oh, look! water!

oh, look! fish in the water!

no swimsuit? no problem!

we didn't catch a single fish. surprise, surprise!

not even Snow's magic wand helped (if I had my way with that wand, I would use it to tame Maku's hair a bit)

so we tried our luck on dry land and caught these guys

we set them free when our clothes were dry enough for our next adventure.

mr. merkur is hurt

i wonder what happened. he probably slipped on that little yellow car on the floor. he must be thirsty, i don't see a glass of water on his bedside.

snail hunting

and racing! Snow's snail won. Maku's was second. Mine didn't move at all. Jin wasn't there so we went back with her two days later.

Here we are at the same spot on a different day. The water was darker and so were we. The great race didn't happen; all we found were tiny baby ones, so we spent our time swimming in choppy, murky waters with hundreds of little fish and pieces of jellyfish brushing against our skin.

oh so thoughtful

Whenever there is an occasion for gift-giving, my 11 year old niece, Jin, never asks me what I want. She sits with me and we talk- a lot, about anything and everything. Our conversation a few days ago was about entering middle school; I talked to her about what to expect, and it led to a discussion of that expected thing every girl gets at an unexpected time. I suggested keeping a pouch in her book bag that has all the necessary items. So for my birthday, she gave me this snake. It's a tampon holder. She designed and made it all by herself. I call it John the Tampon-Eating Python. It rhymes. :)

And this is what she gave me for Christmas last year. A bed for my phone. This is where my phone rests, recharges, and waits to wake me early in the morning. I remember talking to her about making a cell phone bed, and she made one just for me! The bed matches my night table and the fuzzy pillow and sheets match my linens -white and a dreamy blue.

one more day

until my birthday!