Davy Crockett Goes Fishing (and Gets His Nails Done)

Thanks to a woefully overtaxed Amazon Prime delivery system, Ford got an extended birthday. 

This incredible costume arrived from Aunt Miss a day or so later and made everyone's lives exponentially better (same for the teenaged neighbor's nine week old puppy, so Davy Crockett is basically in heaven);

and yesterday the Light Up Machine Gun of Horror that he got with his birthday money from Ana and Ata descended upon us. So this is how we watch Netflix now.

 

Ford also was gifted this 99 cent plastic knife from a neighbor kid who outgrew it, and he loves it so much he sleeps likes this.

In what is hopefully "birthday finale" news, I opened a package of Spiderman Legos from the New Mexico Walters just now, and am delighted that I have to work tomorrow and it's Dad Day. He's definitely the Legos guy. We'll send pictures if he survives.

But given that he does this with the kids for fun, that's likely.

Aunt Natalie came through this week with kid-sized masks,

Finley continued to work on her selfie game,

and we fineigled a Ryan pool day during which everyone lived their best lives. But especially Finley.

For the most part, though, these days we divide our time between the driveway (including our jerry-rigged basketball net and Finley's makeshift nail salon)

and our favorite onpost lake; where we feel just wildly, incredibly fortunate to be able to still get really and truly outside.

On days I have to go in to the office, these two fish

 and Finley does Finley;

and we're consistently thankful to have kids who can spend the entire day playing outside with nothing but fishing poles and sticks and peanut butter sandwiches (plus the occasional unicorn onesie, obvi) for entertainment and sustenance. As well as the public spaces for them to do it.

Also, sometimes actual bass are caught. 

It's a stormy night and there are fish to be filleted in my driveway and this is my current view, so I'm signing off to lose at another game of "Hi Ho Cherry-O" and make freezer space for the ingredients of the impending fish pickling project. Wish us all luck.