Impromptu Reunion

Well, Mister John couldn't quite make it to his 25th high school reunion on Saturday so instead he met with a few of his Loyola compatriots from 1990.  For those keeping score, he graduated in 1989.  There's Scott on the left and Pete on the right.  Mister John is in the middle with the dorky NASA shirt.  Then again aren't almost all NASA shirts dorky?  Wear it loud and proud, man!

Anyway, Scott, Pete, and Mister John all had children running around at some point during the day.

It is important to note that after all these years, the people that Mister John hangs out with most are still his old HS buddies.  Others may come and go but the Loyola bond remains.

Bunnies Unhappy That Children Get More Attention Than Them

The bunnies are furious that the children get to sleep in Miss Jill and Mister John's bed and not them.  They want their warm TV time as well and they don't seem to be getting any.  They feel like they are literally left out in the cold with mere food and water.  Even that gift of a Purple Castle in both cages seems fleeting.  "Where's my apple cider?" queried a quite irritated Cookie Sue.

No responses yet from the adults.

The bunnies wish the girls could spend a day like them.

Bunnies Not Feeling the Thanksgiving Love

For some unknown reason, the bunnies at the Erb household are not too thankful.  It's that time of year when the humans seem to be thankful for things but the bunnies come off as mildly unappreciative.

The bunnies nailed a seven-point plan on the back door, in much the same manner as Martin Luther did with his 99 Theses so long ago.  Mister John took a look and wasn't sure what to think of it:

The girls are not so happy to swap sleeping locations with the rabbits.

1. Allow more hopping time in the back yard for rabbits.
2. More time inside the house while the little children sleep in the cages.
3. More insulation on the cold winter nights.
4. Satellite TV.
5. Finely engraved carrots.
6. Free towing.
7. More stuffing and mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving Day.

Miss Jill is unsure about some of these (Mister John is perplexed at #6) but maybe compromises are to be had.

Cookie Sue thinking about her demands.

To Bee or Not to Bee

Honeycomb

Bees in our tree

This past weekend Mister John came to the surprising discovery that there was a swarm of bees in the corner of the backyard.  No, not the little Bee Girl from the Blind Melon video, actual bees.  While he was feeding the rabbits, he heard a buzz or two and didn't think much of it.  But then he looked straight up, and there it was, three feet above his head, a large swarm of bees centered around their queen.  Needless to say he was a bit startled and was about to tell Miss Jill that they needed Animal Control.  However, that would have been a bad choice of words as that's the number one calls with a deceased animal.  (Thump.)  Time to call some bee people whomever they may be.  At least someone who will deal with the swarm with funny hats and smoke guns or whatever it takes.

Not exactly in our tree

Some  volunteer on the phone said that sometimes the swarms just leave after a day or two.  Well, the bees seemed to grow in strength.  Minor bit of panicking.  Mister John tried to use the sprinkler and later the hose -- all the while ready to bolt for the den door in case of angry swarm -- but neither of those choices seemed to work.  Time to call the professionals.  It took him about 30 minutes but it was successful as he took the queen and the majority of the swarm with him, leaving us the honeycomb behind.



The beemaster told Mister John and Miss Jill that there was actually a swarm of the Africanized bees at a construction site in Marina del Rey this afternoon.  Wow, the actual "killer" bees.  They're on the Westside!  How can they afford the rent?  That assuredly means that the happy couple will stay an even more distant step from the next bee or two that they will see.

The professional

Beware the New Stick Shift Driver!

Watch out, San Pedro.  Mister John is heading down to San Pedro tomorrow in the CRV... yep, a stick shift.  Jump onto the the sidewalks... find some sort of escape route.  At least the departure from  home will be no later than 6:30 so the roads will still be clear of potential victims.

Dirt Road to Heaven

In the midst of our sojourn through Utah last week, a bunch of us drove northeast to the small town of Tropic, Utah, in order to go on an ATV tour through the countryside.  Uncle Greg, Aunt Lisa, Grampa Charles, Cousins Ryan and Connor, my wife, and I all readied ourselves for an afternoon of four-wheeling fun.  Never mind that I had never ridden one of these four legged things before in my life.  Or I completely lacked all skills regarding stick shift driving.

