THE VERY BEST THINGS IN LIFE ... ARE FREE!!

You know ... I made my comments the other day about our family outing to the jetties here in town ... and I meant every one of them! Get out there ... take your kids to enjoy nature itself!Entertaining the young'uns does not have to cost a bundle. It's all worth repeating, I think!

But something else occurred to me thereafter ... the "Best Things In Life" may cost just a bit, or sometimes not, but "THE VERY BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE!!" Remember that sunny smile that lights up your child's face the very moment when he/she gets home from school and sees you for the first time in hours? Laugh (again) at the joke that came recently from one of them ... with flawless timing! Think about the joy of seeing them accomplish something, especially those things that are "first-timer" accomplishments, and/or things they have striven hard to accomplish! It's the small piece of half-chewed candy ... or sometimes the whole unaltered piece ... that they give to you unexpectedly; or it's the sharing among their siblings without your previous request, and without fuss; it's these things that make life pleasant!! They can even make the most unpleasant of times bearable ... and are often the very reason these times are bearable!

You get it ... it's the little things about your kids, (to most outsiders perhaps the most insignificant things), the little things that your kids do ... that are, in my opinion and hopefully in yours, THE VERY BEST THINGS IN LIFE! Celebrate your kids every single day ... even when they are acting not so particularly loveable, or when life is otherwise difficult! In this way, you will be sure to catch these (often fleeting) moments of PURE JOY!! And you will see ... LIFE WILL BE GOOD ... regardless of circumstance!

THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE ... OR NEARLY SO!!

For a mere $5 ... the cost of entry (per car) to our local state park, plus a relatively negligable amount for gasoline ... even at nearly $3 per gallon ... because the park is 2 miles or so from our house ... we had a wonderful family outing today! While it is true that the ocean is only about 4 blocks or so from our house, and generally free to explore, we decided that today we'd do something a little extra special for our beach outing. The beach area within the confines of the state park contain jetties ... which themselves harbor sea creatures at times. We decided to explore the jetties and see what creatures we might find! Well, no creatures were spotted at the jetties themselves, but during their swim time in the ocean, the kids reported sightings of sea turtles, jellyfish and an Octopus! Suffice it to say ... and you can see by the pictures ... we had a TERRIFIC TIME ... for ALMOST NO COST! Plus a little sunburn to go around ... but it was worth it!

During other outings we have seen stingrays, dolphins, manatees, fish of various kinds, fiddler crabs, and other "creatures of the deep"! So our advice: if you live near the beach, take advantage of the natural and free (or nearly free) wonders that await you simply by stepping out your door and going a few paces (more or less!). And if you don't live near the ocean ... take advantage of whatever nature has to offer in your area! A GOOD TIME NEED NOT COST AN ARM AND A LEG! And if your children complain because you are not taking them to the latest and greatest of entertainment venues ... trust me ... take a look at these pics ... and take them to see what nature has to offer! THEY WILL HAVE A GREAT TIME!!

TECHNOLOGY ALMOST GETS THE BEST OF MOTHER BUNNY: BEING PREPARED FOR ANYTHING!

Ok ... I admit it ... when it comes to computers (and any other technology for that matter), Bunnies are ... well ... somewhat lacking, shall we say. Case in point: ME! I have tried now for a good 30 minutes to post my picture within my profile and thus in its proper spot on this blog (call me vain, but I kinda thought folks might want to see a picture of me ... or at least I had hoped they would!). I followed ... or at least I think I followed ... the directions listed in the HELP section of the blogger website ... multiple times ... all to no avail! I am no closer to posting a picture than I was yesterday, or last month, or last year for that matter! And since I have seen many blogs with their author's identity revealed in photos, I must assume that either the directions are unclear ... or more likely, that bunnies just don't have a grasp of technology ... WHAT DO YOU THINK?

AH! I happen to be one of those extra clever bunnies ... I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED! No, I haven't figured out the directions yet ... but I do know how to post a picture within the blog itself!

