Weird Weather

We woke up to rain,

Enjoyed the sun and clear skies when they appeared,

and savored the downpour that suddenly overtook us...

...before we took Bart to work under clear-ish skies again.

I LOVE IT!

SNORT

Charlie: "Mom, can I have a SNORT?"

Anne: (with a puzzled look, thinking of the book "Are you my mother?" and wondering what in the world he could mean.)

"Hmmm...I'm not quite sure what that is."

Charlie: "You know, with marshmallows and graham crackers and chocolate."

Anne: (thinking) Gotcha. But only if I can have one too. :)

Prayers

Charlie's dinner prayer tonight:

"...Please bless the food. Please bless Ninja [himself], and bless R2D2 [Jane], and bless Stinky Pete [Bart], and bless Mommy. ...Amen."

Milestones

Jane is covered in Parking Lot Puddle Grime.

Yes, she had an EXCELLENT time!

(Charlie was with her the whole way, but he always manages to stay a little dryer)

She attended nursery this week without complaint.

We're 95% sure she swallowed a penny.

She is officially potty-trained.

This girl has had a big week!

Laffy Taffy

Jane's potty-training bribery has become my entertainment:

WHAT ANIMAL SHOULDN'T YOU PLAY CARDS WITH?

(A Cheetah!)

"We call it TRAUMA-BONDING."

--Kate Clark

Yes, this crew is at it again.

Well, we WERE at in again--last week.

Bart had some time off and we went camping!! (and the crowd goes wild!)

Putting first things first, we had to wrangle up some transportation.

Fish and a Sea Turtle seemed a safe bet.

\

However, they were more trouble than they were worth (being immovable and all), so we loaded in our regular vehicle, and hopped onto a frigate hoping it would take us on a grand adventure.

We were not disappointed.

Then, putting second things second (since that comes after first),

we had to find a place rest our rumps.

We probably should have waited to fill the bed because our efforts of, "DON'T JUMP ON THE MATTRESS!" and moving it to a vertical position proved fruitless.

I hate to make you all jealous, but we had a smashing good time

roasting mallows (at 5:00PM. I couldn't wait! It'd been a year!),

exploring,

determining just who IS the King of the Mountain,

scouring for booty,

assaulting lighthouses,

and fighting off Shadow Man (very tricky indeed!).

Having had our fill, with pockets full of sea treasure, we hopped our vessel back to the mainland

and secured for ourselves some REAL comfort!

(Hooray for plush beds and the sanctity of private indoor plumbing!)

Twins!

That's what Pizza-guy from D.C. thought of these two Rogues:

I can see his point.

Similar height, blue eyes, great teeth,

Dashing Good Looks!

However, I wonder if Pizza-guy would have thought the same

had Dr. Dirt and Bart removed their hats.

"...This is gonna be a real quick trip...

"...O.K. HIT IT!" --Han Solo

Dr. Dirt, Bart's brother;

Lethal Laura, Bart's sister;

Traveling for hours in a van with small children;

The National Zoo

A double game of "1, 2, 3!"

(and if you don't know what this game is, you've never been a kid...or were a sheltered one);

The National Mall at a glance,

including:

The Smithsonian Castle,

Washington Monument,

WWII Memorial,

Lincoln Memorial at night;

and the National Air and Space Museum

all in 48 hours.

WHEW!