After getting to Tropic an hour early and seeing all the sites... ok, maybe just the cultural museum (which had an incredibly clean bathroom, thank you very much), we jumped on our rides and headed out into the wilderness.  Oh, but one cannot forget those helmets.  Mine was a bit too tight but I never felt the pain for the first two hours.  That was all dealing with the horrors of not falling off the path or then mis-shifting while driving up a steep hill of loose rocks.  But all was manageable and, yes, I survived.

Miss Jill ready to roll

Looking up from a canyon

Miss Jill also had a blast as she soared ahead at speeds up to and over 40 mph.  Go, Mommy, go!!!  I managed to pass Cousin Ryan and Uncle Greg to catch up to her.  Ah, nothing like having dirt-crusted faces at the end of the day.  But oh the sites to be seen.  After visiting an old mine (later filled in by the Bureau of Land Management, a seeming enemy of the people of Utah), we all rode a steep hill of rocks to get to an incredible mesa.  From there I briefly taped a video of the sweeping landscape.

At least the boots we brought for the hiking worked out for the rides as well.  My boots were initially black... I think they're a touch grey now.  Then again I might want to wash them.

Mister John decked out in glorious splendor

Rabbits Don't Do Brackets

While Mister John looks over his brackets and ponders the fate of his UCLA Bruins, the rabbits in the back yard prepare for another Rabbit Independence Day.  Heidi and Cookie Sue, both new to the household, have helped holiday veterans Ruby Jane and Prince Phillip with their preparations.  Fortunately for the rabbits, the humans don't always know of their independent leanings.  Signs reading "More Carrots Now!" and "Hop for the Right to Be!" have been placed in the backyard.  These have left Miss Jill and Mister John a bit confused... they thought Mary Jane and Betsy were up to something.  Something indeed.

Shocking Secret Revealed: Sequestration Is Starving the Bunnies!!!

Phillip Feeling a Bit Thinner

Betsy (Head Down) Avoiding Comment

 The government stalemate which has created automatic spending cuts has greatly hurt the Mar Vista rabbits, most importantly the four belonging to Mister John and Miss Jill.  According to the new cuts, all expenditures have been sliced by 10%.  This means that across-the-board munching by the bunnies is now down more than it was previously.  According to media representatives of Phillip, his water and food has declined greatly over the last few weeks.  He also says this directly relates to having Ruby Jane forced into his cage.  While he does welcome the warm comfort of the "Brown Bear" in his cage, he does state the food in the bowl is less than it used to be.

Spokespeople from Mister John and Miss Jill vehemently deny these accusations that less food has been going to the rabbits.  "There are almost no oranges left on the tree," said Mister John last Sunday from his luxurious couch in the living room.  "They've eaten almost all of them."  However, the spokesperson for Phillip also added that Miss Jill thought he was "too plump" and "needed to lose some weight."  More denials from the Miss Jill camp.

The children have oddly been very quiet about the supposed rabbit food cuts.  Betsy, as seen in the picture to the left, closed the door to the "Pa Car House" and only requested "Up" after being confronted with the allegations.  Later on that day she took an extra serving of applesauce... this information later was leaked to the rabbits via Paul the Panda.

Mary Jane Cut in Budget Battle

Cookie Sue and Heidi Protest Together

Mary Jane has also been oddly quiet through this crisis.  According to some sources, the rabbits threw a carrot at her and cut her face.  While Mary Jane does deny this -- "Bunny outside" was all she could say about this -- it was seen by many bunnies that the carrots which were to go to the rabbits were ultimately stolen and eaten by Mary Jane and Betsy Jo.

The cruel irony of this whole mess is that Rabbit Liberation Day is on the horizon.  While many humans refer to this day as "Easter Sunday," the rabbits all know this is the day that rabbits will gain their independence from humans by their repeated acts of thumping.  The revolution may be brewing while Miss Jill and Mister John deny all potential revolts.

Mary Jane was finally quoted as saying about this situation, "One, two, three, four... five!"  Indeed.

Bruins Win... Another Season of UCLA Home Games Is Done

 Mister John happily completed another season of tickets for UCLA basketball as he and Mr. Shane watched UCLA beat Arizona by five points.  It should have been more but that's an argument for another day.

Mister John also posed next to John Wooden's statue.  He didn't want to fold his arms and look like Coach.  He'd rather be himself.

Busy Days in the Desert

 As the previous video stated, Miss Jill and Mister John were out visiting family in Arizona over Presidents' Day weekend.  Nothing quite says the desert like riding through the dry wilderness as seen on the picture to the left.  Mister John is looking stylish in his prescription Ray-Bans.  Being cool and being able to see; there's a combo for ya.

