I love snails

Well I don't really, but Lucy does. I don't because they eat my lettuce and they are non-native and they are kind of slimy. But they are o.k. I guess. They do have cute antennae and their slime trails are shiny and some of them have attractive shells. And the ones in our fish tank are eating the algae that was building up on the walls. So they aren't all bad.

Lucy really loves snails and periodically does nutty things with them, like brings them inside (against the rules!), carries them around in the bucket of her tricycle, builds houses for them, and takes pictures of them on our coffee table. We always let them go before they are harmed so they can go and eat more of my lettuce. Here are some of Lucy's snail pictures.

Lemonade Stand

Foster Dogs I Have Known

Birdie was such a sweet and soulful dog...
Tiffany and Birdie really hit it off.



We fostered two dogs over the summer - Lola a dachshund pit bull mix who we almost kept forever until she started growling at the girls - and Birdie a lovely lab mix who we took camping for a week but didn't keep because she wanted to chase all small creatures and seemed to be aggressive towards other dogs on leash. Tiffany and Birdie fell in love and Tiff and Jason and Seth and Elise helped take care of Birdie. Both Birdie and Lola have now found their forever homes and we are still on the search for the perfect family dog for us (good with kids, good with cats, can be left alone without incessant barking, good with other dogs, no food aggression, no toy aggression, not aggressive to other dogs...).

What's a Pirate's Favorite Letter?

Arrr! The girls love dressing up as pirates. Here they are on two different days. The elaborate costumes were for Owen's pirate birthday party. The other pirate bandanas were more your regular every day pirates.

Lucy's Birthday Bike

Lucy had her birthday a couple months back. I am pretty far behind on the old blog so I'm just going to post some cute pictures that I found on our digital camera. Here are Lucy and Josie riding their new push bikes (called park racers) that Mitch got off Craigslist. Grandpa Tom and Grandma Sue sent Lucy some money for her birthday and we used it to buy the girls these bikes. They love them! Lucy is doing great on hers and we are getting close to taking the training wheels off her strawberry shortcake bike. Josie can actually stand and push with hers now (in this picture she is a little too short and has to stand on tip toe).

Starting the Narration of Her Life

Today Josie said the following to Mitch:

While climbing on top of Mitch:

""This is my hideout" said the Pirate as she climbed up"

On Vacation in Santa Cruz

We're on vacation in Santa Cruz with Jim and Barbara. It is always fun to visit Santa Cruz because there is so much to do here. We've been to Loch Lomond and rowed boats, built sand castles on the beach, and today we went to the boardwalk. Josie and Lucy piloted some little boats in a little kid ride. Josie was captain of the Crabster (quite appropriate I think as she can be occasionally crabby). While Lucy steered Little Charlie. Josie couldn't see Lucy's boat from where she was as the central pillar of the ride (a lighthouse) was in the way. She spent the whole ride craning her neck and asking where her sister was.

Being in Santa Cruz makes me miss our friends Tiffany and Jason even more than ever. They lived here for several years and we always had fun visiting them here. I agree with Tiff's assessment though, the many people here who ride their bikes on the sidewalk despite a plenitude of ample bike lanes, are annoying. This town is also very serious about its recycling. Amazing that you can't go more than ten feet without encountering a recycling bin.