Eva's Arm

 Eva's holding her right arm up in both of these pictures. I'll tell you why in a minute. The above picture is from the Hammond Candy Factory. We had so much fun there in May that we took the cousins to see it this morning. Candy canes for everyone!
 Yesterday afternoon, a dog bit Eva's arm and she had to get two stitches. She was so brave. The doctor told her she was braver than 90% of the adults who have to get stitches. It hurts, but what's worse is that she couldn't go swimming with the cousins this afternoon. So to make up for it, Eva and I went to Hobby Lobby and bought supplies for making fancy hair clips.

See the fancy hair clip? Brooke was wearing one, too, but she didn't have it on when we took this picture. Three Junes ago, Eva broke that very arm. I wonder what will happen to that arm in June 2014. Hopefully, the curse will be broken by then.

Nelsons are Here!

 The Nelsons arrived on Saturday, and we've been having a good time. Yesterday we hiked up to the first Boulder Flatiron. Here, the hikers take a little breather.

 It was hard to keep up with Brooke and Eva. They crossed this boulder field in no time flat.

 The boys make victory signs at the base of the first Flatiron.

Aaron and Molly's Wedding

Aaron and Molly got married this last weekend. Grandma Tolman stayed with our kids while we jetted off to Seattle. We got there in the very wee hours of Friday morning. The wedding was at 10:00 that morning, and the reception was in the evening. We left on Saturday around lunchtime and got home on Saturday night. It was a smile-filled whirlwind, so fun to see everybody.

 They're so proud of their handiwork. Good going, Gang.

 Dancing at Aaron and Molly's reception.

 Oh, baby!

 There they go, off on their grand adventure.

David and Linda found this great old house in Port Orchard where the rest of us hung out until we had to head back home.

Bec on the Tracks

Poor Rebecca. Her mother forgot to pick her up from ballet and she had to walk all the way home by herself on the train tracks with blisters on her feet and a tear in her eye. Luckily, someone was around to catch the sad moment on camera.

Eva's Friday

 Eva loves doing Around-the-World. It's like being in the circus.

 This horse is Comanche, who has been too under the weather to ride lately. But Eva still likes to visit him.

Eva started tennis on Tuesday. Yesterday practice was rained out, but she got to play again today.

Close Call for Naked Penelope

I sincerely hope the title of this post doesn't result in a bunch of perverts visiting the old family blog. Perverts, you will find nothing of interest here.

But if you are interested in the fate of Penelope the Hermit Crab, hold on to your hats: you're in for a wild ride. Penelope, if you remember, switched shells on April 29, 2011. Her old shell is the green one to her right in the picture. Anyway, this morning, Penelope didn't look quite right. Her eyes were all skiddywompus. Then, this afternoon, she appeared to have kicked the bucket. She wouldn't move, and her body was halfway out of her shell.

Eva was sad because not only is Penelope her favorite hermit crab, but today is Eva's actual birthday, despite already having had two birthday parties. She put Penelope is a plastic container and set her out in the backyard so we could have a memorial service after everyone was home.

Imagine my surprise when I looked into the container and saw something move. And not only that, but I saw two hermit crabs, and neither one was in the shell! Gasp! What's going on?? I asked around to see if anyone had put another hermit crab in the to-be-buried hermit crab container, but nobody had. Some people didn't even want to look in the container to find out what was going on. After some investigation (in the container and on the Internet), we realized that Penelope wasn't dead. She was molting! We welcomed her back to the land of the living, sprayed her with some treated water, and put her back in her home. That was several hours ago, and Penelope is still naked. She refuses to put her shell on. She looks really cute, all pink in her new skin.

But all this excitement does cause one to wonder: Was William the Hermit Crab actually dead when we buried him a couple of weeks ago? I think that from now on, if we bury a hermit crab, we need to install a little bell in the coffin like they did with plague victims during the middle ages, just in case it was a case of molting and not a trip to hermit crab heaven.

Eva's Birthday Party #2

 Birthday Party #2 was on Monday. Eva wanted a water party, and the weather cooperated nicely. First we played games in the grass.

 Then we ate hot dogs.

 Then there was a big water fight!

 And then peppermint cheesecake. Eva has been saving the candy canes for this cheesecake since Christmas. She's very, very good at saving things. She tortures the rest of us with the way she can save candy that is off-limits to us not-so-good-at-delayed-gratification family members.

Dad became a prime target during the water fight.

Eva's Birthday Party #1

 Eva, lucky girl that she is, got TWO birthday parties this year. Her first birthday party was at Grandma & Grandpa's house on Sunday evening after church. There were balloons and streamers, games, and presents. We played musical chairs and Hitty Pinchy Flatty Cutty Cow and ate lots of yum yummy food.

 Eva and Grandma slug it out for first place on musical chairs.

Pinocchio

Rebecca had her Pinocchio show this weekend. I didn't get any pictures of the show, but I'm sure they'll show up on Facebook soon. Here she is with Grandma after the show. It was a wonderful show.