Grampa Kendall kept an eye on the girls in the back yard.  Betsy Jo and Mary Jane walked here, there, and everywhere in search of birds, lizards, and rocks.  They found many of each.  Mary Jane was looking for a rabbit in a rabbit hole when suddenly a lizard popped out!  Oh goodness!  Hopefully she won't be afraid of lizards for the rest of her life now.

Here Miss Jill is getting the Desert Mobile ready to ride through the dry Arizona desert.  Not much to show there of cacti.  Some other pictures had them but not with Miss Jill styling behind the steering wheel.  She made sure that she hit the bumps nice and fast to scare her husband into thinking she was trying to kill him.

There's Doug the Dog.  He showed up on Saturday and Betsy and Mary Jane didn't really know what to do.  They prefer rabbits and most of the dogs they have met were of the scrawny kind.  At least Doug was a real sized dog, not one of those who could be carried by idiot Hollywood starlets.

Betsy Jo wasn't big on it at first but she managed to like being carried by her dad in a walking carrier.  He put in a decent hike with her as the sun set behind them in the Arizona desert.  Note: such rosy cheeks in Arizona for Betsy.  Maybe it was the dry climate.  Ironic as she was born in Lake Havasu City... you'd think she were a native city girl with her reaction to the desert.










Miss Betsy struggled a bit with the weather but did get in a solid 2+ hour nap on Sunday.  While the rest of the family thought she was asleep, she broke out of her confinement and Mister John found her smiling.  Guess the nap was over for Miss Bets.

Off-Roading

While Mary Jane and Betsy Jo were napping in Arizona, Miss Jill decided to take Mister John for a ride through the desert.  Due to Mister John's lack of ability to drive a stick shift, Miss Jill took it upon herself to ride through the bumpy desert as seen here.  This is only a 30 second snippet; otherwise this might have been a bit too nauseating to watch.  While Mister John claims that the stadium where the Super Bowl was held is off to the right somewhere, it is quite difficult to see.  Maybe a little pause and some squinting will help.

None of the cacti were injured during the filming of this video.

No Parade for Phillip's Re-Inauguration

Very little celebrating happened on Dewey Street this weekend as Prince Phillip was "reinaugurated" for another term.  The whole word irritates Phillips as he says that princes are not reinaugurated but rather reassure others of their sovereign rule of the land.  Everyone knows of the "divine right of rabbits" and that's just the way it is.

Ruby Jane did not run against him the Bunny Elections in November 2012, as many had thought.  The former rivals are much more amicable these days and share many ideas over blades of grass and orange slices.  There is also one agreement that has united the divided rabbit coalitions since the last election: Mary Jane and Betsy, the two new potential usurpers to the throne.

Mary Jane was born shortly after the previous two-year election cycle started.  Potential human usurpers wasn't even a topic in the previous election debates.  It was only food, water, free time, and airplane noise.  All the rabbits thought that Mister John and Miss Jill were perfectly happy to let their back yard be ruled by long-eared, fluffy tailed overseers.  Alas, that did not seem the case as Mary Jane (and later Betsy) arrived to chase, grab, and laugh at the noble rabbit line.  They felt completely humiliated by little children who couldn't even wipe their noses after sneezing.

"I'm thumping mad," said Ruby Jane.  "No way two little girls -- no matter how cute they are -- are gonna chase us off our lands."

Heidi and Cookie Sue, relative newcomers to the Erb household, really didn't have much of an opinion as their major concern is just food.

Prince Phillip in royal pose.

As for Mister John, he is trying to stay independent of the whole situation.  "It ain't my thing right now," says Mister John, as he types up more Decathlon notes.

The Bunnies Are Serious in the New Year

Only two days into the New Year and the bunnies are already trying to push Daddy over their cliff.  In a surprise act of defiance, Cookie Sue listened to her elder statesbunnies and decided to act accordingly.  After spending a supposedly benign night in the bedroom of Mister John and Miss Jill, she sneaked to the phone jack and went potty over it and shorted out a cord.  Luckily Mister John found some time in the afternoon to find an extra phone cord in the garage.  Otherwise disaster would have struck without phone service and the girls would have fallen over like London Bridge!

Paul Getting Ready to Hang Ten

Showing a bit of profile

No one is more serious about their surfing than Paul the Panda.  He was chilling on his board out in Arizona this weekend.  Why Arizona?  Long story.  He's got a love/hate relationship with that state.  (Recall he was exiled there and left stranded in a children's hospital until an ill Mary Jane rescued him on Christmas Day.)

