She sailed away on a lovely summer's day. . .

Oh, there once was a puffin. . .

The owl and the pussycat went to sea on a beautiful pea green. . .

Can you finish the entire poems, preferably to a tune?

It just struck me that all three of these are about water, sailing or oceans. This doesn't surprise me, really, considering my mother (who grew up in the West Indies) and my father (who grew up in tidewater Virginia), are both obsessed with the ocean and feel happiest when standing in sand.

Sailing, sailing, over the ocean main; Many a stormy wind come up till Jack. . .

I remember my mother at some harbor somewhere, breathing in deeply of a wind that smelled (I thought) like rotten fish. "Ah," she sighed. "There's nothing like the smell of the ocean!"

Result: I find myself driving and panting up the tight green hills of Pennsylvania; she rides a ferry through the Puget Sound on a regular basis.

"And children, don't forget your toothbrushes." Where's THAT gem from? Kudos to you who know.