The Magic Castle Adventure
Remember that stupid ad in the comics for Sea-Monkeys? Well I do, and as a kid I bought into it hook line and sinker.
I pestered my mom so bad for them that she finally broke down and sent off the buck twenty-five it took to get them.
While I waited for the Sea-Monkeys to arrive, I would look at the ad with the happy Sea-Monkey family and their castle home
beneath the sea , dreaming of the kingdom of happy merfolk that I soon would have. I was abolutely sure that for
just a $1.25, I too could have a wonderful bowl of happiness just like in the picture, complete with Sea-Monkey castle and
frolicking magical humanoid sea creatures! Reality hit me in the gut when the kit arrived. I found out for a $1.25 all you
got was the standard Sea-Monkey Instant Life Kit; just three packets, Water Purifier, Instant Life Eggs, and Growth Food.
There was no underwater castle, the Sea-Monkeys weren't magical merfolk, in fact there wasn't even a bowl included! Rats! Skunked again. Maybe
next time I'll get some X-ray Specs. Look out gals, they're only a dollar...
We have enjoyed the Sea-Monkeys and the Ghostly Galleon so much that we decided to get another kit and start a
new colony. By this time I had looked into what kits were out there and we looked over what was available from the
Space Shuttle Adventure to the standard Ocean-Zoo and Sarah decided that she wanted the Magic Castle kit. Oh boy!
This time there really will be a magical undersea castle for the Sea-Monkeys! I was 7 years old again! The
Internet is a wonderful thing and Google is one of the most wonderful things
on it. A quick Google search and I found an on-line toy shop selling it and sent away and just a few days later we
were ready to make more magic.
The Magic Castle is set up differently than the Ghostly Galleon kit, which is just an Ocean-Zoo with a sunken ship decoration in it. The Magic Castle is a nice little tank which looks almost like a tiny bell jar with a cute pink and purple castle decoration in it and the lid is a magnifying glass. Early Tuesday morning the day after it arrived we put in packet #1 and set it aside for the long 24 hour wait. The next morning it was time for packet #2 instant live eggs. I might have seen a couple of Sea-Monkeys hatching, but we know that we probably won't see any until a day or two from now. We'll just wait.
Meanwhile over in the Galleon tank, the original colony has continued to grow. There are several big ones in there now and lots of new baby Sea-Monkeys have showed up. They have been rooting around in the stuff at the bottom for the last day and a half and it was time for their first feeding so I carefully measured out a tiny spoon of growth food and put it in the tank. the little ones started lapping it up but the big ones have continued to root about on the bottom. I aerated the tank and set it in the kitchen window so they can get some sunshine and get warm.
As soon as you can see the Sea-Monkeys in the Magic Castle tank I will try and get some pictures up.
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