Happy 86th, Dee!

On Friday night, we gathered to celebrate Deane's birthday, which--according to Jackie--was her 86th. I suppose this makes Dee the best-looking octagenarian we know. The evening started out as all parties should: with Miss Allie reorganizing my pantry and the kids absorbed in Dinner & A Movie.

I suppose the horrific mess finally got to Miss Allie, but it was in a lot better shape after she finished.

Meanwhile, Mr. Dave made a quick licquor run and came back with all the makings of a wicked Margarita, as well as a bottle of Birthday Jaegermeister.

Lest you think your eyes are betraying you, this is indeed the Birthday Girl taking a dip into the Jaeger.

And this is Cameron shaking it up with some dice his Daddy just brought him from Vegas. After all the pantry-organizing, Margarita-mixing, Jaeger-drinking, dice-rolling fun, it was time for the cake. At first glance, Jackie was pretty upset that Dee's cake had Batman & Spiderman on it instead of Ariel & Belle.

...but Leigh didn't seem to mind. Thanks to Mommy, her DNA has programmed her to care only about the lard icing that was on the way.

All things considered, it was a great night. Happy 86th Dee--we love you!

Herpetology

This was the scene encountered in our front yard one afternoon this week after Hunter got home from school.

Fortunately, the neighborhood Herpetology Professor was there to help Hunter identify the unique markings that clearly demonstrate this turtle to be a Yellow-Bellied Slider.

I figured I wouldn't ask what was on Hunter's finger. Sometimes it's just better not to know.

Eventually, Hunter was brave enough to hold the beast himself.

Leigh happened on a lesser turtle, but clearly was not interested in the taxonomy of this little hardback. Not enough exposure to Animal Planet yet, I guess.

Oh, Deer!

Could there be a better photo op than Leigh loving on Daddy's plastic deer?

Robin Hood

When I married Chad, I knew I was the luckiest girl in the whole world. Little did I know, however, that I would get to spend significant time searching Epicurious.com for venison recipes while watching my man shoot a plastic deer in the back yard with a bow & arrow.

And that's not all: My Robin Hood is so talented that one afternoon he managed to thread one arrow with another. As he explained (multiple times), "This almost never happens!!! It's much more special than even a Hole-In-One." And please enlarge the picture with your cursor if you are not awestruck with the smaller version.

Wheels

No matter how you slice it, wheels are a critical part of our afternoon entertainment.

Tire Swing, Mood Swing

As is the case with most of our activities, sheer bliss on the tire swing the other day turned into sassy, dramatic, grumpy, and pure trauma before we were through.

If It Looks Like Cereal in a Shoe...

...it probably is.What better way for a 2-year-old to get rid of her Oatmeal Squares so she can move on to the Princess Gummies?

Bowl empty--mission accomplished.