Rats (gross)

I was talking to the neighbor the other day and he was complaining about hearing rats in his attic. Well, evidently one wandered into our yard two days ago and Ruckus took matters into his own hands. The kids found it yesterday and with visitors in town (Jennet, sis and Brad,bro-in-law) Dan could not resist the urge to tease them. Brad is especially fun to taunt with gross things because he throws up at anything. So, Dan picked up the rat in foil and when we pulled up to the house after dinner he brought it out to show Brad. The following is a video series (brought to you by Discovery Channel) of what happened next.

Dan was acting like a rat while holding it up to the window.

Brad trying not to hurl in his own car.

The only thing left of dinner was bits of tomato and cilantro in his sinuses.

Garden 2009

With half of my garden being used to raise my little flock of chickens... I have had to make some modifications this year. So I have used some dirt on the "yard" side of the brick wall. So far the garden is doing great and I made my first harvest today. In the "side garden" this year I have carrots, celery, onion, cilantro,green beans, chives, & lettuce. I don't think I will bother with lettuce again. Once you bring it inside and clean off the outer leaves there hardly seems to be enough to do anything with. (And its like $2 at costco) On the "yard side" of the garden I have zuchinni, cucumber, tomato, bell pepper, strawberries and sweet snap peas. The snap peas don't ever make it into the house, as soon as I see one grow.. it is washed and eaten. I saw this great idea for a strawberry tower at the nursery. you just layer ascending sized pots and plant strawberries in them. It takes up less room in the dirt, since my dirt is limited in the back yard.

White Water on the Kern

Last weekend we packed up to do some camping and for Dan & Reed to go whitewater rafting with his scout troop. As you enter the canyon where the river is there is a Death Clock, currently at 268 deaths since 1969. (only 9 were wearing life jackets) As we drove past the river I started thinking.... hmmmm... I want to go. So, since Dan has done the river 5 times and I have only done it once, he gave me his spot. (true love!) The girls, and especially Ruckus, enjoyed our riverside campsite. There was a little river diversion that ran through our campsite so it was perfect for the girls to play in without me worrying about them being swept away by the fast current. The river was running at 110% so it couldn't have been better. This was the first year for the guide on our boat, so that made me nervous. It seemed when there was a life or death situation on the river she was absolutely silent and didnt call out anything. As we ran the river, the 2nd big rapid (class III) we got pinned against a rock and when our boat was tilted more than vertical, our guide called highsides. We flipped and rode the next 2 rapids without a boat. Reed and the other boys in the boat were very good and stayed calm until we could be picked up by another boat. The rest of the river was uneventful and we had a great time.

Living In Oblivion

On Saturday I took the 3 girls with me to the grocery store to get some last minute items for our weekend campout. As usual, I was bombarded with a nonstop flow of "Can I have this? Can We get this? Why does she get that? Can I get that? Why don't you get that?" Most of my shopping was done at the back of the store and in the produce section. So with the combination of my distracting daughters and the location I was in the store, I had no clue that the Bank of America inside the store was being robbed while I was shopping. I came out of the store to see 8 cop cars and knew something was going down. I went home and forgot about it until the next day when I had a 4 hour drive to the camp/river in which I actually had more than 3 minutes to talk to Dan and tell him about it. When we got back today, Dan said it was all over the newspaper that someone had gone into the store/bank to rob it and was caught and tackled by a 125 lb retired policewoman. (You go girl!) The guy was responsible for at least 9 bank robberies in the western states. I am mad at myself for not knowing what was going on and the danger we were in. I think I will instigate yet another rule (along with the "No playing in the front yard") I will now not take more than one kid with me to the store at a time.

Splash 2009

Saturday was the 6th annual Splash 2009. The weather has been very strange and overcast all month and so it was a little awkward to have a pool party in 70 degree weather. But the kids didn't seem to mind and it worked out. We heated the pool and ran the firepit and the kids had a good time. I usually do the party in 2 shifts. The younger girls first and Reed and his friends second. That way the smaller kids don't drown or get jumped on.

Annoying Dog

There is the most annoying dog in the neighborhood. He is a rottweiler and belongs to the "mentally-challenged" girl that lives behind us. He rolls on his back and barks a low "wuuff" every 15 seconds. This takes place day and night and is especially annoying around 2am to 7am. Dan has thought of a way to correct the situation and I will keep you posted as to if it works. Two words... "Blow Gun".

Family Fieldtrip

When Dan drops the kids off for school, he sometimes teases them by saying "Ok kids, get out of the car and go to school.... or... would you like to stay in the car and go to Disneyland?" Then he dumps them at the curb and drives off snickering.

On Friday, we went to drop off the kids but this time he said "Ok kids, get out of the car and go to school... or... would you like to go to the Wild Animal Park?" He locked the doors and continued through the drop off line and we headed to the Wild Animal Park for the day. The weather has been overcast for about 3 weeks, so it didn't get too hot and the kids had a great time.

I found a great way to enjoy both the Zoo and Wild Animal Park while helping the animals and getting a tax write off while saving hundreds of dollars. Want to know more??... Send a self addressed stamped envelope to ........Ok.. I will tell you for free...
I joined the Zoological Society (online) and with that you get free admission to both parks all year long. It was cheaper than a 1 day admission to the San Diego Zoo. So next time you want to visit the Zoo, look into it. It is really nice to have because I feel like when we go, we can stop and enjoy the animals and not have to rush to see everything before the park closes.