Bedtime with Mrs.
Honeybee.
Today,
In the Honeybee neighborhood,
We'll be trying to break a world record.
Melody Bee,
Pass me that hammer please.
Sure,
Mr.
Honeybee.
Why is the hammer so heavy?
Sorry,
Melody Bee.
If we're going to be building the world's biggest water slide,
We're going to need the biggest tools we can find.
I can't wait to see how high the water slide will go.
Wow,
The world's tallest water slide.
You can ride down on my lap,
Harold.
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,
Rounding the last corner before you get to our house,
Walking as fast as you comfortably can in flip-flops because you're so excited for today.
Right foot,
Left foot,
Right foot,
Left foot.
Your sandals flip and flop with each step that brings you closer and closer to the highly anticipated Honeybee neighborhood pool party.
As you continue on toward our house,
You look at the sparkling sunshine that reflects off the windows.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel the coolness of the air coming in through your nose and finding its way to your lungs.
Hold your breath in for a moment,
Then use your strong belly muscles to breathe all the way out through your mouth and completely empty your lungs.
The clay tile roof seems even brighter in the bright sunshine.
When you look closer,
Though,
You see something strange poking its head above the rooftop into the almost perfectly clear blue sky.
At first,
You see what looks like the top rung of a metal ladder,
Waving side to side,
Peeking above the roof.
Then,
You see someone much more familiar.
It's Mr.
Honeybee,
Climbing up to the top rung of a ladder that's somehow standing straight up into the blue sky.
You can hear him hammering away at something,
Busily working.
You call out to him and get his attention.
When he turns back to look in your direction,
He and his precariously balanced ladder wiggle a bit,
Whoa,
Whoa,
Whoa!
Oh,
Hi,
My little Honeybee!
Come on back!
Worried about the safety of what Mr.
Honeybee seems to be doing,
Without immediately understanding a reason why he's doing it,
You run to the backyard gate,
Open it,
And meet Mrs.
Honeybee,
Melody Bee,
And Harold,
Standing around the base of the ladder,
Just as concerned as you are.
Melody Bee buzzes up to see him at the top of the first ladder,
And beginning to pull up a second ladder.
Mr.
Honeybee,
What are you doing all the way up here?
Can we help?
Sure!
Can you help me pull this second ladder up to here?
Mrs.
Honeybee,
Can you push it up to us from down there?
Mmm,
I can,
But first tell me why,
My dear.
This doesn't seem too safe.
We're achieving greatness here today.
Today,
Today,
We are building the world's longest water slide.
And,
Just in time for the pool party!
Mr.
Honeybee delightfully pulls the ladder all the way up,
So the feet beneath the bottom rung perfectly line up with the ladder below.
Then,
From his tool belt,
He pulls out all the supplies he'll need for this gargantuan feat.
First,
His welding helmet,
Which Melody Bee also gets,
Since she's nearby.
They both put them on before Mr.
Honeybee gets his torch and brazing rod.
He's going to bond the two ladders with the brazing method to keep them stable.
Down at the ground,
The most important place to be at this moment,
We stabilize the ladder so it doesn't sway in the wind that picks up.
Harold brings us our welding helmets,
Just in case sparks fly.
Everyone have their helmets on?
We do down here,
My dear.
Consider me helmeted.
With our helmets on,
Mr.
Honeybee gets right to work.
The metal feet of the ladders glow a brilliant reddish-orange,
Like a second sun as they melt just slightly to connect to one another.
Sparks fly all around like fireworks,
And the warm,
Gentle breeze extinguishes them in midair.
Just above Mr.
Honeybee,
A single puffy cloud hangs.
He looks up to the cloud,
Then back down at the brazing continuously.
When the first two ladders are connected,
Mr.
Honeybee calls for another ladder.
Mr.
Honeybee,
Where should I tell them your other ladders are?
Don't worry about it,
Melody Bee.
We got it handled.
I hope you're not assuming I know what you're talking about.
No,
No.
Just wait and see.
Take another slow,
Deep breath in through your nose in anticipation.
Feel your chest and your spirits lift as you embark on this skyward journey.
Then,
Slowly,
Breathe all the way out through your mouth and look to the fence that backs up to the forest.
There,
Walking over the hill and through the woods,
You see what looks like a miniature,
Furry army of helpful helpers.
It's the hardware store beavers.
The same ones that helped us build our backyard treehouse are on their way to see us.
With rows and rows of ladders and scaffolding and all the materials Mr.
Honeybee could need to build the world's tallest water slide.
Hello,
Fellas.
It's so nice to see you today,
Especially under such short notice.
The helpful army of beavers come in through the back gate and flood the backyard,
Eagerly waiting to help us with our endeavor.
A group of them take over for us down on the ground so we can climb up to join Mr.
Honeybee and Melody Bee at the top of the ladder.
Even Harold comes with us,
Climbing each rung carefully.
Right hand,
Left hand,
Right foot,
Left foot.
On our way up,
We help hoist the third and fourth and even fifth ladders past us up to Mr.
Honeybee.
A big group of the hardware store beavers chop down some spare lumber to stabilize the ladder so it can keep growing taller and taller.
Then around that ladder,
Which Mr.
Honeybee is brazing,
They build the ladder that will be for the water slide.
Another group of beavers have assembled a few blocks over where the water slide will actually end.
