Fish Whisperer

We have, it turns out, a fish whisperer in our family. The queen, of course, has no need for pets. The king has even less of a need for pets. But the princess, in spite of her many animal fears, would like a pet. She knew dogs and cats were out of the question--with family allergies and all. And she knew the queen would NEVER agree to rodents of any kind. She worked her magic on the queen slowly. Whispering about taking responsibility, always cleaning the bowl, even paying for all necessary equipment herself. The queen couldn't argue with that. Yesterday the princess went out to choose her fish. She knew she'd like a betta, as she'd had one of those years ago and already had a bowl. She also knew she'd like a blue betta. At Pet Smart she looked long at the various blue bettas. She eventually chose a beautiful male with feathery fins. She was even to pay the $6 for the male versus the $3 for the female because the males are so much more attractive. On the way home the fish whisperer named her betta "Azul" which is Spanish for "blue." Today, she decided her bowl wasn't GOOD ENOUGH for the beautiful betta so we headed off a closer pet store so that she could purchase the proper betta. Life is good for the fish whisperer. Of course, she's already talking about purchasing a second betta...

STILTS!

Check out the king! He was big on stilts as a kid and decided, Saturday, to make a pair for the prince and princess. The prince took to them right away. The princess is having a bit more trouble balancing, and it's really making her angry since it's rare that something doesn't come easily to her. Determination will get the better of her, and she'll get it eventually. For the king, it was riding a bike. He had no problem getting on them and walking around the drive way. And what did you do this weekend?

The end of solitude...

The kids will be home in 4.5 hours. I'm excited to see them and hear all about camp, but I really enjoyed the quiet! The poor prince has to work Saturday, Sunday, and Monday! No rest for him!

Good-bye royal family members...

We're sad to see our family head back to the land of Utah. We had a great visit with them. Lots of fun bowling, seeing movies, going to Helena, playing outside, going to the Monster Trucks...Good times!

Off to Camp!

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, it's off to camp they go...

Is it wrong of me to be sooooooo excited that Mitch and Cara are going to camp at the SAME TIME this year? It's the only year it'll happen, so I feel like it's okay to be a little excited to see them go. I'll be taking them to the church to drop them off in about an hour. I'll have to stand in line (Lots of kids go to this camp) for many minutes (possibly 60 or more) but then, the freedom will begin. And I know they are safe at this camp, as Mitch has loved going for 2 years now, so I'm pretty sure it's okay for me to be excited to see them go! Hey, I have to pick them up at 2 on Friday, so it's not like they're really gone a whole week.

I'd better make sure they packed everything (one more time) because I'd hate to waste one of my free days driving stuff up to them!!!

Oh, and did I mention that Rich left this morning for Idaho???? He won't be back until Thursday evening. It's good to be queen!

Drivin' the Boat

On this year's trip to the Gates of the Mountain,

near Helena, Mitch and Cara got to

DRIVE THE BOAT!!! How cool are they?

Patience

The royal family appreciates your patience as the queen entertains the royal aunt and nephews for a few more--funfilled--days! Then the queen will update the blog properly. In the meantime, maybe this will tide you over. The queen had this conversation between the prince, princess, and a royal nephew the other day.

Nephew: I'm glad I'm a boy.
Queen: Why?
Nephew: Because then I don't have to have a baby.
Queen: You don't have to if you don't want to. Just ask the princess if she's going to have a baby.
Nephew: Princess, are you going to have a baby someday?
Princess: Probably not.
Nephew: How does that happen. (Now, the nephew was really asking how it is that she has a choice, but the kids all thought he was asking how babies were made.)
Prince: You'll learn all about that in 5th grade.
Nephew: (Nephew is now catching on that we're not all talking about the same thing. Meanwhile the queen is ROYALLY cracking up during this exchange.) It sounds pretty gross to me.
Princess: Yeah, but it's not as gross when you're a grownup.

When they aren't fighting, they're really, really funny!!!

Brad Paisley

***Sigh***Ahhh***Yummy***Sweet***

Check out BRAD! We passed 3 of his

equipment trucks near Whitehall, MT

last weekend. I checked his website

and didn't see that he was playing in

the area. Maybe it was a private

concert, and he meant for me to be

there, but my invitation got lost in

the mail! :)

Last Day of School

YIPPEE--the children all say. I have a great job so really haven't been counting the days. I'm looking forward to getting some things done around the house, having company, and traveling, but I wouldn't mind if school ran year-round, with breaks here and there! I don't have any classes coming to my lab today. I plan to tear it apart and rearrange my tables so that we'll be able to SEE each computer from where my computer is. It's a nightmare of logistics because most of my computers run off an airport, but a few still have to be plugged into phone jacks. I'm also putting rows of computers where there is no outlet so will have to run extension cords and hope the kids don't trip and unplug masses of computers. Plus, it just sounds like a lot of work. What was I thinking???? We only have a half day today, so I'm not sure I can get it all done. I started a little of it yesterday, but I still might have to go in tomorrow and finish. Wish me luck! It's rained ALL week-it's been a field trip nightmare at work. But we're up 2" over normal in moisture right now, which is such a relief. And we're looking forward to Shelley, Jared, and Andy coming to visit us mid-week next week. The princess is off to camp with friends over the weekend. The prince is looking forward to being an only child! Have a great weekend!!