Merry Christmas!!

Christmas day has finally arrived.  TOMH&R were so very excited, they had a hard time getting to sleep last night.  Ed & Ted were particularly giggly and anxious but eventually everyone was able to snooze.  They all woke up at the same time, very early, except Emilio, Alphonso and Upyours.  They had stayed up a little extra late to try to get a glimpse of Santa but finally fell asleep in the wee hours.  Finally the others couldn't wait any longer and all yelled "Christmas!!!"   Gustave tried to get them to keep it down so the others could sleep but that wasn't going to happen. 

Ned checked right away to see if Santa had eaten his snack.  The cookies were gone, just a few crumbs left, and the milk glass was empty.  He had also left carrots for the reindeer and they were gone too.  Santa had left a note saying "my compliments to the chef" ... Ned was very pleased, he did a fist pump and said "YES!"

Lola tore open her present ... instead of getting something sparkley she got a bedazzler -- now she can add sparkles to anything anytime!  Ted and Ed got the leather suits they wanted ... including a fedora and sunglasses.  The others said they looked like Yakuza.  They liked that description.  Then Lola bedazzled them, it kinda took the edge off their scariness.

Jorgé and Chico both got sombreros.  Jorgé's was multicolored (because he's so grooooovey) and Chico's was green like his jacket.

Luigi already has a chef's hat so he got an apron that says "kiss the cook".

Fred got a seat warmer to put in his truck or zamboni so his butt doesn't get cold when he's working. 
Ned got a super pak of number 2 pencils.  He was so excited ... they should last him quite a while.  He got right to work sharpening them.

Jed got a spa gift certificate ... he hopes they have cappuccinos at the spa.  Julio got a phonecard to phone mom so she can tell Ed & Ted to cool it.  They wear on his nerves sometimes.

Guerrero was very pleased to get an ipod.  Now when he's sunning himself or practicing his ninja moves he can listen to music and block out Ed & Ted's pleas to teach them.  They're not even close to being ready.

Freddy was very pleased to get a ticket to fly to London and see the queen.  It's been a while since he's been back so he's looking forward to it.

Raoul got a longboard ... with so many of his friends wanting to ride on his skateboard it was getting too cramped.  He'll be able to fit them a lot better on the bigger board.

Pierre got a stethoscope.  He doesn't know how it works but knows that real doctors use them, so he'll wear it with his lab coat to look more official when he's working at the lab.

Gustave will be making his annual trip down to Mexico for Cinco de Mayo this spring, but in the meantime he's up here in the cold.  He got a shell cozy (like a knit hat) to keep him warm.

Al realized how out of shape he was when he did all the running in the Telus commercial so he was pleased to get a thigh-master.

By now it was getting very noisy and Upyours, Emilio and Alphonso couldn't sleep any longer.  They got up to see what Santa brought them.

Upyours got a yoga mat so he can stretch and get more flexibility for when he does his break dancing.

Alphonso got a Tide-to-go stick to remove stains ... now he won't have to wear the biohazard suit anymore!

Emilio just loves being with all his friends.  He didn't ask Santa for anything because he has everything he needs already and is very happy.  Santa gave him a goldfish named Joe.  Everyone took turns pressing their faces against the glass, watching Joe swim around in his fishbowl.  Milio wanted to take Joe for a walk, but Gustave explained to him that goldfish don't work that way.  

Once everyone was done opening their gifts and oohing and aahing at what they all got, they spent the rest of the day playing in the paper and popping bubble wrap.  All in all it was a great Christmas ... they're looking forward to the feast!

TOMH&R goes skiing .....

The gang decided to head up to the hills and go skiing!  They all put on their snow gear and bundled up nice and warm.  They put on their snowsuits, hats, mittens, boots, all different colors.  Lola was all in pink, very bright and sparkley.  Alphonso wore all white, which didn't turn out to be such a great idea.  They all lined up for the chair lift patiently and took their turns heading up the mountain.  One by one they got to the top and started to ski.  It was their first time skiing so they took it easy at first but it didn't take too long before they got the hang of it and went blasting down the hills.  

Jed liked the chair lift so much that he just rode up and down on it drinking cappuccino all day, enjoying the scenery.  After he was done riding he just went into the lodge and read his cosmo with cappuccino by the fire.

Alphonso went zooming down the hill and wiped out ... everyone looked all over for him.  With his white snowsuit he was nearly impossible to see!  Finally Pierre saw his skis and the top of his toque sticking up out of the snow and they rescued him.  Gustave told Fonso to put on an orange suit instead so he wouldn't get lost again.

Fred's used to the cold weather from driving the zamboni, so he didn't mind it a bit and was a pretty good skier.  Jorgé was in a psychedelic colored snowsuit and yelled "groooooovey!!" all the way down the hill. 

Gustave surprised everyone.  He used a snowboard (obviously ... he can't hold ski poles) and he was awesome!  He learned to do tricks from watching the Flying Tomato (Shawn White) and was flipping around all over the half-pipe, doing 360º and 720º flips and spins.  Everyone just stood back and watched in amazement.

Upyours was also very skillful at skiing ... he didn't even need any practice runs to get started, just headed for the pro slope and took off.

Al was content to just watch, he's still very tired from all the running he had to do on the commercial last week.