Getting serious with his board

But this weekend, the Panda was ready to go.  While the other members of the family were tooling around with motorcycles, he snuck off and knocked down some waves.  Yes, waves can be found in Arizona.  You just have to go by one of the canals and have some foolish person ride a boat next to you and create a large enough wake to make you hang ten.  Or in Paul's case... who knows.

Mary Jane was not there to see much of this as she is not allowed that close to too much open water.  In the picture to the right, she was looking quite festive.  Maybe in a few years she and the Panda will go surfing together.  But not until Miss Jill and Mister John approve.

Our Newest Addition

 

Heidi

As you can see here, there is a new bunny in and about the Erb household.  Miss Heidi Faye seems to have much of the same spirit as Cherry Bugg.  We're not sure if she'll bite people on the head but if she just sits on our heads, that's good enough.

Heidi loves to sit in the living and hop back and forth between Mister John and Miss Jill.  She seems quite the sociable bunny but she has not yet interacted with either Phillip or Ruby Jane.  That will be a chapter of its own.

Cherry Bugg Teaches Betsy Jo about Being a Bugg

Cherry Bugg and Betsy Jo

Betsy Jo had her first detailed conversation with Cherry Bugg on August 6th.  While that might not seem significant to many, Cherry Bugg wants to make sure that Betsy Jo -- who will turn a year old in two weeks -- understands the roles in the household.  "Young children can be cute and sometimes quite tolerable," Chee explained to her.  "But ultimately the power in the household lies with the rabbits."  A brief pause as she riased her right ear slightly.  "And with Mister John since he feeds us."

Betsy Jo sat and listened and really didn't have much to say other than her occasional mono-syllabic squeak that she makes.  The Chee came away from the mini-conference with renewed confidence.  "She didn't try to pet me too hard," said the Chee, referencing another little girl in the household who has been notorious in petting too hard.

Betsy Jo agrees

When asked about this year's rabbit election, Cherry Bugg remained mum.  "I don't have much competition unless that lounge singer in the bedroom (Commute Bunny) runs."  I have a good shot at being the leader for the next four years here on Dewey.

Surf's Up?

Somebody is taking the phrase "surf's up" a bit too literally.  Also might want to say, "Watch out for that tree!"

Doe, a Deer? A Female Deer?

Mommy, Betsy, Mary Jane, and a Deer

What about us?

Miss Jill and Mister John took their two splendiferous girls on a summer trip to northern Arizona for a little over a week.  After a brief stop in Lake Havasu City, they continued upward (to an altitude above 7,000 feet) to the Flagstaff area.  But before reaching there, they went a deer petting farm just off the 40 (and Route 66 for that matter).  There the girls were surrounded by a menagerie of animals.  Mostly deer, but a few other animals were found as well like the llamas in the picture on the right.  Always watch out for the llamas on the bus as they spit, spit, spit.

Silly Goat

Boy girls were still a bit under the weather so they didn't completely appreciate the animals around them.  Next year upon the next visit, the girls will be overwhelmed (happily hopefully) by all the creatures.

Doc Gives Cherry Bugg Clean Bill of Health

The Chee abides

Cherry Bugg was irritated this morning that Mister John was taking her to see the veterinarian about a small dental problem.  "I could still bite Miss Jill on the head," said the indignant bunny this morning.  She didn't but the threat always crosses her mind when Mister John and Miss Jill allow her to sleep in the bedroom with them.  For the time being though, she sleeps in the backyard ("with the peasants," as she puts it).

The doctor was very comforting in saying that Chee was quite healthy for someone of her age (eight years old is a bit more on the elder side for rabbits).  "What does he think I should be doing?  Playing shuffleboard?" she quipped at Mister John on the ride home afterward.  He didn't have a response for that but just kept facing forward lest he somehow provoke another comment from "the Chee and only" as she often refers to herself.

Later in the day she received a large amount of lettuce and graciously munched on that.  "No dental problem here," as she glared to any rabbit who would be watching.

Letters Count

It's good to see that Mister John (aka Daddy) and his two girls can spell.  Or at least manipulate the blocks into acceptable words.  The bunnies tried to claim that they created this for Mama Bugg but that fell on deaf ears.  While Mother's Day is a week away, the sign was still appreciated by the main Mama in the family.