So, are you ready? TA DA! Here I am ... in the upper right corner!! It's magic I tell you! Well ok ... not magic ... but close enough! AT ANY RATE, NOW YOU KNOW ... I AM NOT JUST YOUR AVERAGE BUNNY! I have the fortune to own a BEAUTIFUL WHITE COAT! My mother always said: "You never know when you are going to be invited to a "White Tie" event! Be Prepared!" And so, as you can see, I am always prepared! I ALWAYS have my white coat, both literally, and figuratively! I am ready for those "White Tie Events," and I am ready when little things like "technology" try to defeat me!

And with this sage advice I will leave you now ... Father Monkey is reading Book 3 of THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA to the children ... I must go join them! Just remember ... its good advice for a multitude of situations: ALWAYS BE PREPARED ... FOR ANYTHING!!

SUPER HERO WANNA-BE'S

Look, up in the sky! It's a blocky bird! It's a bi-plane! No, It's Captain Cardboard (left) and his two trusty sidekicks, the Fool of Cool (right) and Closet Junk Man (Middle).... Kidding! It's just, Me (Hoppy Toad and Captain Cardboard), Turtle (Closet Junk Man), and Fish (The Fool Of Cool). We designed these costumes ourselves. Mine took the longest, at an hour and a half! I dont know about Turtle, But Fish took about 5 minutes. Mine came in three phases.

Phase 1

Phase 2

Phase 3 Can be seen in the group photo.

So anyway, that is the story of Captain Cardboard, Closet Junk Man, and The Fool of Cool.

WAITING FOR OUR DRAGONFLY ... and Waiting... and Waiting

This little fella (gal? any experts out there? for convenience I will just refer to the little fella as "he"... but really ... I don't know!) made his way to our front yard one day last summer, and chose to hover just above one of our small flowering trees, observing the world (I suppose) for awhile. I spotted him as I trekked to the mailbox for the daily deluge of bills and offers for "THE AMAZING THIS OR THAT."
Being the artsy type, I ran back into the house to grab my camera. Honestly though, it was a dragonfly ... I didn't really expect him to be there when I got back ... especially since Turtle and Fish were running around the yard right at that moment, in rather raucous fashion, playing some game or other. None-the-less, he was still there ... waiting as it were for a shot at internet glory one can only presume ... in the very spot I left him, and graciously hovered while I snapped innumerable pictures, trying to get that "GREAT SHOT." And then ... as if on cue, he left, going on to places unknown to me, never to be seen again. He was so gracious, how could I not publish his likeness on the internet, for the world to see?! I hope he is pleased with the result! I wonder if Dragonflies use the internet much?

Okay but anyway ... You can probably guess that even considering the debt of gratitude I owe this fella, he is not the dragonfly to whom I refer in the title. Some of you who read this will know to whom I am referring, even though you've never met us! Yes? No? Do the words "July Dragonflies" mean anything to any of you??? I thought so!! For those of you getting impatient with me ... July Dragonflies refers to a group of children in China, waiting even now, as I speak, for their new adoptive parents to come and take them home ... parents whose paperwork for their adoptions was logged in at the China Center of Adoption Affairs (known by those of us in the adoption game by its shortened name "CCAA") any time in July, 2005.

Thats right ... Father Monkey and I are "expecting" ... a little bundle of pink joy ... our DRAGONFLY ... from China ... a new sister for Hoppy Toad, Turtle and Fish!! We had thought the kid thing was over ... you know ... 3 kids is plenty ... family complete, and all that rubbish ... but then our good friends down the path decided they just "had" to have another baby! They have a wonderful son, theirs in the usual way, but for this second edition, they decided to adopt ... a beautiful little girl from Romania! Well ... okay I admit it ... its my fault ... I took one look at the first baby picture my friend received of her new daughter, and wanted one of my own!! I thought: "3 boys are great ... but adding a girl to the mix would be even better!" Well ... Father Monkey didn't quite agree at first ... actually said flat out "no, don't even think of it!"

Sigh. Our 3 boys were all planned and all mutually wanted. I knew if Father Monkey said no ... this was the end of my pipe dream. Or so I thought. I did not mention another word, but 2 years later, Father Monkey surprised me one day when he announced that he was "ready to adopt his little girl ... did I still want to?" I jumped up and down with excitement ... enough of an answer I guess ... but I said "You bet!" anyway. And with that, we embarked on our Adoption Journey to bring our Dragonfly home ... 3 long long long years ago!

