Edward Gets 30 Points

So, this past Saturday my wonderful nephew & Godson George turned Two. Right now he calls me Uncle Richard, though soon, I will make him call me Godfather.

Catie and Britt planned a wonderful party in an Alamo Heights park. There was much swinging.
George found this bouncing arena thing to be level 10 fun.

There was much bouncing and falling.

Which caused high levels of birthday happiness.

A special visitor was the only thing that took him away from such bliss.

ELMO! Or as the party store who doesn't exactly like to pay royalties called it: "Red Monster."

Now, I don't want to exactly give away the identity of the Red Monster. I think most of the children there and maybe a few of the adults would like to think that it was in fact the real Elmo. Which it may very well have been. But, I would like to point out that James was there.

And of course Britt was there.

I, of course, was manning my 6 megapixal Canon Powershot. Edward however, was nowhere to be found. Hmmm.

Anyway, the Elmo had much hugging to do. Which he gladly did.

A few children, were a little more nervous around this large monster.

I find it interesting that some children are immediately trusting and some are much more cautious. I think I fell into the category of immediately hugging the strange muppet.

Those of you who were scared of clowns as children I think were much more insightful than I was. I loved clowns. Now though, when I look at a clown, I see past the makeup and most of the time see very sad individuals. I think the children who are scared of clowns can sense this. I love the fact that my nephew seems to be one of these people.

But this Elmo was a champ. He worked the crowd and all the children grew to like him. Lots of photos were taken.

Even the Godson had a good swing with Elmo.

The only thing that could take the kids' attention away from swinging, bouncing and Elmo would of course be cake.

OMG look at this cute Belly:

Elmo was, of course, a part of the cake fun.

Now, I'm not saying I know if this was the real Elmo or not. But if it wasn't, then this individual easily deserves 30 points for staying in costume and character for two hours. No way I could of done it. Especially in that heat.

So 30 points and hat tip to whichever individual made turning Two so awesome.

Bevo & Raider

So, my mother raises chickens. She loves the eggs she gets from them. My father thought it would be a nice to get her a couple of chicks for Easter, since Easter is all about rebirth.

He ended up getting her a couple of brightly colored chicks. Their names are Bevo & Raider. And they are hilariously shiny. I'll let you try and figure out which is which.

Their embryos were injected with a harmless non-toxic dye. It looks unnatural, but don't be too worried about them. They will look like regular chickens in about 2 weeks when they get their new feathers.

Youth looking at youth:

Though the dyes don't actually hurt the birds, it doesn't exactly help them blend in with their surroundings.

Natural predator of colored chicks:

The Escape of Squirrelly the Skunk

So a while ago, I kept hearing something messing with my outside trashcans late at night. I mentioned it to our Head of Grounds, Craig. He, always being helpful, decided to lay out a trap for the culprit.

It turned out to be a skunk.

Now, the thing about catching a skunk in a trap is that you can't shoot it, or it will spray. And you can't move it, or it will spray. So, really, you can't do anything.

It is also several feet from my front door.
So, I have been getting in and out of my house like a ninja lately. Always angling to the side, and keeping an eye on the skunk.

So, as the days went on, me eyeing the skunk, him eyeing back, I sort of started to feel bad for the poor little guy. He was always sort of nice, sniffing in the air like a cute little thing, making the most of his situation. I swear he nodded at me once when I was leaving for work, as if to wish me a good day.

Here he is taking a cute little nap:

So, anyway, I even gave him a name. Squirrelly. Squirrelly the Skunk.

Now then, my heart isn't exactly bleeding. I have, in fact, signed death warrants on skunks and raccoons who tear up my trashbags during the summer. Oh, and that black squirrel who found a way into my dry goods room? Better you don't know. But at the same time, my heart isn't made of stone either.

This little fellow was just nice. He had a name. And I was feeling bad for him every day. When it rained, I got excited, because I knew that Squirrelly was going to get to drink.

So, I decided that I had to break him free. Otherwise the guilt of his death would be more than I could bare.

I enlisted the help of my youngest brother, and fellow skunkitarian. Here he is in his skunk freeing outfit, looking a lot like a yellow Cobra Commander:

Our mission was simple:

1) Free Squirrelly

2) Not get sprayed

3) Document it with pictures.

Since he is good at climbing roofs and I am good at taking pictures, we decided to combine our forces and become Skunk Rescue Squad(tm).

His raincoat is +7 agility btw.

That ladder he was holding? Totally went to getting him up on the roof.

Edward then proceeded to lower this swimming pole down to Squirrelly's cage.

And then he went for the little locking latch.

My pal Squirrelly looked up alertly, which sent me behind this totally protective tree.

Edward loudly whispered toward me that he needed a second pole to get that cage open. So, I got him one.

Take two with the cage.

So Edward is really good at opening cages. Because he managed to get Squirrelly free. I wish I had the escape shot to show you. But here is what happened: The door opened, and then Ol' Squirrelly came out. And I swore it was coming right at me. This is basically the picture that I got:

But he is free.

We think he lives here:

So, I rate my documentary skills at C+. Edward got an A plus plus plus for his Squirrelly breaking free skills.

Wherever there is injustice, you will find him.

Wherever there is suffering, he'll be there.

Wherever liberty is threatened, you will find...

The Skunk Freer Guy.