Last week started out with a double birthday party on April 7th for our friends, Ella & Lily Fuentes, who are the daughters of Kent's fellow Union graduates, Edman & Michelle Fuentes. Kelli & Michelle also used to work together at Florida Hospital a while back. Ella & Lily's birthdays are just weeks apart, so Michelle & Edman decided to do a combination party this year. Erik is just a few months younger than Lily and they attend the same Sabbath School class. Both girls are super cute.
I will admit to some trepidation when I found out that the theme of the joint birthday party was a Princess Party! I wasn't quite sure how my little boy was supposed to fit into that picture. We were very pleasantly surprised to discover that the party was actually a laid-back affair with a bouncy house as the main attraction. Kent braved the bouncy house with Erik and after a few minutes of somberly checking out the new digs, Erik was pleased as punch to play inside the house or go down the slide - provided Kent was with him, of course! I got to sit & relax with the other Moms. I've included some pictures from the party below - some from the bouncy house and some from playing in their backyard after lunch.
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| Lily & Erik - got Erik looking at the camera |
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| Now we have Lily looking at the camera - couldn't get one with both! |
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| Loving the slide! |
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| Hitting the barrier at the end of the slide - Erik couldn't be happier! |
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| Cheesy smile |
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| My guys! |
Tonight after I got home from work I was playing with Erik in my car letting him roll the windows up and down etc. when I saw Kelli come outside with a look on her face that indicated all was NOT well. She strolled up to the car window and explained that a gecko had gotten in the house. A gecko, which is the technically incorrect term assigned to the common little lizards we have in Florida, had made its way in the house and was using our master closet as an obstacle course leaping from one thing to the next.
I have never been a person that relished touching reptiles, fish, snakes, or really anything without fur. When presented with such situations there is always an internal groan trying to figure out how I am going to trap these things without touching them. A couple weeks ago I had the pool net in the house with its 8 foot handle in a 3 ft wide hallway trying to scoop one off the wall. I was successful in trapping this lizard in my net until 2 seconds later it heroically leaped 10 feet in the air from my net and scurried on the floor under the closet door only for me to have to start all over again. The next day I came back to the hallway and he was back on the wall. This time I successfully nabbed him with a hand towel and proudly escorted him back outside, happy that I had extricated the reptile without having to touch him or resort to clotheslining myself with the pool net!
So presented with yet another lizard challenge…Erik and I searched for another hand towel in the garage and made our way in the house. We moved things around and made noise but there was no sign of any lizard in the closet. Then Kelli came in to explain the last whereabouts of the lizard…a little more looking revealed nothing. Then a lucky (or unlucky) glance on my part to the top shelf of the closet revealed Mr. Lizard sitting on top of Kelli’s duffel bag. Kelli let me hold Erik a little longer to make sure the lizard didn’t leave our sight while she fetched a chair. Upon her return she took Erik, wished me luck as I mounted the chair with my patented towel extrication plan. These little guys are fast so you can’t be tentative. I slowly moved the towel closer and closer to the lizard…planning my snatch. The time came when I thought he’d spook so I quickly sprung the towel on top of him. It’s like an accident, you don’t really remember what happens and you just hope for the best. Unfortunately I didn’t feel him wriggling in the towel (which is tolerable but disturbing).
What I noticed next was a lizard tail disappearing between the buttons in my work shirt!!! At that point, whatever rationale thought processes I had were immediately lost and SEVERE panic set in. I exclaimed to Kelli loudly that “ITS IN MY SHIRT!!!!!” I couldn’t decide whether to take off my shirt or run outside to get the lizard out of the house… so I did both. With speed that may have qualified me for an place on the US Olympic team, I begin sprinting towards the front door as I removed buttons on my shirt. Every time the lizard moved as I sprinted down the halls I would shriek in horror with a corresponding body shiver that no doubt was not flattering to my manhood. I was worried that it was going to climb on my head or worse yet end up in my pants!!!
After Kelli’s initial scream of horror, she proceeded to laugh in disbelief as she followed me outside carrying Erik. Given the speed at which I arrived outside I had not finished unbuttoning the shirt. Even though I had stopped running now I still twisted and turned wrestling with the shirt to remove it. Finally I got the shirt off and frantically scanned for the lizard…not knowing if it was in the shirt or still on me. Somehow I thought constant turning would help. My behavior was so abnormal and psychologically disturbing to watch that poor Erik got scared and couldn’t process the scene. He was sobbing loudly!!! Finally, to my great relief I spotted the lizard on the inside of the shirt I had taken off and I unceremoniously tried to flick the lizard into the bushes. Somehow my shirt ended up on the ground. Not surprising. I’m not sure if any neighbors witnessed this, but if so, the official word is that I was on fire. So collecting myself and resetting the panic button, I went to comfort Erik who thought perhaps that I had gone mad. He calmed down after a few minutes. So, not sure how to nab the next one. Not looking forward to it.
Later tonight Erik and I were riding the plasma car around the house and you guessed it, we spotted ANOTHER gecko. After four days out of town they have apparently taken over the place!!! This one was much smaller. Kelli gladly fetched the towel again. However, this gecko eluded my advances and I have had enough gecko hunting for today. Better luck tomorrow.
This is Kelli again. I so wish that I had caught at least part of the whole scenario on camera or video. It was priceless. I am still laughing after re-reading what Kent wrote. The funniest part to me was the look of horror on Kent's face as he was standing on the chair in the closet and announcing that the gecko was in his shirt! I had thought that it jumped down onto the floor, so I was busily searching for its next hiding spot to tell Kent. I glanced up to see Kent frozen in place and then he tells me where it was! I know that I jumped a little bit and screamed. Then I just started laughing and screaming as I chased Kent through the house, watching him cavort his way to the front door - he really was doing body "shivers" or twists as he ran! I was halfway down the hallway to the front door (not sure why Kent bypassed the garage door to the outside) when I realized that Erik wasn't laughing with me but rather was crying. By the time we got to the front porch to watch Kent do his little dance, Erik had tears pouring down his face and both arms outstretched to Kent crying his name. He must have thought Kent was in terrible pain and it upset him horribly. I tried to comfort him & stop laughing, but wasn't too successful. Erik never really let go of Kent for the rest of the evening. He truly is a Daddy's boy!
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