Its a long process ... but our journey has been longer than most unfortunately. Not long after this decision was made, catastrophe struck our extended family with the unexpected death of my twin brother. We had been very close, and he was a truly beloved uncle to my sons ... so the shockwaves that went through even our little group of wildlife here in Florida ... the 5 of us ... were so resounding that we could not even begin the adoption paperwork for about a year thereafter! And then, there were a few bureaucratic delays ... lost forms (by government offices supposedly filling them out for us), uncooperative "public servants" (gave new meaning to that term, I assure you!), and so on. Finally, there apparently was a rush of folks hoping for their own little Dragonflies. At about the time we submitted our paperwork, finally stamped, approved, signed, notarized etc. etc. etc., there was a greatly increased number of applications in general, submitted to the CCAA. And so, our LID (Log-In-Date / the date our application was logged in at the CCAA) was July 26, 2005. We've been waiting our turn, ever since, to get that all-exciting telephone call telling us we have been matched with a waiting child, and a still more important piece of mail, containing photographs and information!

As I understand it, the CCAA issues a batch of "referrals" (match of children with parents) once a month, towards the end of the month. The June referral batch covered application LID's through June 28, 2005. And so, we are inching ever closer! We can actually see that light at the end of our tunnel now ... and the excitement is building day by day in our household!

Finally 6-10 weeks after receipt of our referrel, we expect to travel to China and bring our Dragonfly Home at L O N G last! She has only to hover just a bit longer!!

"THE INCREDIBLE FLYING GIRLIE-GIRL" - addendum to "She Really is Dangerous"

"faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall sofas ... er... buildings ... in a single bound!"
Wait a minute ... I'm confused ... must be the new movie coming out ... that's Superman isn't it!

Funny though ... the parallels between Girlie-girl and Superman! I wonder if they're connected somehow? Maybe she's his pet dog ... sent along with him before Krypton blew up, to guard and protect him and keep him company on this strange planet. Maybe she somehow got lost ... or stolen. Could it be? Could Girlie-girl be from Krypton? Hmmm ... judge for yourself! You'll see what I mean.

1. She was found as an infant ... lost and all alone, wrapped in a blanket ... sort of ... okay okay a slight exaggeration ... she and her 9 brothers were dropped off, by their former owner, at a Labrador Retriever Rescue Organization's Location ... but she was only 10 weeks old, and the only female of the litter!

2. She was adopted by a friendly couple (me and Father Monkey) ... in this case not quite "young" but not quite "elderly" either ... with 3 young critters: a Hoppy Toad, a Turtle, and a Fish. The family was sad because their previous dog companion of many years, English Lady, had recently passed away. They were going to wait a few months to adopt another dog, but the house was too lonely without English Lady. Mommy (aka Mother Bunny) ... ironically always the self-proclaimed non-dog fan ("THIS" story to come sometime soon I imagine) ... herself insisted upon it!

3. Girlie-girl has INCREDIBLE powers. You know all the dog toys labeled "Indestructible" by the manufacturers? Well ... Girlie-girl lays waste to these within 5 minutes - TOPS. A "normal" dog toy ... or kid toy ... or gameboy ... or DVD ... or sock ... or literally ANYTHING she can get her teeth on is generally gone in a much shorter time frame. ALTHOUGH ... to be fair to Girlie-girl ... it took her about 10 days or so to polish off the gigantic, monstrous 18 inch long, 4 inch diameter rawhide bone I purchased a month or so ago. This one really surprised me ... I HOPED maybe it would last 2-3 days! Maybe it lasted so long because at the same time she was also busy with the usual assortment of socks, shoes, toys, and varied contraband!

4. She certainly is "faster than a speeding bullet!" If she wants to escape out the front door to the great outdoors, to run helter-skelter through the jungle well beyond our personal borders, she's gone faster than you can scream "N ... o!!" And she's nearly impossible to catch!! Ok ... IMPOSSIBLE to catch ... without the "secret" weapon (as it were).

