All rodent-ed up

This is how it all started ... a harmless little hedgehog is the 'fault' of it all. We happened to hedgehog sit her for a day and Lutza instantly fell in love.

 

Actually I take it back. That sweet girl below ... it's all her fault. She is the one who owns the hedgehog and her heart is bigger than whole Indonesia. On the night we had to send the hedgehog home, Lutza was taken over by unmeasurable sorrow 'why don't I have a pet'. Well, that state didn't last for long because next morning this sweet girl surprised her with Cutie Guinea Pineapple Nance (a mouthful for sure).

 

 

 

 

Lutza's world was in a perfect balance after this.

 

 

Little did we know this would start an unstoppable tornado of events that would last for the first two months of the summer.

 

 

Of course now Vidor and Bendeguz want a pet too. Here are the ideas in the order of requests: a fish, just one - no, I changed my mind: two fishes - how about a gecko - a mouse - no, I changed my mind again: a gecko - I like hamsters - I am sure now, I would like a fish (cats and dogs were not mentioned, pew). 

Dizzzzzyyy. Two months before Vidor's birthday we make the mistake of taking a visit to the pet store. Praise the Lord, they didn't have a gecko (one that would not give us nightmares). He didn't fall in love with any fish (if that is possible at all) so we ended up with this little black mouse. Small, harmless, easy to care for .... SOLD. She loved peanuts and I had a five pound bag in the pantry we were so sick of ... it was a match made in heaven.

 

 

Two days later the mouse goes crazy ... no joke, crazy. Taps her tail, attacks and generally shivers in the corner. Trip to the pet store - return - found a cute brown guinea pig - Vidor is super happy.

Two days later the pig gets sick. Back to the pet store - return - come home empty handed.

 

We have left our contact information with the store as they offered us to purchase the guinea pig back if she gets better. Okay, now here I am trying not to smile from the mixed emotions .... but 10 days later I get a call that was sad but was presented with major seriousness (maybe a wee bit too much for a guinea pig): "Mrs. Nance. I have some sad news to tell you. Brownie had a pretty bad case of ear infection and we have tried everything to save her but she passed away this morning."

 

I broke the news to Vidor,  and he took it like a man 'She is with Jesus now and she has a new body, I am glad she is okay'.

 

 

So that same girl from the beginning of the story ... she gave Vidor a guinea pig too. This is Squeaky (short and simple ...aren't boys just easy).

 

 

 

 

And now, here is Bendeguz. He ended up with Cauliflower Nance a guinea pig who he fell in love with upon one of our many visits to the pet store.

 

 

 

He totally adores her and I think it's mutual.

 

 I figured by the time these guine pigs get old we can revisit the dog idea. Think again ... these little rodents can bring 7-10 years of bliss to our children ... and we have three of them.

Summer in snaps ... so far

Summer arrived on July 4 again. These are just few of my favorite things we have done since:

Sporting Tie-Dye

Making colored-sparkled play-dough

Playing in the back yard like there is no tomorrow

Practicing for future circus acts

Passing out from playing so hard

Learning about how fish communicate while eating breakfast

Testing home-made boomerang in pj's

Sharing a towel after water-play

Going for our 5 mile walk/run/ride (that girl sure has some Hungarian legs)

Enjoying a great new Starbucks treat - iced hot chocolate with extra whip (Do we know how to live?)

Finally getting on that bike ...

Hmmm.... Strawberry pie

Going out for doughnuts on a thundery morning

Riding the horses in country village

Mastering the slip-and-slide

Sleeping over with a special friend and dolls

Slamming two fingers (pretty good) into the back door - we were not brave enough to take off the bandages yet to see if they turned blue.

Land of 1000 Dances

I would say that there is nothing more glamourous for a 6-year-old then to get dressed in a pink sparkling dress, wear make-up with permission and be pretty for three days. Our little Lutza soaked up all this glamour last week as her first year at her dance school came to an end with their recital.

I am a parent, which comes with the condition that I am biased. But the way this girl shakes, twirls and twists is pretty special. She is goofy through and through and her tongue often had to be just right (meaning hanging out of her mouth) to get the steps perfectly, but she is our girl and I love her sass and joy.

Both Vidor and Bendeguz kept telling her that she was so beautiful ... feeding that fire with oil.

