It's Starting....

This is what spring looks like here. 

No daffodils.

No tulips.

Just, the crocus.

One.

Wait, Tristan found a purple one.

With the yellow one, that makes two.

Two crocuses. Croci?

We're so deprived here, after living in 7 feet of snow.  

It doesn't take much to make us happy.

Lessons From a Cat

When life has a strangle hold on me I am never as submissive as Merri.  I am petulant, and moody, and bemoan my plight.  It doesn't ever get me anywhere though.  Maybe Merri has learned that lesson.  She'll just lay there waiting for a chance to make a break for it.  Hey, that doesn't sound like a bad idea either....

The Animal Chair

If you sit in this chair to watch TV, you will always have a friend or two.

This was the first time a rabbit jumped up and voluntarily offered his companionship.

We should have expected it of Charlie.  He loves everyone.

When you forget to rub his head, he scoots it under your hand to remind you.

Such a sweet little thing.

It's Ugly, but it Works...

The weather is warming up and Big Sister is eager to bring her rabbits outside.  But alas, this depends on the construction of a new rabbit cage for the backyard.  The old one is beyond repair.
Should she wait on Daddy to get his tools out and build a new cage?
Or should she take the matter into her own hands?


It's amazing what you can find in the garage.  Enough boards and enough supports to keep them from falling over.  So what looks like a junk yard...

Is now a rabbit run.

With a boys' side...

And a girls' side.

Squirt bottles come in handy when there's a scuffle to break up.  Shiloh, our black and white lop,  hasn't taken to Scooter, our gray grandpa, but a few episodes with the squirt bottle changed Shiloh's mind.

 I don't know how bunnies decide who they want to be friends with.  Our brown and white bunny, Charlie, gets along with everyone.  You can see here that he and Scooter are the best of friends, while Shiloh sets sullenly by.  Maybe he doesn't want to share Charlie?

I feel like I'm back in 3rd grade at recess.

And, let's see...what else is going on in the backyard?

Oh. Here's Tristan.

Remember when you could do this and no one would question it?  Try it as an adult and suddenly you're weird.

I miss being a kid.

Someone to Watch Over Me...

What have we here?  It seems someone has taken it upon themselves to make sure Juliette, our new bunny, has everything she needs. 

Including a napkin.

And baby toys.  Hey, I was saving those! Nothing is sacred around here, nothing.

Julietttt's Place. With 4 t's.  I think it lends it a certain pizzzzazzzz.

So, who is responsible for all this?

Aw, Sawyer.  Do you love Julietttte?

Are you taking some water to her?  Where is she?

Hiding in the pet supply closet.  Scared to death.

I think Julietttte's Place might go under-appreciated.

You Know You're Ugly When...

I've never been a natural beauty.  I have some friends that look as fresh-faced without makeup as they do with it.  But when I don't put on my makeup people tend to say,
"Are you okay?"
Makeup does a LOT for me.
Today I had to make a trip over the border into America to see an allergist.  I could have seen one here, but it would have taken a couple of months.  I've been feeling sick, and I had no energy this morning to do my hair OR my makeup.  I pulled up to the border crossing and the agent took my passport. He held it up next to my face and said, "I have a hard time believing this is you,"  not realizing he'd just given me the biggest slam a woman could receive.  But I was at my worst so I just accepted it as the truth.  I've had a hard time believing my own face lately when I look in the mirror.  If I'd had my makeup kit with me I could have whipped it out then and there and blown his mind away, I imagine.
While he was thinking stolen passport, suspected criminal activity, I was thinking, I knew I should have done my eyes...
I put on my best smile.
"Are you okay?" he responded.
I said, "Well, I am going to see a doctor."
"Well, you don't look well enough to drive."
"Really?"  I said.
"Really."
"Well, I am on medication."
"Well, you look like you could pass out and I don't want you to get hurt."
"Really?!"
"I'm serious." he said with a grave expression.
I was at a loss. I'd never been held up at the border before, I feebly offered the only thing that came to mind...
"I've made it this far."  (Did I just say that?)
There was a slight pause as I held my breath, then he reluctantly handed me my passport and waved me through.

Morale of the story:  Never, ever, do yourself up good for a passport photo, or at the very least, do your eyes before crossing the border.

That's Not a Good Sign

 


For those of you who've been looking for The House of Miscellaneous and Unidentifiable Items, we've found it for you.  It's straight ahead.

The Best Place to Have Pneumonia

This weekend we were supposed to go away for our anniversary and I thought I'd be too sick, but it was either have pneumonia at home or have pneumonia in Lake Placid.  I had my doubts, but after I walked into our room and saw this:

They melted away.

It was a nice big room.

With a kitchen, which we didn't use because...

We could order room service.

I like room service.  With Pumpkin Spice Bread Pudding.

The best thing about the bathroom...

was the heated floor.  I never knew I needed a heated floor, but I'd trade my car for one.

Everywhere you looked, you saw special touches.  Like water with glasses you could use...

and cross-country skis that you couldn't.

I forgot to show you the lobby.  One side, 

And the other.

Wood, everywhere.

And places to sit.  If you look at the couch on the right, you can still see my imprint.  You sit a lot when you have pneumonia.

The way upstairs to the restaurant...

...where we ate all our meals because they were included in the special deal we got.

And Providence had us seated by this huge fireplace, every time!  Perfect.

We took a tour of the grounds and saw the Clubhouse.

Heated pool, with a heated sidewalk that leads alllll the way up to the hotel there, in the background.

Hot tub.  Which we didn't use because pneumonia and outdoor hot tubs don't mix.

Fire pit. Todd.

Clubhouse from the outside, sans Todd.

The grounds were sprinkled with unexpected findings like this lean-to by the lake so you can watch the ice skaters and be protected from the wind.


And unexpected guests.

We were content to spend the whole weekend just in the hotel. You could go exploring and run into...

 an ice cream parlor downstairs.

Movie theater. Todd.

Bowling alley, sans Todd.

We only ventured to town once, and I only found one thing to take a picture of there...

This sign in a PriceChopper Grocery Store window.  Don't you find it oddly specific?

 They're putting pressure on all the other businesses: "Fiction and Non-fiction Books Sold Here" is sure to follow.

It was the best vacation ever.  The perfect place to celebrate 17 years together, pneumonia or sans pneumonia.

Yesterday

I've been too sick to think about more than laundry and schoolwork, but yesterday at about 3:00, the kids discovered that it was St. Patrick's Day.  The took the holiday into their own hands.  No green shirts?
Washable markers substituted.

Sawyer almost couldn't believe it was permissible to draw on himself.

He took full advantage.

And McKenna whipped up a lemon cake with this frosting, and it was the best frosting we've ever had.

(Best to eat it all the first day though).

They got in a good round of pinching before any of this happened.  Sawyer couldn't believe it was permissible to pinch his siblings, and I'm still not sure he understands.  But any holiday where he's asked to draw on himself and inflict pain on others is good enough for him.