birthday suprises

As previously reported, my birthday is on the 30th.. AND ... Deb's birthday is today!! (April 1st), for the past few years we have had the great fun of doing a "mommie's birthday party" with both the families being all together!!!

This year we were lucky enough to have all the kids here with us... Nate is home on leave, with Kas, Sadie and Josh were here, so was Lauren, Johnny and Sean.... the kids tried to catch us with those "trick candles" and the holder that the cake is on.... rotates and sings "happy birthday"... it was pretty funny!!!

Now, one thing that I had asked for was a turtle. I don't know why (all of a sudden) I have had an interest in these creatures. So, when I opened my gifts.... I got a turtle... as you can see. NOT exactly what I thought, but it certainly was a turtle!!!

Then on Sunday, we went to Plaistow, NH where I was able to pick out a real turtle!!!

May I introduce to you...."TITUS"... a red ear slider. He isn't exactly what I had in mind, I was thinking of a small green turtle, like we used to get when we were kids.... you know, the ones that lived in the plastic dish with the fake palm tree in the middle and they were about the size of a .50 cent piece, they also seem to die within a few months, and now that I see the care that turtles should have, I understand why!!!! But these days, shops can not sell turtles under three inches (guess you can get them over the internet... but.. who knows) so, I had to go with one much larger than I thought. Titus is about 4 inches and approximately three years old... with good care, he could live to be 15 to 20 years old!!!!

He's already a little too big for the turtle tank that I got for my birthday, but I am just going to have him hang in there a bit until the sunroom is done.

Then I plan on looking around for a bigger tank that will fit in with the decor of the sunroom.

I've only had him a few hours, he's pretty cool... I have had great fun watching him and getting his pics.....he has been eating the "turtle food" I bought, but I guess he's suppose to have a few goldfish a week. Don't know how I feel about that!!but he is a reptile and that's what they do.... so, we'll see.... Ed said I could drop a couple of fish in his tank just before I go out to teach dog classes, and that way I won't have to watch.... not a bad idea.

Let's see, that makes....... 5 cocker spaniels, 2 horses, 1 cat and a turtle in my pet department..... huh!!!!