Robin and Hermoine–fighting crime and casting spells.

MaryAnn, Gilligan, Ginger and the Professor.  The coconuts became the in-demand dancing prop at a party we attended in Hartford.

I’m here, I’m here. Busy. Also there’s the pesky job, Facebook, PTO, and 2nd grade math homework. Back to the fun with kids:

I need to get this down before my kids stop doing it and it disappears from my memory. They have two topics they discuss in back of the white minivan: Cook Crabs and the Nose Mall.

You see, each time you leave the highway on an exit with a “2″ in it, you’re headed for the Nose Mall. If you’re lucky, you have Lily and Dawit in the car to help navigate such a perilous situation. It requires special clothing, food, and a decontamination after you escape. There are hours of details invented and remembered and built upon.

Then there are the Cook Crabs. They are creatures that live in our walls, and travel on various errands with us in my bags. They are also able to teleport via baby-changing stations in public restrooms. It’s unclear if they pose any danger, Lily and Dawit are usually gleeful that they are around, but sometimes try to stomp them.

I’ve taken to simply playing along–they both laugh like hyenas when I ask them about the Cook Crabs at school. Apparently Cook Crabs don’t go to school. Who knew?

Dawit is six today!  He is stretching out this birthday as long as possible–it started on Saturday with a bowling party, continues today with a party at school and Ethiopian food this evening, and anticipating the arrival of the BOX.  You know, the box from Granny.

100% Puppy. She’s a yellow lab / golden retriever mix, and her name is Chloe. Her eyes are just the same color as her fur. I may as well have an 18 month old human baby.

Antics include:

• In the dishwasher. Completely inside.
• Wearing my cell phone and charger like a scarf.
• Causing an emergency surgery (stitching) for an elephant Webkinz
• Breaking-out of crate, leaping of baby gates to attack large herd of unicorns.
• Sampling every plant.
• Falling off bed while sleeping.
• Peeing. A lot. On everything.
• Breaking glasses and dishes.
• Slicing the screen on the dining room window and hoisting herself thru off the deck.
• Making the puppy face so I forgive her.

I’m not a huge fan of the Olympics, but I do love that Ethiopia ranks 5th in number of Gold Medals won per country in running. Go Ethiopia!

Dawit is speedy, determined, and very competitive. In addition to pilot, astronaut, and Ninja, Olympic runner is now on his list of professions.

Hazel, introduced below, has returned to TN to live with the woman who rescued her from the shelter. She needs a family without kids and cats, and a behaviorist to work on her aggressive tendencies. We had several bites and lots of snaps and nips, we made the difficult decision to re-home her. I didn’t realize how stressful the situation was until she was out of the house. We were all sad about it.

In happier news, the same rescue group introduced us to Chloe, a six month old lab mix puppy. Photos and antics soon–

The kids conspiring to make lots of money.  Remember their lemonade stand?

This time they’ve outdone themselves.  They will set up a place where friends and family can pay $.25 to view Lily’s Super Gross-Out Knee.  (biking incident earlier this week)  I mean, who wouldn’t pay to see a set of four oozing scabs?

Big plans are in place to spend their riches, they can hardly wait:

(They were actually making these plans when I was shooting the photos…I didn’t know it until Lily asked how much I’d be willing to pay to get a look at her injuries)

Meet Hazel, our new pup.  She was rescued in Tennessee from a high-kill shelter, and arrived by doggie transport (who knew?) two weeks ago. I found this great rescue organization who helped us:  Paws 4 Rescue.  We are working on a couple of issues with her, but overall she’s fit in very well.  She’s successfully stolen 1/2 loaf of bread of the kitchen counter, and chewed Spiderman’s legs off at the knees.  She loves to be on squirrel patrol in the backyard, and enjoys watching the airplanes in the sky crossing our backyard.  She is a klutz, and much bigger than she imagines herself to be.  She’s not so fond of puppy car rides.  Yet.

In keeping with the tradition of using tree names for pets (Rowan and Willow), Hazel works well.   So far, I call her Nutty Hazel or Witch Hazel.  I am her human, which suits me just fine.

Lily is in LOVE with Penny. She was a fantastic rider at horse camp this week–she has a knack for connecting with animals, and she’s a good listener, so she learned quickly.

If anyone has ideas about how to fund this hobby, just yell. Lily is already talking about moving to a farm.