Ironman!

This summer at Scout Camp, Heathen #1 had a phenominal week!  He came home exhausted but very happy with himself.

This year was the first time he's been old enough to compete in the Ironman competition - the age requirement is 14.  For being one of the youngest competitors, he did really well - he finished in 4th place!

The competition starts with a swim across the width of the lake - approximately 3/4 of a mile.  The swim is followed by a one-mile run.  The last segment is a one-mile canoe paddle to the finish line.

The way the course is laid out, parents can watch the swim across the lake.  Then the run takes the scouts out of sight into the woods.  Then everyone just stands around watching the edge of the lake waiting for the canoes to come into sight.  It is a VERY long 20-30 minutes until the canoes start to arrive!

Heathen #1 did a phenomenal job!  He came out of the swim in 2nd place.  He's never been much of a runner, which is the segment of the competition where he dropped behind a bit.  But he held his own in the paddling.

Considering that he was competing again 17- and 18-year-olds, he did a GREAT job.  I was so proud of him!

Well done, Heathen.

Invasion Of The Baby Flying Squirrel

Last night was... interesting, although I don't know that the Asst. Zookeeper would agree with me.  We went to bed as normal.  Nothing out of the ordinary happening at the Zoo.  Some time in the wee hours of the morning, Duchess and Bantley (the furry Zoo members) went absolutely crazy - running around the first floor of the house barking and growling.  Scared us out of a sound sleep!

As always, the Asst. Zookeeper took it in stride.  He groggily announced that there must be a field mouse in the house and that the dogs would catch it.

I found this to be an upsetting thought - my dogs munching on field mouse for a midnight snack.  While I was sitting in bed, and the Asst. Zookeeper had already rolled over, the dogs started another round of insane barking and came BARGING into the bedroom.  One dog charged around the bed while the second dog opted to charge OVER the bed and the unlucky occupants - those occupants being me and the sleeping Asst. Zookeeper.

After I shrieked my surprise at being over-run by dogs, I jumped out of bed and closed the bedroom door in an attempt to keep whatever the dogs were chasing trapped in the bedroom.  However, I forgot about the small gap under the bedroom door - which was just big enough for the critter's escape route. 

The dogs both charged OVER the bed in their attempt to block the critter's escape and failed to notice that the bedroom door was now CLOSED.  Did you know that when two dogs run head-first into a closed solid wood door in a room with hardwood floors that it sounds like a gunshot?

After opening the door and releasing the hounds into the house to search for their critter, they headed straight for the bathroom across the hall from our room.  They stood and growled at the bathtub and the fur on their backs started to ruffle.  Ready to see a field mouse, I braved a look into the tub - only to find this:

Isn't he cute?  I just want to LOVE him
to pieces!

It was a baby flying squirrel!  And he was ADORABLE!!!  I'm so glad my dogs felt the need to protect the Zoo from such a vicious, dangerous animal - but feel no need to bark when stranger come to the front door.

Although this little guy was loveable looking, I could see small claws as it was attempting to escape the bathtub.  While I wanted to do nothing else but pick him up and cuddle him, I could just hear the Asst. Zookeeper in my head, "It is a WILD animal.  You DON'T hug WILD animals."

But this meant I had to get the poor squirrel outside so that it didn't turn into a squirrel-snack.  So, I headed back into the bedroom to re-wake the Asst. Zookeeper (for the third time that night) and ask him to capture the squirrel without hurting him.

He woke up quite easily - which was surprising.  I made my squirrel-rescue request.  His response?  "If I catch the squirrel for you, can I please go back to sleep?"  Then he just looked at my really hopeful face.  "Get me a pot and a lid."  And off I ran for the kitchen cupboards!

I came back towards the bathroom with a colander and a lid - because that was what was still in the draining rack from the dinner dishes - to find the Asst. Zookeeper standing in the bathroom in his birthday suit and looking at the squirrel in his bathtub.  Did I mention that on warmer nights, the Asst. Zookeeper sleeps in the nude?  Maybe I should have mentioned that - makes a difference to the images of the dogs charging OVER the bed.

