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Klein SPLASH 2008

Today marked the annual Splash 2008. This years Splash was done in two segments. The first was Ashley and Emily's friends and included only girls. They were mild mannered.... and besides alot of sticky concrete from sno cone syrup they did no real damage. Emily fully took advantage of the situation by telling her friends at school that since she is not having a "friend" birthday party this year, they could bring her presents with them to this party . Her birthday is not for a month and a half. Sure enough... her friends came with birthday gifts. Next came Reed's friends. There was an instant battle ensuing in the pool and the noise level went up about 6 decibels. Reed got stung by a bee...but other than that they had alot of fun.

Being true to their California roots, and accustomed to days at the spa, Ashley and her friend put cucumbers on their eyes as they sunbathed.

I will spend the rest of today and tomorrow cleaning up, hosing down sticky syrup, and picking up spilled popcorn off of the fake lawn (I'm hoping Ruckus will eat the popcorn and save me the effort.)

Mail order Vacation

Since we are not going to Germany this summer we decided to bring the country to us and host a foreign exchange student. Dan is getting far enough in his german language studies to where it would be good to have someone to talk to, and I don't have near enough laundry to do. I don't think we are going to help this poor soul get a good grasp of what a typical American family is like.... they will be entertained at least. We are taking votes as to whether to host a boy or a girl.

Brownie Camp

This weekend the girls and Dan took off for "My guy and me" camp. They enjoyed two days of hiking, canoeing, archery and crafts. Emily is crazed for bows and arrows and carried around two sticks the entire time trying to shoot one off of the other (with no string to aid in the shooting process...resulting in a toss of the other stick). They had a blast with the exception of some annoying girls in their cabin at night. The older girls were fighting and upset Ashley so much that she walked from her cabin to Dan's cabin (approx 100 yards away) in the black of night...in her baggy sleeper. Accompanied by the ever faithful Emily... of course. This freaked me out because an animal could have gotten them (or some sicko dad) or they could have gotten lost. Evidently they are braver than I thought. I won't even walk to the bathroom at night when we camp. Other than that they had a blast and Dan won't stop singing the camp songs he learned there. I watched their video they brought home and laughed my head off at one thing Emily said while on a hike. She stooped down to pick up a pinecone and said "This is so pokey of a pinecone".

The toothfairy is coming to Emily tonight!

After years of asking me if she had a loose tooth, and forcing me to check, Emily has lost her first tooth. She is so excited and can't wait to tell her teacher tomorrow. She is also a little cash poor right now and word on the street is that the Tooth Fairy pays a pretty penny for your first tooth. She is so proud of that tiny gap in the bottom of her mouth. And I swear she has aged 2 years today. She talks totally different.

Check out my Zuchinni & Carrots!

When it comes to gardening.... Size does matter!

Do Starfish Have Feelings?

Dan took some photos of his saltwater tank for a contest. (No one ever wins contests, but I think he is desperate for someone to enjoy his tank as much as he does.) So I thought I would post them. Tank Update: We had a shark egg (called a mermaid's purse) and it actually hatched. We now have a little bamboo shark that lives under a cave-like rock. He only comes out at night but fortunatley the rock is in front of the tank so we can watch him sleep. So far he has not eaten any of his roommates. I wish I could say the same for a little crab we bought. We got him because we are getting a bunch of genetically mutated starfish on the sides of the tank and allegedly he eats them. Well... we had a pair of large sand starfish that were in love with one another and gave eachother piggy back rides constantly. Unfortunately, the crab ate one of them and now the other one is forlorn and we think a little cranky.