Dear Mr. Rabbit:

The six year old wants to write to the Easter Bunny with his list of...requests? Demands? I wasn't aware that the Easter Bunny took requests. And truthfully, I'm not sure he will, though I have it on good authority that if the boy were to ask for a couple more Magic Treehouse books, he'd be happpy with the result.

So he tells me "Easter Bunny lives in California." Really, now? I did not know that. Furthermore, I do not know how he knows that.



Luckily I have a friend in California who, as it turns out, lives right next to the Easter Bunny. Quite fortuitous, really. She graciously suggested that we mail the letter to her ten year old son who will personally run it over to the rabbit hole and she'd even make sure Mr. Bunny mails a response back. How awesome is that?

At bedtime tonight I told the boys I'd look for the proper address on the computer. I can't wait to see the look on his face when I tell him I found it....you just can't buy that kind of magic.

Kindergarten Report

The following is what Mr. 5yo reported to me on the way home from Kindergarten:

"Today we had College Day and I am going to college to be a MOUNTAIN CLIMBER!"

"They sent [Tommy] out of the class and he has to go to the Naughty Boy Class every day now to learn to keep his hands to himself and I hope it works because he's really naughty and one day the police might come to take him to JAIL he's so naughty."

"They serve JUNK FOOD at lunch and those kids are not going to grow. I'm glad I bring my lunch so I can eat my vegetables."

"I'm the goodest boy in kindergarten EVERY day."

"Guess what? I didn't wipe my mouth or nose on my shirt even once!"

"Mommy Mommy Mommy - Mrs. Simmons has a wife and his name is Mr. Simmons and it's his BIRTHDAY today!"

I'm not so sure everything we learned everything we needed to know in kindergarten after all, but it's a start.

Things That Do Not Bode Well

Two little boys in their beds at 10:00 p.m. quietly chanting together, "We're noc-tur-nal. We're noc-tur-nal. We're noc-tur-nal."

It might be time to break out the chocolate stash - looks like it's going to be a long night.

In the Backyard Today

"Mommy, we sawed giant ants what look like they eat little children!"

Yes, Carpenter Ants are monstrous as far as ants go, but they are more interested in that rotten fence board than eating little children.

Nonetheless, the Beastlings remain wary. Just in case.

Happy Belated Birthday, America!

At the last minute, we decided to go out of town to Brenham, home of Blue Bell Ice Cream, arguably the best ice cream in the state, maybe the universe. And by last minute, I mean about noon on the 4th of July.

The plan was to go to the Washington on the Brazos state park:

This picturesque park is located on the Brazos River, Washington was the site of the 1836 General Convention which would decide the fate of Texas. Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site is revered as the site of the signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence on March 2, 1836. Washington remained a town of some prominence in early Texas until the eve of the Civil War. The park encompasses the site of the historic town (1836).

The park hosts an annual day-long celebration culminating in fireworks in the evening. It features free soda and ice cream, free activities such as climbing walls and bouncy castles for the kids, typical and not so typical foods for purchase, pretty scenery, and generally a good time for people with kids or without.

Oh, and about a thousand degree heat.

Still, given our drought conditions, the mosquitoes were minimal, which was fabulous and there was a slight breeze which helped us deal with the heat. We had quite a (hot and somewhat miserable) hike once we parked, to where the fireworks would be shown. We asked around and were told where to look for fireworks and we planned our base camp accordingly - it was very exciting to get a good spot and we were told to expect the area to fill up considerably once nightfall was upon us.

The boys had fun; Mr Lawyer took them around the park and they did all sorts of fun things. I stayed at our spot with Babybeast who had a fantastic time prancing about in the grass after a soccer ball. She didn't even try to eat the grass even once.

Once it got dark, we sat and waited for the fireworks.

And then we waited some more.

I brought out a couple sets of those glow necklaces that you crack and shake - they went over really well with all three kids.

Finally, well after 10:00, the fireworks began. We (along with several hundred people behind us) quickly realized with horror that we could not and would not be able from our vantage point to see any of them! There was a huge cluster of trees in the way and while not tall, the fireworks were particularly low - and in a completely different direction than we had been advised to expect.

I quickly told Mr. lawyer to hustle the boys over to the parking lot to try to catch what he could, but because we had "stuff" with us that couldn't be left unattended, Babybeast and I remained behind and missed 100% of the show. It was very disappointing since I had the camera ready to try to capture the fireworks and was excited about the potential images, but the boys were able to catch the bulk of the show.

So, the kids had fun - and that's what is really important of course. I am still upset that no one from the park bothered to tell us that we wouldn't be able to see (to the contrary, actually), but what are you going to do?

I'll try to load up some photos tomorrow...stay tuned.

Pile of Leaves

Mr. Lawyer let them play in a small pile of leaves last week. The "pile" was comprised of about the same number of leaves you could jam into a bucket, which is, to say, not very many. The photos show the entire pile.

Reportedly, they took turns running from two houses down to jump in it. That's the spirit, boys.