Where we will splash into a nearby pool and kick off the neighborhood-wide pool party.
The group of ladder beavers start following us up,
Quickly building out the water slide ladder.
The higher we climb,
The more we can see out over the Honeybee neighborhood.
From here you can see the glittering pool where the water slide will end.
And you will also see that an elite few of the hardware store beavers are climbing the tallest tree in the forest.
You watch carefully as those elite few get to the very top and launch off of it above Mr.
Honeybee.
They have colorful parachutes that open just in time for them to float slowly down from the sky,
Building a pathway above Mr.
Honeybee to guide him.
Mr.
Honeybee,
How tall does the tallest water slide have to be to be the tallest?
Great question,
Melody Bee.
In other words,
My dear,
When can we get to sliding?
Hear me out on this,
Everyone.
No water slide in the whole world has ever gotten to a cloud,
So that's where we're going.
Mr.
Honeybee points confidently to a nearby cluster of clouds that have blown through on the warm breeze.
I didn't think there would be any clouds today,
But as soon as I saw enough in the sky,
I just knew today was the day.
We're almost there,
Team.
Almost there.
The busy beavers work efficiently to build out the ladder and the slide.
And if all goes as planned,
We will meet at the very top,
Just above the clouds that have gathered like a little blanket right above the water slide we're building.
We put our heads down and continue our work,
Focused on the end goal we will achieve as a team.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel the space this big breath makes between your ribs and try to make just a little bit more room.
Then,
As slowly as you can,
Breathe all the way out through your mouth,
Careful not to blow away any of the much needed clouds.
Before we know it,
We look up to see that Mr.
Honeybee and the parachuting beavers have disappeared into the cloud above.
Our hearts beat noticeably faster for the few moments we can't see them.
And when Mr.
Honeybee peeks his head out above the clouds,
We rejoice.
We did it!
We built the world's tallest water slide.
We make such a great team.
The sky isn't even the limit for us.
Yay!
This is going to be so much fun!
Oh,
But wait.
If this is a water slide,
How are we going to get the water up here to slide down with?
I'm so glad you asked.
Watch.
We finish climbing up the stack of ladders,
Rung by rung,
Until we get to the platform at the top.
Then we watch as Mr.
Honeybee and the handful of beavers grab puffs of clouds and wring them out like dish towels.
A geyser of water flows down the slide,
Winding all the way down before splashing into the pool.
You watch in amazement,
Knowing that you're going to be splashing next.
As always,
Mr.
Honeybee wants to test it out before anyone else to make sure it's perfectly safe.
Melody Bee flutters along with one of the parachuting beavers to make sure he's as safe as can be.
Mr.
Honeybee gives us careful instructions for how to use the lightning bolt to help slide even faster.
Melody Bee suits up with the parachute as Mr.
Honeybee gathers more of the cloud to be a raft.
Then,
On the count of three,
Two,
One,
He pushes off down,
Down,
Down the water slide.
He slides with his hands up,
Smiling from ear to ear all the way.
When he's gotten far enough away,
We reach up to grab a lightning bolt,
Just like he showed us,
And supercharge his slide.
At the bottom of the world's tallest water slide,
Mr.
Honeybee splashes into the pool,
And all the neighbors cheer for a job well done.
More and more people gather below us,
Anxious to try for themselves.
We are up next,
My little Honeybee.
Are you ready to slide down the world's longest water slide?
Together,
We reach to the puffy clouds to gather ourselves up a raft and to make sure the water slide is plenty hydrated.
Take your slowest,
Deepest breath in through your nose.
Feel your chest and your spirits lift as we jump up onto the soft,
Puffy cloud raft with Harold.
Then,
Slowly,
Breathe all the way out through your mouth as we push ourselves off to slide down,
Down,
Down.
We are going so fast,
Holding on to the edges of the cloud as we slide up the sides back and forth,
Gaining momentum and speed as we whoosh by,
Feeling as though we're flying.
The beavers still up at the top of the water slide platform think we need to go a tad bit faster.
They aim the next lightning bolt right towards us,
And we zoom even faster down the winding slides,
Twists and turns.
Our hands are up in the air like you're on a roller coaster.
Harold's eyes squint and his floppy ears fly back with a rush of wind that blows against our cheeks.
As we near the bottom of the slide,
We see all our friends,
Including Mr.
Honey Bee and Melody Bee,
And all of our neighbors.
We plug our noses as we approach,
Then splash deep into the pool.
Harold shows us how to doggy paddle up to the steps,
And we pull ourselves up out of the water and into the sunshine.
Now we look up to the water slide ladder we just built and see a long line of neighbors politely waiting their turn.
This is how we kick off the Honey Bee Neighborhood Pool Party.
We splash the day away,
Taking turns cannonballing into the pool and enjoying all the delicious food that is on the barbecue.
You pick out your favorite color inner tube and steady it on the surface of the water before you jump in.
We all spend the rest of the afternoon swimming and floating in the sunshine,
Splashing ourselves every so often with the cool,
Refreshing water.
There's no better way to spend a day like this than smiling and having fun with the ones we love.
You watch for the neighbors to come down the slide one by one and eagerly jump out of the pool when the line dwindles to slide down again,
But this time faster.
Always remember,
Mrs.
Honey Bee believes in you.
You are special and you are loved.
I can't wait to see you again.
