Happy Twelfth Birthday, Ela!

Yesterday our Ela turned twelve!

We had a low-key celebration of our favorite girl.

We love you, Ela!

Happy Fifth Birthday, Eejee!

Over the last week, Eejee turned five! We had somewhat of a rolling celebration, with much of it happening a couple days early, when we all went to go play with otters at a local petting zoo. Here is Eejee with two Asian small-clawed river otters, "Archie" and "Jughead."

Seimi and Eejee petting South America capybara, Patagonian mara, Pierce County pygmy goats, and other creatures of exotic and pedantic origin.

Eejee petting the otters

Otters waking up from a brief nap after eating fish.

Hobbitlings and otters

The Hobbit Wife enjoying the otters

Here's a video of the otters enjoying a shellfish snack.

We came home and had a small party for Eejee

Eejee inspecting his birthday cake

 

Eejee opening a present...

Playmobil Viking ship!

Ninja Grammy struck our house the morning of Eejee's birthday, leaving a mylar balloon as evidence of her raid.

The day after his birthday, Cousin M came to grace Michael Delving with his adorable presence!

Oh, yeah - in addition to The Adorable Mr. M, we also got to see Uncle Andrew, Uncle Nick, Aunt Jan May and Grammy at our house!

Eejee opening his present from Aunt Teresa, Uncle Nick, and Mr. M. Super stoked he was to discover this was not ONE but TWENTY bucks!

Mr. M opening his present...

Hobbitling cloak!

All the hobbitling cousins with their matching hobbit cloaks!

Spring Green

A large caterpillar was spotted crawling through the front yard.

Time for hobbitlings to turn all this green into some cash!

 

Boookie lifted Eejee into the yard waste container to tamp down the yard waste so they could fit everything in.

For reference, here is that same Boookie in that same yard waste container, at the same spot in the yard, just a few short years ago.

Eejee School!

Over the course of this school year, Eejee has gone from extremely indifferent to extremely interested in school. This is his first week of doing pre-K work, and here's a picture of him diligently doing his assigned work.

Easter Happenings

Michael Delving is once again undergoing remodeling, with the big goal of getting the basement finished. The Mayor put in a "time capsule" photo in the downstairs bathroom, showing a photo of the hobbitlings from back when the same wall was being framed up in 2016. 

Remodeling didn't keep us from our traditional night-time Easter egg hunt.

Seimi and Eejee's creative reuse of the glow sticks to create a drawing. This is a water channel between two islands, with grass, tents and a campfire on one island and a volcano exploding nearby.

A Friend Who Is Always There

"Daddy, do you know who is always there when I'm lonely?" asked Seimi.

The Mayor paused, reflecting on the spiritual maturity that was about to be revealed by his son. "Who is always there when you're lonely?"

"This weird guy on the front porch. See his three eyes? He's always there when I'm lonely!" exclaimed Seimi.

#ParentingWin?

Hooray!

Today, Boookie got the 'all clear' from the podiatrist after his surgery, and for the first time ever, he and the Mayor went up the street to play some basketball during lunch, breaking in the basketball Boookie got for Christmas.

The Mayor has been looking forward to having a basketball buddy since about 1991, so it's a pretty good day all around!