The Secret weapon (and I am not naive enough to think its going to work forever ... or even for very much longer) to "catching" her is to offer her a ride in the car. That is, Father Monkey or I get in the car, drive to wherever she has run off to ... being sure to leave one of the sliding doors open ... and also being sure not to forget her "treats" (aka BRIBES), honk the horn, and call out the window "Girlie-girl, you wanna ride in the car?" Embarassing? You bet! But it sure beats paying the homeowners association that $150 fine when Hoppy Toad, Turtle or Fish gets caught swimming in the lake while trying to catch her!

Frequently she will tease us a bit ... coming close and then running off again. Eventually however, she comes along and hops in the car. We quickly slam the door shut and offer up her bribe ... er ... treat, for being a "GOOD GIRL" We then take her for a brief ride around the neighborhood, before returning home. Generally by this time, we've wasted a minimum of 30 minutes ... and most often much more than that!

You're probably wondering "Why don't you just take the idiot dog home and forget the ride?"

Am I right? Ah, would that life were so simple! You see ... Girlie-girl is SMART. In the short year that we have had her in the family, she has proven again and again that in all likelihood, she's SMARTER THAN ALL OF US COMBINED! And we have a "MENSA" candidate or 2 residing within these walls! Simply put ... if we didn't go ahead and give her a ride 2 things would surely happen: 1) the game would be up and we'd have to come up with a new means of "catching" her; and 2) she'd get even (I will leave that to your imagination ... )

5. The final "Kryptonite" criteria ... the one that makes her the most awesome ... not to mention dangerous for the shear fact of it ... is her amazing ability to leap over the sofa ... front to back or back to front ... in a single bound! Frequently demonstrated when we return home from an outing and she is let loose from her crate, she comes bounding through the living room at full speed ... another danger in and of itself for any poor soul who happens to be in her path ... and leaps over the sofa with a single motion! Occasionally she'll be off by a fraction and crash into the lamp sitting on the sofa table behind (can you say "broken lamp" ... she hasn't been hurt yet) the sofa. But this is rare ... she's quite good ... and amazing!! The primary problem is the person sometimes in her path. She's so fast, there's little time to move out of the way! Furthermore, Girlie-girl also uses this ability when she then continues to where her "mommy" is ... that would be me, Mother Bunny, adopted mother ... and jumps into my arms!! This might not be a problem if she weighed 5 pounds ... but she weighs around 60 pounds!!! No doctor bills yet ... but I expect the ole back to give out eventually!

Ok ... so there you have it ... 5 reasons why I think she must be from Krypton ... and really Superman's pet! What do YOU think?

Anyone happen to have Superman's email address?

Happy 4th of July Everyone!!

Well, it's July 4th again! Well tonight's weather forecast is 100% chance of fireworks! We are going to launch a few of our own fireworks. I can barely wait until its dark enough to launch them. I am going to get to launch one of them! Hoppy Toad says that he wishes we had fireworks like Gandof off of LORD OF THE RINGS (the movie) ... dragons that come right at you and stuff. Our local town will have fireworks displays of course ... I think we are going.

HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR OWN LOCAL FIRE WORKS DISPLAYS!

AHH ... COLLEGE DAYS!!

I MUST HAVE BEEN CRAZY!! Staying up all night ... or "pulling all-nighters" I believe we phrased it in college (I know ... I probably have just given away my age ... !! Do they say this anymore?) ... to study for tests I should have studied for well before that point, or to start writing papers due the following day ... Nope, not crazy ... just perhaps the world's greatest procrastinator!! In 4 years of college you would have thought I'd have learned SOMETHING! But no ... here I am ... sitting at my computer writing this note at 2AM in the morning. "Sure," you say, "it's not too late ... the night's not over ... you can still make it to bed and count a few hours sleep and yourself as having learned SOMETHING." Yeh ... I might do just that ...

