floating your boat requires advance planning

Everett (surrounded by building materials, hammer in hand): I'm going to build a boat that's bigger than our whole house.

Paul: How are you going to get the boat to the water?

Everett (slowly stalling): That's an excellent question...

we're all mixed up too

Everett (explaining that Ila's a mutt): He's all mixed up. He's all different kinds of dogs.

creatures

Way too many creatures live in our house. They have not been invited - in fact, many have been very specifically uninvited via poison, traps, and bait - but they insist on staying.

Last night it seemed that they all decided to come out. I came home to find skink poop on my pillow. Yuck. Then Clif and I watched a movie, immediately after the movie he noticed a 3 inch long cockroach on the curtains. Yuck again. After much swatting (Clif) and squealing (me), it was flushed.

As I was in the bathroom getting ready for bed, which can sometimes take a long time for no particular reason and last night was one of those times, I noticed a trail of ants along the bathroom wall. I figured I'd follow the trail and replace whatever it was they were eating with ant bait. So I went to get the ant bait and as I reached into the box I heard scurrying. I put my hand into the box and simultaneously felt spiderwebs in the box (ew) and saw a rat running into the laundry room (ew, ew, ew). I hate the feeling of spiderwebs and, well, I don't particularly love rats either.

As soon as I stopped freaking out about that (which didn't take too much time since I already knew we had a rat-guest. I've seen him around lately and have been unsuccessful in my attempts to (a) murder or (b) displace him), but then I heard scurrying on the stove too. A mouse was trying to squeeze down under the heating coils. Yuck again!

I went to sleep (not easily or well, but the blame for that may be on the goriness of Sweeney Todd), content in the knowledge that we had never seen anything other than skinks -well, and that one poisonous centipede- in the bedrooms. Only to awake this morning to Simon's, "mom... there's a rat in the kitchen."

I had just about given up (traps never work. Poison works, but are dead, maggoty rodents any better than live ones?), but not anymore. I have had enough. I'm going to buy every rodent-ridding product this island has to offer (ummm, except poison. I've had enough maggots in my hair to last a lifetime, by which I mean, I've had one in my hair and that's more than enough.).

Hmmm, I can't imagine I'm attracting visitors with this post...

goofing off at Tisa's

Airport Lagoon

It's been a while since we'd had a good snorkel day so we headed to Airport Lagoon. It wasn't the best snorkel day, but good enough.

And then Everett found a treasure at the beach! It has hardly left his head since Saturday.

Simon started dancing around on the way back.

and then turn yourself into a convex pentagon

Everett (telling Simon how to turn into a cocoon): . . . and now curl up so you're shaped like a ball and not a Simon.

what is the deal with those people and their cameras in the rain?

Simon: I hope tonight's not going to be like the last night the new babysitter came - with all the flashes and people taking pictures and thunder and rain.