might like.