It hasn't been so many days since the last blog post but the residents of Michael Delving have been oh-so-busy in the intervening time. The Hobbit Wife was dropped off at the airport early on a Sunday morning, sent off for a grand total of 5 days to play at Disneyland and California Adventure with Auntie Jen. First stop for the hobbitlings was church with Grammy and Grampz followed by a Sunday afternoon nap.
Heading out to the blueberry fields behind Grampz's tractor/tank.
Eejee the blueberry hound. It was his first time wearing boots and his first time picking blueberries. He quickly warmed up to both tasks. The Mayor picked blueberries with Eejee in tow and whenever Mr. E let out a low approving growl, "oooohhhh!!" the Mayor knew there was a large bunch of blueberries somewhere hiding at lower elevations.
Grampz and the boys picked over 5 pounds of blueberries - delicious blue bombs of flavor
The next few days were work around the house and trips to the pool, park, and probably some other fun things; the Mayor was focused on his duties and did not take any pictures. Here are the hobbitlings loaded up for the last full day, which involved a trip to a new zoo for us (Point Defiance) and a visit to the Cabbage.
Panther Boookie
All the hobbitlings going down the otter slide.
Seimi with his buddy, the Captain Killer Sand Tiger Shark
Eejee loved the aquarium and zoo. He did throw a fit toward the end and in the process, chucked his high-tech stainless steel water bottle out of the stroller at some point in the last hour of the zoo visit.
Camel rides, complete with our best British salutes.
As Ela debarked from her desert voyage, she dramatically exclaimed (quoting a favorite family movie,
Father Goose, "I'm excellent at bridge. I play the cello very well. I'm double-jointed, and I know how to ride a camel!"
For the second pass through the zoo, we revisited our favorite spots, so of course that would be meerkats...
...and the Captain Killer Sand Tiger Shark.
All the babies safe in the nest
The Mayor on a 15-second break to play on the playground.
To celebrate the return of Mommie Meerkat/Hobbit Wife wife, the Mayor baked his very first pie with blueberries and fresh-ground flour, courtesy of Grammy and Grampz. Notice the Wolverine claw marks on the pie.
The welcome-home feast awaiting the Hobbit Wife. Amazing salad with veggies from Grampz, BBQ pork chops made with Grampz's BBQ sauce, and a watermelon courtesy of GranDma.
The Hobbit Wife walked in the front door and the Mayor went downstairs to check on the last load of laundry, only to discover the washing machine hose had come disconnected and had been flooding the basement for 90 minutes. Seimi was overjoyed to discover the new lake in the backyard and threw his arms around the Mayor, "Oh, thank you so much, Daddy!"
The Mayor and Hobbit Wife got to catch up on things while sweeping water out the back door, moving boxes, pulling up flooring, and setting up fans to dry things out.
The Mayor, not content with basement floods, also decided to take a rotohammer to the basement wall, making room for a new window for the expanded Bunker.
The Mayor and lads went to a baseball game of the Third of July.
The Mayor and lads laying blocks for the new wall on the Fourth of July.
