Escape your child's "Nantucket Whine Festival" with a day at the Creeks
BY LUCRETIA VOIGT INDEPENDENT CONTRIBUTOR
The Nantucket Wine Festival descends on our fair island this weekend. My life as of late, however, could more appropriately be summed up as Nantucket Whine Festival. The energy stored up while doing "indoor activities" this winter is bursting through every pore in my child's body.

LUCRETIA VOIGT An afternoon at the Creeks with a fish to show for yourself. Not a bad way to end the day, kid.

The key to defusing a whining time bomb is to keep your child busy. Busy leads to tired. Tired leads to good naps. Good naps lead to happy parents.

Tiring fun is usually accompanied by tiring messes.

A great place to turn your young child out for an educational and energy expending messy-a-thon is the Creeks. If your child is also a fan of big construction vehicles, this is a win-win situation.

First caveat: make sure to bring a change of clothes for your child, as well as a couple of towels. Wet wipes also come in handy for cleaning off sand; antibacterial wipes are a must for cleaning after upclose and-personal encounters with unknown fish gunk.

To get to the Creeks, turn right at the corner of Washington Street Extension and Francis Street, just as if you were going to Sayle's Seafood. Drive past the construction, and turn left into the parking area just past Sayle's.

The dried eelgrass on the walk to the water is like a bouncy mattress. Make up a new song with your child about jumping up and down, or sing this to the first two lines of the tune to "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star": "Jumping up and down is fun. How many times to jump is one?" (Jump once.) "Jumping up and down with you, how many times to jump is two?" (Jump twice.) You get the idea. The longer you keep it going, the more energy they expend.

Jumping on the dried eelgrass will only keep their attention for so long, so be prepared for the mad dash through the sand. Low tide is the optimum time to visit. During low tide, the shelf in that portion of the harbor goes out farther than your child can envision, so you can rest easy as they take off with that sly look in their eyes, like George Clooney playing Everett in "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" when he escapes from the chain gang.

The beauty of the creeks at low tide is something every Nantucketer should behold as often as possible. The sand is also perfect for digging and for making sand balls to throw in the water.

You can find joined clamshells, scallop shells and barnacles. Clam and scallop shells make excellent digging implements and are free. When they break, you aren't left with a piece of useless plastic.

Seagulls, loons and terns (I think they are terns - I'm not an expert birdwatcher) carouse the area, along with ducks and a myriad of other birds. If you're lucky, a fisherman will be practicing his flyfishing techniques.

If you plan your adventure, which I know is a hilarious proposition since most children tend to resist planning like cats resist water, you can get lunch at Sayle's Seafood. Sitting on the porch watching the big construction vehicles is a good way to get your child to eat healthy food without

realizing it. (The french fries are good, too.)

If your child isn't ready for naptime by this time, I feel for you. Maybe a quick craft at home will put them in the mood for a doze.

A great craft to memorialize your day is making paper-bag fishes. This craft is suitable for ages 18 months (with parental help) to 7 years. You will need: a brown paper shopping bag, scissors, markers or crayons (use washable ones - you'll thank me later), wrapping paper or fabric scraps, glue, a stapler, newspaper and a piece of yarn. The directions are as follows: 1. Cut off the bottom of the paper bag, and lay it down flat. This will give you a double layer of brown paper. 2. Draw a fish shape on the bag and cut around the fish shape through both layers of paper. 3. Decorate the fish with the markers, crayons, fabric or wrapping paper. This is where all ages can have fun and be creative! 4. When both sides are decorated, line them up and staple around most of the outside edge, leaving the mouth end of the fish open. 5. Let your child crumple up newspaper (recycle those Nantucket Independent pages) and stuff it inside the fish. Sometimes it helps to rip the newspaper into smaller pieces first. 6. When the fish is sufficiently fat, staple it up the rest of the way, making sure you add the

yarn in the mouth area and staple it in.

Now your child can display his fish by hanging it from the window molding in his bedroom, or overhead like a mobile.

Aday at the Creeks is sure to make your children forget all about whining. If that doesn't work, I can recommend a good merlot for you after you finally

get them to bed! I