Born Free, As Free As the Wind Blows...

This day has been a long time coming. Thomas's three turtles (the red-eared sliders, more specifically) have outgrown the aquarium they have been living in for the past two years. Blastoise (formerly known as Squirtle), the largest one, was plucked from the murky waters this afternoon and, after a 30 minute drive, got to feel the sun on her back for the first time in a very long time. Thomas was not happy about this--mainly because he was convinced the feds lurked behind every tree and were going to arrest us for returning stolen turtles (all of these turtles had been stolen from local lakes--NOT by us!--some years ago) to their original habitats. Nothing we said reassured him, he is convinced he is now a hardened criminal.
Blastoise gingerly checks out the grass. At this point she is about 3 feet from a lake edge and Thomas was convinced she'd never make it to the water on her own. She did seem to sit there, as if stupified by the drive, for a very long time.


But, suddenly her fat limbs shot out, she waddled toward the water at a speed I didn't know turtles were capable of, leapt into the water and paddled away. We saw a stream of bubbles as she sunk into the sandy bottom and that was that. Thomas asked again, "Will she be all right?" but after that Herculean display, he didn't actually seem all that worried. It looks like Turtle Paradise to me.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the lake there was a Car Show. While Frederick swam (just try and keep that kid out of a lake!)

two Amphicars "drove" past. Both car and boat (yet, according to reviews, neither car nor boat), they were an amusing spectacle.
We drove behind one as we left. You can see the propellers under the fender. (And there was plenty of seaweed dangling from the axels, too.) It was cute at first but when we found that the car couldn't (or wouldn't) top 15 mph, it got annoying and we were glad to see the last of it.

You should see the other guy

I really should give up playing basketball. Here you see the latest indignity, but I am also forced to confront the bentness of my nose, side-effect of a couple of earlier collisions. Still, I don't EVER get guff from my students...

Thomas is a teenager!!!

If you're reading this, you almost certainly know that the 17th was Thomas's Birthday. His THIRTEENTH birthday! As he seems to have been acting like a teenager for the past year or so it shouldn't come as too much of a shock, but still.


As a surprise, Jami took him out to a local Sushi restaurant that specializes in birthdays (they make a big fuss and will flick food into your mouth if asked - unfortunately the chef on duty only flicked meat, so they passed on that one) and Thomas's friend Sofi was there to meet them (by secret prearrangement). They even take pictures of you as they sing Happy Birthday. Three of the four people in this photo expressed disappointment with it:


No disappointment was expressed with the gifts Thomas received (just the quantity...), and in particular this was the BIG present he begged for this year, games for which Grandparents' money gifts will be spent on:


BEHOLD, the Nintendo 3DS! Actual 3D effects (along with widely reported migraines) without glasses! My, how well Nintendo has done by us over the years...

The video store next door closes down

Here's the truck about to empty out all the contents:


They weren't THAT great:


There wasn't really any warning - there was no "we're moving soon!" or "going out of business sale" (like at Borders, our favourite bookstore in Flint, where the entire chain has gone bankrupt) - today was the first sign I saw and they're already closed! Rumour on the street (i.e., Jami's mother) is that they were robbed one too many times at gunpoint. A comforting thought, considering we're right next door. I wonder if anything will replace them. They opened up pretty much exactly when we moved in, so we never got to experience the previous tenants, a much-loved local market, whose owners retired childless.

Grandma and the cousins

Obviously Jimmy went home last week, but this picture was taken before he left:


(Note the ducks looking suspicious in the background.)