With tears in our eyes we watched her as she boogied on the stage ... her father and I are so honored to have such a blessing for our daughter.

And seriously, how many pictures can a mother take of a girl all wrapped in pink ....

Camp-Run-A-Muck

School ended June 15 ... a day that marked the beginning of summer for our family and permission to be free and careless for two and a half months, to be barefooted and dirty, and eat lots of fresh fruit in strange towns. Three days after the last day of school we packed up our little van and headed out of town to Oregon. We spent three days and two nights at Beverly Beach Park. In our memories camping is so idyllic, perfect, just kicking back and enjoying nature. These three days were a slight refresher about how much work camping is - interrupted by only a few minutes of peaceful idyllic perfect moments when you can enjoy nature (without somebody saying "Mommy" one more time).

I can't even guess how many times we heard the question "are we there yet" before the children just accepted their fate that 'no, we are not there yet and it will be a while'. That sweet anticipation was in all of us, about walking on the beach, digging in the sand and listening to the waves roar. It took only 3 hours of driving and a 3-hour-nap to get awaken to this sight.

 It was raining and windy upon our arrival but we could see the upcoming break in the clouds.

{J building a bridge for crossing the stream (bridges, tunnels, windmills and screen-door repairs are his specialty after all)}

And an hour later the beach looked like this ... God is an amazing artist.

Capturing one of those peaceful moments, staring into the campfire .... a moment when nobody had sand in their eyes, had rocks in their shoes, had to go pee, wanted a drink, needed to be carried, lost his helmet or got a splinter ... a perfect moment, a moment which by we shall remember this trip.

Next day we were lucky to catch one of the local Newport beachmasters getting some sun ... priceless.

How lucky we are to live in such beautiful place.

Tune of the drive home:

"Dear Papa Duck

Dear Momma Duck

It's fun here at

Camp-Run-A-Muck"

-------Sang by Vidor over and over and over and over

Mischief Nance Style

This year I went way overboard with the Leprechauns. As a preschool teacher, we have been preparing for the Big-Green-Day and have planted some pretty fertile seeds into our little students’ brains. For two weeks, every mischief, every mess, every mystery was solely done my those little green men. As for my own children, I had to run with the same idea and I have a feeling that they are sort of Leprechaun experts now. To start with, we baked rainbow cupcakes. As for the final result, it was a complete waste of three hours of time and ingredients. I made home-made sponge cake that was super weird. But as far as the fun part ... it was quite a good time spent with my children. They all mixed the colors (which was a nice little art-science lesson on its own) and filled all the cups. Only few licks of that batter, elapse of about 3 minutes, and they all turned super silly ... as it is shown on this picture. The cupcakes - in spite of having a horrible texture - went fast and caused some serious alarm next morning at the potty - way too much food coloring).

We made magnifying glasses to look for Leprechaun dust and the three of them knew that some serious trouble will unfold the night before St Patrick's day. They went to bed suspicious; the boys even put their swords next to their beds. 

Well, next morning there were signs of visitors everywhere. The living room was a mess: the Leprechauns turned tables around, scattered books and the strangest thing ever .... they went pee in our potty. Now this concept was very fascinating to all the children ... very fascinating.

For morning project they made Leprechaun traps. The children were sure that the troublemakers will return and they were determined to catch one. They decorated a big paper box and set it up before nap. No luck catching one but the wild giggles were priceless when they found green pee in the potty again.

Imagination is so amazing, I am so grateful that my children have it and we can play with our minds and live a life that is full of fun and mystery. After all we all know rule #66 .... don't take life too serious. And how can we when our bebes are fully convinced that Daddy used to be a pirate ...

Love-Bugs

It has became a tradition in our house that if it is holiday of some kind, upon awaking there are presents on the table. It was no different on Valentines day either: Kennel Corn, Apple Sauce and a few toys (I know, I am a bit lame about the treat part but the children always insist on eating them right away so I try to make it semi breakfast worthy).

Biggest smile for this long-wanted car.

 Still a bit sleepy but breaking in his new shades.

Lutza had a Book-Character themed celebration for Valentine's day and she decided to be Lily from Lily's Purple Plastic Purse (by Kevin Henkes). She totally rocked her new '70s sunglasses and the cow-girl boots.