Anyway!  I handed him the colander and the lid and the Asst. Zookeeper promptly scooped the squirrel out of the bathtub.  He held it in front of him and proceeded to walk through the house to the back door to release the captive squirrel.

I don't know what possessed me - other than the fact that I was short on sleep at this point - but as the Asst. Zookeeper went to release the squirrel, I yelled, "Stop!  Don't let him go!  What if he's too little to be out by himself?"

At which point, the Asst. Zookeeper turned to look at me with "The Look."  This look says (in the Asst. Zookeeper's voice), "WHY did I marry you again?"

He then turned and set the colander on the porch with the lid still on it.  He looked at me and stated, "I don't care what you do with it.  I'm going to bed."  And he proceeded to walk back to his bed, still naked.

After a middle of the night internet search, I decided the squirrel was old enough to survive on his own out in the world.  I released him and headed back to my own bed, guilt free.

Good night, baby squirrel!

Yup. It's perfect.

On Tuesday of this week, I was having a long day.  Nothing had gone wrong, it was just a busy day and I was really tired by the time the Heathens came home on the bus.  When they arrived home, Heathen #1 came over to give me a hug as I was washing dishes in the kitchen.  He asked what was wrong and I explained that I was just tired.

He gave me a hug and then announced that he was going to put up my bird feeder in front of my kitchen window where I actually wanted it.

Here's the back story:

When we moved into the new Zoo, there was a dilapidated bird feeder on a pole outside the kitchen window.  As the weather warmed up, birds were flocking to it.  I decided that I wanted to replace it with a new one since I could see the feeder and the birds as I washed dishes.

We purchased a new bird feeder.  When I attempted to put it on the same pole, I ran into trouble.  The pole has a plate across the top and the new bird feeder was made with a spike in the bottom to be inserted into a pole.  So I placed the new feeder out in the yard in a tree stump, but I couldn't see it from my window.

Back to current day:
After fussing with the pole to remove the last of the old feeder, Heathen #1 brought over the new feeder.  He removed the spike from the bottom and placed it on the pole.  But he didn't have a way to attach it.  Here was his solution:

Can you see how he attached it?

BUNGEE CORDS!!!

When he stepped back and I realized what he had done, I laughed hysterically.  He came back into the kitchen with a huge grin on his face.  Walking over to me, he gave me a big hug and said, "Now your bird feeder is where you wanted it."  I practically cried.

When the Asst. Zookeeper came home a hour or so later, I was so proud to show him my new bird feeder.  He chuckled as he looked out my kitchen window.  He said, "Let me guess.  We're leaving it that way."

And I said, "Yup.  It's perfect."

1st Overnighter w/ Asst. Zookeeper

The Asst. Zookeeper has been taking the Heathens camping since before they could walk.  But it was something special when he and Heathen #1 went on their first overnighter with the Scouts.  I wasn't sure who was more excited that evening as they set off into the woods together.

This past weekend, it was Heathen #2's turn for that first trip into the woods with just the Asst. Zookeeper.  Since he was old enough, that meant he needed a new external frame pack and a zero-degree sleeping bag.  Here he is all geared-up:

At this point, Heathen #2 was impatiently waiting for the Asst. Zookeeper to finish getting ready (he'd just come running in the door from work!)

When they were finally both ready, they humored me:

I said: "Pretend you are hiking"
Heathen #2: "Really?"
Asst. Zookeeper: "The faster you play
along with your mother, the faster we leave."

I said: "Look like you are having fun!"

I said:  "Pose and look manly!"

Asst. Zookeeper said: "Now point at something and look interested!"

They came home the following morning, tired, smelling of campfire, and thoroughly content.  Heathen #2 had a million stories to tell me - including how they made omelets in a bag!

