Arachnophobia

Me and creepy crawly things are not a good combination. I don't consider myself a "girly girl," but throw anything with more than 2 legs or wings in my face and I promise you that a few glasses will break from my scream.

So today, when Max came inside asking me to come take a picture of what Papa had found I was less than thrilled to see this:

And ladies and gentlemen, that is not just any incredibly nasty spider. Take a closer look:

Do you see them? They see you. 

I can't even begin to imagine how many little incredibly nasty spiders are sitting on this very large incredibly nasty spider's back. All I know is that's a whole lot of creepy little eyes and fuzzy little legs. 

Sorry for the abrupt ending, but I have got to go buy all of the Spider-B-Gone that Wal-Mart has in stock!

Bananas in Pyjamas!

09.11.2001

Today we remember. 

We remember where we were on 9/11/01.

We remember what we were doing when we heard the news.

We remember the shock, the pain, and the sorrow that followed

days

months

weeks

and

years

after.

We remember the chaos of planes, fire, ashes, panic.

We remember the bravery of the firefighters, law enforcement officers, and civilians.

We remember the lives lost, and the family members left behind. 

We remember Bush declaring war. 

But aside from the sorrow, we remember the unity of the entire world following the attacks of September 11, 2001.

So as we remember the victims of 9.11 today, let's also remember 

the brotherhood of our nation on that fateful day

the men and women that are still fighting

the fact that not all muslims are terrorists

and most importantly, let us never forget and learn from all of our experiences that 9/11 has given us.

We shall never forget

We shall keep this day,

We shall keep the events and the tears

In our minds, our memory and our hearts

and take them with us as we carry on.

Not Your Average Sunday Evening...

After we got home from the beach on Sunday evening I asked Max to go put on his pyjamas, but first he insisted on putting his seashells in his jar. 

Rob had found a beautiful whole shell at the beach for him and he was excited to add it to his collection. No more than 2 minutes later I heard a bone-shrilling scream come from his room. I dropped everything and ran to him expecting to see blood, but instead I find a hysterical Max under his sheets. After getting him semi- calm he said he was scared of the shell his papa had found for him. A bit baffled, I assumed he didn't like it because it was still a bit green and slimy. So we washed it, put it on the kitchen counter, and went on with our bedtime routine.
About 15 minutes later Max was still going on about his 'scawy sheeshell' after asking again him why he was so scared of it, he said "MONSTER!!!" His genius parents (finally) added 1+1 and realized that there was a little crab living in the shell! No wonder he was terrified of his seashell that starting walking!

Sure enough, when we went to the kitchen we saw our little friend peeping out from his shell. After Max realized he was harmless, he was quite happy to have a very unwanted pet. He named it Lucas and all was good. or so we thought.

Since we were gone all day Monday and Tuesday, it was Tuesday evening before we could get 'Lucas' some food and proper housing. When we got home we were saddened to see that little Lucas was dead didn't seem to be doing so well. By the time we went to bed last night there was no more hope for Max's first pet. Not having the heart to tell Max that he died we decided to replace Lucas while Max was at school today.

Now we can welcome our still very unwanted new pet hermit crab, Lucas #2!

Our Little Fish...

Can officially swim by himself! In the past 3 weeks Max has gone from a guppy to a shark swimming around!

Splish Splash! Do they have a swim team for 3 year olds?

He can even dive 8 feet under to get his diving rings!

Horray!

Max loves to play "rodeo" on his walrus (Bedankt oude buurtjes!)

And like a true cowboy, he holds on 'til the last second!

Here's a video from 3 weeks ago when he first started swimming without wings. Thankfully he's become a bit more, coordinated, since then!

 Max Swimming