Okay ... my guilt is getting to me ... I must confess ... last night ... well ... there was no last night for me! I pulled my first all-nighter, not counting baby care, sick children, spouse or dogs, acid indigestion or those sorts of things that tend to keep a person up voluntarily or not (generally in my experience, not!) in ____ years (you didn't think I was going to mention how many did you?). I finally tumbled into a fitful sleep around 6AM. Fortunately for me, Hoppy Toad, Turtle and Fish let me sleep until 8AM ... they usually stumble into mine and Father Monkey's room around 7AM! "Why did I stay up," you ask? Like I said ... I must have been crazy!! That, and I was involved in a computer design project and lost track of the time. !NO, REALLY

TURTLE'S "MEGA-POWER DRONE 9000"

Actually, when it comes to inventing, Hoppy Toad, Fish and I are all going to be inventors (among other things ... I for one also want to be a chef, and a scientist with my own television show on the Discovery Channel) when we grow up. We plan to start our own company and make lots of money!

I have been working on an invention today also, the same as Fish. The drawing is included here, and as can be seen, my invention is very different from Fish's invention. Also included is an explanation. Any questions, just post a comment/question and I can explain more about it.

LATER ... NEWS UPDATE ... Unfortunately I have had some trouble uploading my drawing. I tried earlier with no success, then went to bed, then just tried again with no luck. So, look for the MEGA-POWER DRONE 9000 at a later time! JULY 7, 2006 : UPDATE OF THE UPDATE : As you can see, mom finally got the picture of my invention to upload to this blog! Hope you like it! (signed, Turtle) GOOD NEWS! I SHOULD HAVE THE FIRST PROTO-TYPE UP AND RUNNING BY THE TIME I AM 40! ONLY 31 YEARS TO GO!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY EVERYONE!

FISH'S "SUPER SPECIAL BED"

Mother Bunny says that one day I will be a great inventor! She always loves the drawings of the things I am going to invent when I grow up. This morning I had a great idea for a new kind of bed. When I told Mother Bunny about it, she said "Well Fish, you need to draw a picture of that invention! I would like to see what this bed will look like! When you are finished, will you please bring it to show to me?" She even said that we could make a book with all of my drawings in it so that when I am grown up I will remember what everything I invent should look like! And so, here is the drawing:

NEWS FLASH FROM TURTLE: It seems that our drawings are not being uploaded successfully for whatever reason. Disappointing! They are really great! Well, as Turtle said, we will try again! JULY 7, 2006 NEWS FLASH FROM MOM: She says she just uploaded the picture of my invention...and you can see it above! Hope you like it! (signed, Fish)

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY TO ALL ... FROM ME!

She Really Is Dangerous ... Honest!!

Remember when your mom warned you to be careful of the viscious dog down the street? No one ever says that of Girlie-Girl. I mean ... just look at her! Would you be afraid of her? Not if you are a reasonable person! She's cute ... she's got those friendly eyes ... her ears are relaxed ... she's playful ... she loves her family and just about anyone else who comes around. She frequently runs down the street to play with her favorite neighborhood pals ... dogs and other critters alike. Everyone in the neighborhood knows her by name and, in fact, loves her! (well ... most everybody!) All that is obvious in this photograph. Right?

But alas ... she really is dangerous ... honest!! We are in constant danger ourselves! I know you are probably saying something like this to yourselves: "She's obviously a black lab. Aren't they supposed to be among the friendliest of dogs ? No way is this dog dangerous! And besides that ... why would anyone knowingly keep a dangerous dog ... assuming that were true?" Am I right?

Ah ... well ... you see ... well okay ... I may have mistated things just a teeny tiny bit ... she isn't dangerous ... but her tail most certainly is!! Just this morning she almost took out Turtle when she jumped up on the couch to give him her slobbery good-morning kiss!! She got him on the face with her tongue (kinda oohey in and of itself!) whilst whacking him inadvertently on the head and elsewhere with her tail ... which by the way ... travels an incredible 500 miles an hour when in action!! He's only now just recovered!!

So you see moms everywhere ... its really a cautionary "tale" ... maybe you should warn your kids about the seemingly nice ones!

Roughing It

Everyone knows that to survive in the wilds of suburbia, poptarts are absolutely necessary! Or at least, according to renowned explorers Hoppy Toad (to the left), Turtle (center) and Fish (to the right). A recent camping expedition confirmed their theory: everyone came back alive!