The Shire

Thanks to Legos, Gryffy has an obsession with Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit. The kid also is madly in love with our bunny, Mr. Tubbins. So we married the two ideas, and made Mr. Tubbins his very own Shire one day while Daddy was at work.

Ridiculous, I know. But we really love that bunny.

 He even has a little lettuce garden, to replace our old square-foot-garden (let's admit it here--I have a black thumb).  Lorelei and Gryffy have been watering the sod, and they helped pick out the green rocks and "Every Bunny Welcome" sign (after-Easter clearance at Hobby Lobby).

 Mr. Tubbins loves his hobbit hole (I laid sod over a plastic bunny igloo), only it's impossible to tempt him out once he wriggles in there, escaping the yapping Next-Doors' dogs or a downpour of rain. Yes, I've spent a sleepless night in a hailstorm peering out our window, waiting for Tubbins to finally evacuate, only to bring him inside at 1:30 in the morning--stubborn bunny! But it makes my heart sing to see our bunny so bouncy and free when he's out of hiding.
Can you spy that tufty white fur tucked back in there?

Peek-a-boo!

(Now we have to work on Daddy to let us get Mr. Tubbins a companion. I'm thinking a Mr. Baggins would make a very nice, fluffy addition to our family.) 

Our New Travel Agent

We tried to hire a travel agent last month. She called us back a couple days later and had decided that our travel plans were just a bit too complex to fit into any neatly bowed package.

'Cause we kind of like to get off the beaten path.

We therefore have hired a new travel agent, all within the family: White Bunny.

 Have I ever mentioned how much these two love each other?

Gryffin is the animal whisperer--they all adore him.

 Lorelei and Gryffy have grown up hearing about my love of travel, and have most of these landmarks memorized. To jog G's memory one day, we sorted them in the laundry room.

 Then, we consulted Mr. Tubbins.

"Tubbins, where do you want to go Mr. Tubbins?" asked Gryffy, extending two cards.

 Mr. Tubbins sorted our entire pile.

 "You can't do both at once, Mr. Tubbins. Try again!"

The next night, we went to dinner at Red Robin and brought these cards with us (along with Yahtzee--Yahtzee and Red Robin are a tradition for us).

Each family member sorted through the cards and listed the five they most wanted to see, in order.

Here are our lists (I think these may end up on a family vision board):

LORELEI: Angkor Watt, St Basil's Cathedral, Gateway Arch (check!), Grand Canyon, Vatican

GRYFFIN: Israel (when he's 7, he says), Grand Canyon, Macchu Picchu, Stonehenge, White House, Christ the Redeemer Statue (okay, he chose 6)

MARK: Sydney Opera House, St. Basil's Cathedral, Christ the Redeemer Statue, Macchu Picchu, Petra

WENDY: Macchu Picchu, Taj Mahal, Israel (and Petra!--can't do Israel without Jordan), St. Basil's Cathedral, Pyramids (in a non-violent world--and I'm not quite sure they're all in order)

We just put a world map in our dining room, with dots on all the places we've visited abroad and on all the places we've lived in North America. Here's to more orange dots one day! Cheers.

We Love Mr. Tubbins

Have I ever mentioned how much our kids love this bunny?

 Smother, actually. Aww, poor Mr. Tubbins.

He just tried to make a dash across the room, but these two bunny catchers caught up with him. He is the sweetest, most mild mannered animal--unlike the two other wascally wabbits in the Connelly home.