The Asst. Zookeeper had a very tired, but satisfied look on his face.  His only comment was, "He had a good time."

Heathen in the News!

Last Saturday morning, the oldest Heathen fell victim to my "You should DO this!" mentality.  I'll admit, I have a problem.  I am a sucker for event flyers.  If it is on a flyer and handed to me, I feel compelled to go.  Here's what happens in my brain:

"Wow - they actually made a flyer.  It must be important!  We're absolutely MUST go!"

This is how my Zoo has ended up at bizarre places and doing bizarre things.  Probably the best to date would have been BatFest in the fall of 2010.  My Heathens and friends still make comments about white-nose syndrome and the Heathens want to buy bat houses for the new house!

So Saturday morning started out with a flyer advertising a "badge in a day" program.  Anyone who is involved with the scouts KNOWS that completing a badge in a day is difficult.  Once the boys move into a troop, the badges can be very involved and require very specific materials or equipment. 

I checked Heathen #1's schedule and he was AVAILABLE - so I informed him he was going.  He said okay - but I never told him what time it started in the morning.  Oops.

Since I was already driving Heathen #1 to this, I decided to round up some other Scouts from the Troop to take as well.  We ended up with a group of 8 - all in my Suburban.  It was at this point that I started to question my wisdom.

The boys did finish their badges all in one day.  And were all wound up like puppies when I picked them up in the afternoon since they had been indoors and sitting all day.  It was an interesting ride home, to say the least!

This photo appeared in the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat the following day:

The following day at church, I was swamped with "church ladies" telling me that "your oldest, Tristan" was in the newspaper "in his uniform" and that did I want them to save me a copy of their newspaper.

DNA Surfaces

Every grandparent looks at a grandchild and says, " He looks just like..." or "She looks SO much like...."  It is natural.  It is the only immortality that humans have - what they can pass on to their children. 

I've spent just shy of fourteen YEARS looking at my three Heathens and seeing the Asst. Zookeeper in them as clear as day.  Heathen #1 not only looks like him, but he shares the same passion for the outdoors.  Heathen #2 shares his passion of music and theatre, as well as having the same bone structure and build.  Heathen #3 looks more like him than the other two (if possible) and shares the same social outgoing nature that allows him to make friends without any effort.

While it bothers some mothers to not find themselves in their children, it has never bothered me.  When I can see their father in them, it reminds me of his qualities that drew me to him in the first place.  They are all qualities that I'm glad my children share.

And enough of the mushy stuff!  I finely caught a photo of one of my Heathens that proves he shares my DNA.

In my family, my mother always started a lot of sentences with, "I need someone to..."  This was always followed by a chorus of, "Not It!" from my siblings and I.  When we were little, it many times devolved into a yelling match over who did it last time, whose turn it was this time, and how it was never fair!

As we "matured" (and I use that term VERY lightly), the "Not It!" evolved into this:

The last person to put their finger on their nose was "It" and had to do whatever my mother had asked.  Even as adults, we continue to do this at her house when we are all home.

I don't even remember what I was asking for someone to do last weekend while we were outside.  But I started the sentence just like my mother, "I need someone to..."  I didn't hear any response from the Heathens and assumed that none of them had heard me since they were playing outside.

And then I turned around to find Heathen #1 looking at me with a very smug little smirk on his face.  And his finger was on his nose...  I was so proud!

He really IS my child!

Zoo Visitor

Late last night (after midnight) I was working at the computer in the dining room.  The computer desk sits right beside one of the windows.  With it dark outside, I wasn't really looking out the window much... until a movement caught my eye...


And this is what I found:

He was just hanging on the outside of the window.  And despite the multiple camera flashes, he was very cooperative and held perfectly still!  Here are the rest of the photos I took of my visitor!  I love the reflections that I got in the next two shots.

The little guy hung around for another hour or so, before I noticed that he had disappeared.  I'll be checking the windows at night to see if he visits again!  Did I mention that I LOVE the new house!?!?!