Dog vs. Boy

Zelda is a big dog.  106.2 lbs. last time she was weighed at the vet.
Isaac is a small boy.  45-ish lbs.

When Isaac gets excited his voice gets loud and high-pitched.
Zelda loves this and takes it to mean he wants to play . . . with her.

If he's giggly, she's comes running to get in on the action.

First, she barks.  Loudly.

Then she growls.  Again, loudly.

Finally, she does a little jump and goes in for the kill.

It looks and sounds very evil.  Like we should pull her off because she just might eat the kid!

But it's not.

And she won't.

She's very gentle with him. 

She nibbles in just the right spots . . . armpits, belly, back.

Armpits are her favorite!

We all giggle when they do this because the sound is so infectious.

Sam and the other cats don't know quite what to make of it.

Occasionally . . . OK, almost every time, it ends with her nipping a little too hard.  Never any blood, just a pinch and maybe a small bruise.  Really small, like the size of a pencil eraser.

She feels bad and looks at him with . . . what else, puppy dog eyes.

We've been working on teaching him to give the "All Done" command to let her know when to stop.

Most of the time he doesn't want to though. 

They just have too much fun together!

Lego Night

After dinner there was some time before bedtime. 
Ezren was sick and went to bed early, so a few boxes Legos were brought down and played with in the living room.

Peeking through the window in my sewing room...

Isaac kept wanting to go upstairs to get "the perfect piece" to finish his car/helicopter/whatever.  Even with all the Legos downstairs, he still needed something else. 

Something better.

Something perfect.

It's not just Isaac who plays with Legos. 

Olivia likes them too...only she pretends with them.  It's not the building that interests her, it's creating an imaginary world.

She's making an operating room ("surgery center") for her little motorized mouse.

Poor mouse.  I wonder what's wrong with him.

Singing in the Rain

Imagine this...

We are enjoying a quiet, peaceful meal.  At the table.  With no screaming or whining.  Amazing.
Then the rain instantly starts dumping. 

And I mean dumping.
Buckets full.

We hear hail.  Now, coming from KS, I know the sound of hail, and it is a rare treat out here.  I've only seen hail twice since having moved here five years ago.

We rush to the window to see.  Not much hail...only a few pieces here and there.
But there is a rainbow!
And it ends in our neighbor's yard!
Sadly, no pot of gold.

We finish eating, and I suggest to let the kids go out and run in the rain. 
As long as there is no lightening or the sound it makes, I'm good.

The street looked like a river.  You could hear the rushing of it from the front porch (which is as far as I went).
Two and a half inches in less than an hour.
Awesome.

Olivia loves the rain!
Especially when it feels like we live in a tropical rainforest, and she's wearing yoga pants.

This was as far as Ezren got.

He had a fever earlier in the day (nothing major -- a little over 100), but felt good enough to just hang out on the porch with mom, dad, and Zelda.

I wanted to go out with them...but the camera just wouldn't let me.

Two soaking wet kids and one who imagined he was.

Love it!

Mario Kart Legos

Isaac loves to build with Legos -- that goes without saying.
He also loves Mario Kart and has figured a way to combine the two.

See if you can see Mario driving in his cart.

The blue dot at the top left is Mario's eye.  The black "L" shape is his mustache.  The cart is at the bottom with "+" shaped wheels.  Mario is holding the steering wheel.

He also made a 3-D Mario but disassembled it before I could get the camera.
I'll be quicker next time.