Hamster Roll

Your Daily Dose Of Cute

Big Guy

Ushi weighs 42 ounces today - fatter than ever!  Hooray!!!

Seen On The Street

A guy getting a crevice search by a cop in a Falcons jersey.

Entering The Race

We signed one of the soap box derby cars.  Good luck to them!

The View Through Our Sunroof

Midtown Atlanta, outside our old apartment building.

The Week In Review

Well, the biggest thing on our minds has been nursing Ushi back to health. You might remember that Ushi is the fourth member of our family, our Chinese dwarf hamster. He had pneumonia and an eye infection, which are now gone but have been replaced with bowel problems. Well, we are happy to report that through lots of TLC, medication three times a day, and lots of litter changes, Ushi is looking just about back to normal. His next checkup is on Monday, and we are really proud of how well he has let us take care of him and also how well he has taken care of himself through cleaning, eating lots, drinking, and exercise.

Last Saturday was Dad's birthday and Jen's day-before-birthday, and we had a great dinner at Mom and Dad Kelly's house. We were able to buy Dad a whole bunch of losing lottery tickets, which we feel is actually harder to do than to win. Shouldn't he get a prize for that?

After the party, we co-hosted a neighborhood party called Slip 'N' Sip. We made the best Slip-N-Slide-type device, and we were, of course, the only two adults to use it. Matt Conner tested it earlier, but during the party everyone else sat back and let the kids play on it. It was AWESOME! Even though we were co-hosting, we did need to get Chip to bed, and the party went on a little while after we left. We can't wait for next year, and our neighbors are already planning the Halloween party. We have a great neighborhood!

School has been going really well for G, and we are really proud of his schoolwork and more importantly, his behavior there. He is a really great student and a really great kid. He is reading more and more, and his teachers give him lots of opportunities to go way beyond the basic standards.

Matt's and Laura's birthday was yesterday. Wowo is in Michigan celebrating, and we miss her, but Matty is right here at home. We went out to Strip, in Atlantic Station, for steaks and seafood. You might remember it from an episode of Real Housewives, but probably not. (In the photo below, you see Rosa Mexicano, which is next door and is in lots of RH episodes, for those of you who are keeping score at home.) They have fantastic food; Mom's salmon was the best ever, and Matt's and my steaks were maybe second best, heck, maybe even best. The drinks were clever, the service was fantastic, and most importantly, they were happy to have Chip there. For such an upscale place, we were so impressed with the service.

After dinner, we came home for cake and presents. I made the ultimate Matt cake: Alton Brown's fudge cake recipe with Homemade brand mint chocolate chip in the middle. I had used these really cool cake pans to make the cake look like a giant Oreo, or ice cream sandwich, you pick. It was a really great day!

And that was our week; how was yours?

Cute Kid

We just think he looks cute right now.  We are at Moe's.

Date Night

We are at the movies to see Harry Potter, and one guy just walked in.  Other than him, we are the only people here.  Cool!

Fire Eaters

We are at the Winnwood retirement community luau.  We are having a great time, and there are even fire eaters!

After The Party

Walking home from a birthday party (Jordan's) down the street.

Taking Ushi To Vet

Day 5

First Day Of School - Before And After

We had no worries about G on his first day of kindergarten. You can see how excited he was to get on the bus. He got right in line without any direction whatsoever, and he paused on the steps of the bus to turn around and look at us, beaming with excitement.

At the end of the day, we actually thought he had missed the bus because we watched the little kids get off the bus, then the big kids, and still no Chip. Finally, he appeared at the top of the steps, angry because we were there. He had wanted to walk home alone and he was so disappointed to see us there. He's such a big boy.

Suitcase Surprise

The night before we left for Savannah, last Thursday, we pulled out the big suitcase to pack. I pulled out the two other suitcases that are stored in it and discovered a ball of insulation. When Matthew pulled on the insulation to make sure we didn't have any critters in there, this is what we found:

Suitcase Surprise from Patricia Angle on Vimeo.

On further inspection, here is what was inside:

Mice and Mommy from Patricia Angle on Vimeo.

We put them all in a big cardboard box with their insulation, some of Ushi's bedding, and food for the mom. She jumped out (about two feet!) as soon as we put her in the box and ran away. We left the box outside overnight with a little door cut in the side for her to return, but she didn't. We tried both Thursday night and Friday morning to nurse them with a tiny paintbrush - first with warm milk but then with water when we learned that cow's milk is not good for them. They got a tiny bit of hydration, but not much. The biggest of the four was a very good crawler and could move himself around, the runt hardly moved at all, and the other two were somewhere in between.

The veterinarian we took them to Friday morning isn't allowed to disclose their status, but the plan was to give them oxygen (in an oxygen chamber) and fluids, send them to a foster home (to nurse with an adult?), then give them wildlife rehabilitation at the Chattahoochee Nature Center.

Savannah Smiles

We found this little zebra while walking down York Street in Savannah last weekend. It reminded us a lot of the giraffes we found in Kyoto last year. Take a look at this.

Savannah zebra:

Kyoto giraffes:

Please to enjoy the rest of our vacation photos. The weather was great, wish you were there. Our album on Facebook

The Premiere

When the Chipster arrived at school on the bus for his first day of kindergarten today, he was greeted by a red carpet, teachers applauding, music, and bubbles... and paparazzi!!! Yes, Fox 5 Atlanta News was there.

Our Big Kindergartener

Today is G's first day of kindergarten, and he faced it fearlessly. He was so proud to be old enough to ride the bus. There were so many families in our neighborhood at the bus stop, it was a very nice way to begin elementary school.

Sorry part of the video is rotated. We will try to find a way to rotate it, but we at least wanted to post it online for our family and friends.

Really?

Um, Yes.

AVIA Savannah.  They just came in while we were swimming, turned down our bed, left water and chocolates, and organized our stuff.  Yes.

Ahhh...

There can be nothing wrong at a restaurant with a live oak right in the middle of the floor, cicadas buzzing...  and misters and fans keeping us cool.

Knock, Knock...

Crab Shack, Tybee Island

We finally know what the Brociouses have been talking about!

Welcome To Kindergarten

We all went to meet G's teachers and classmates yesterday.  We are extremely pleased with his new class, and he really liked it there.  Here he is with his first assignment - a classroom scavenger hunt.  We think Monday will go very smoothly.
<p>Last night, as we were packing for Savannah, we found four baby mice with their momma in our suitcase.  We put them all in a box, but Mom ran away last night and did not return to them all night.  We took them to a vet ER, where they are getting fluids and oxygen.  They will then get a foster home for some reason and then taken to the Chattahoochee Nature Center to be prepared for release into the wild.  Then they will be released "as close as possible" to the place we found them.  We can't wait for the morning we wake up to a group of overeager college rangers-in-training poking around in our basement with a cageful of mice.  Really, though, they probably won't bring them back to our specific neighborhood.
<p>So a few hours late, we are on our way to Savannah.

Feeding The Ducks

We are at Laurel Park in Marietta with some good friends, and it's a beautiful day.

New Backpack

G picked out his new backpack and lunchbox for kindergarten today.  He chose WALL-E, and we think he looks pretty darn cute.