Ned didn't ski very much, he was still working on the correct cookie to milk ratio for Santa and finally got it figured out.  He decided that chocolate, chocolate chip with white chocolate chips cookies would be the ideal cookie to leave out for Santa.  The others agreed.

After they were all done skiing and snowboarding, they decided to make snow-hedgehogs.  They each made a big snowball and used pine needles for the spikes.  Fonso just drew his prickly spines on since there weren't any white pine needles for him to use.

When they were all done playing and all tired out  they headed inside.  They had pasketti and meatballs for dinner.  Alphonso had a new biohazard suit to wear to help him keep clean but he didn't risk having sauce, just to be safe.

After dinner they did karaoke.  Jed sang "Great balls of fire".  Ned did his own variation on Elvis' Houndog song ... "You ain't nothing but a hedgehog".  He loves Elvis songs.  Lola had to sing in between everyone else, she loves to sing and usually hogs the mike.

When they were done singing they all lined up on the couch sitting side by side with a long scarf draped across all their laps, their little feets all poking up in front.  They had hot chocolate with little marshmallows and watched "Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer" on tv.  Ted and Ed were trying to act out the movie while watching it, until the others yelled "down in front!".  They badgered Guerrero a bit to see if he'd teach them some ninja fight club moves, but he still says they're not ready.

Not long now!!!

TOMH&R are getting so very excited about Christmas coming up soon!  They've all been very busy getting ready and trying to keep themselves occupied so the time flies by faster.  

There was a new character around a few days ago who showed up again last night.  He's a yellow labrador puppy named Pupparazzi.  He loves to take pictures and be in pictures.  The other day he was following the gang around snapping pics of everyone.  Last night he was busy working on a toilet paper commercial, he was auditioning for the part of the puppy who runs into the stack of toilet paper.  He had a very busy day with all the retakes and was very tired by the time they were finished.  Ed & Ted giggled every time anyone said "toilet paper".  

Ned has been very busy calculating the proper cookie to milk ratio for Santa.  He's been baking lots and lots of cookies .... chocolate chip, oatmeal, raisin, molasses, sugar, shortbread and even bought some fig newtons and oreos ... to make sure he has exactly what Santa likes.  The fig newtons kept disappearing though, Al loves fig newtons.    He needed the extra energy after running around on the Telus commercial all day, that was a lot of work ... he was all tired out.

Ed & Ted were very diligent in testing each batch of cookies Ned made.  They weren't very helpful for input though, they love cookies of all kinds and just filled their faces.  They kept singing "That's amoré", thinking it meant "give us more cookies".  They were on such a sugar high that they were bouncing around all over the place.  Guerrero was practicing his ninja moves so they tried to copy him but they weren't very successful, too much sugar.  Guerrero kept muttering under his breath "lack of discipline" and shaking his head until he finally just gave up and went to sleep in the sun.

Finally Ned had to whip up a batch of eggnog with rum in it for the twins so it would put them to sleep a while and give everyone a bit of peace and quiet.  They were driving him crazy with their antics.

Everybody loved Ned's cookies and were quite eager to test them with milk ... all went around with a milk mustache.  Alphonso had chocolate milk so he ended up with a brown mustache stained on his face ... the others laughed and kept saying "hi hitler" (they didn't know it's "heil", not "hi") to him.

Fred's been on vacation all week with no home hockey games, he'll be back on the zamboni soon but is enjoying his time off.

They're all so very excited for Christmas.  Gustave has been reading "The Night Before Christmas" to Ted & Ed every night, they're just waiting for the night it comes true.  Not much longer now!

Getting very excited!!!

All the TOMH&R friends can think about lately is Christmas ... they're all so very excited!  After they put up their Christmas branch/tree they decided they needed to decorate the rest of the house too.  They gathered up the pictures they had taken with Santa and covered the walls with them, replacing everything that was already hung up.  They hung their stockings all in a row and kept checking to see if anyone put anything in them.  Ed and Ted put themselves in charge of garland.  Ed took ahold of one end, Ted on the other end and they started to spin.  They ended up standing side by side all wrapped up in garland with just their feets and faces poking out.  Then they ran all over the place as a 2-headed garland ball, giggling and falling over the whole time.

Ned has decided to keep the time machine on the back burner until the holidays are over so he can focus all of his attention to it without distractions.  

Fred is still working at the rink doing the zamboni in between periods but he had to tell the others not to go watch him anymore, too much trouble.  They understand and are fine with it, they know he takes pride in his work and they don't want to mess it up for him.  His favorite part of driving the zamboni is when they take a break and sit in comfy chairs drinking hot chocolate with baby marshmallows.

Emilio had a great surprise for Al.  It seems that Emilio knows "a guy" and got a fake nose/moustache/glasses costume for Al so he can get back into Vegas.  What a pal that Emilio is!

The gang tried to get Ed and Ted untangled but then decided to leave them be for a while, they get into less trouble if they're confined and they're having a good time all tangled up anyhow.  Everyone loves singing Christmas songs ... they replace words in the regular songs with "hedgehogs" as much as they can.  Like "we wish you a merry hedgehog" and "hark the herald hedgehogs sing" 

What a silly bunch they are, and SO VERY EXCITED!!!

Christmas time's a'comin!!!

TOMH&R have been very busy for the past week or so writing up their Christmas wish lists so they'd be all ready when it came time to go see Santa at the mall.  Finally after reviewing them a few times, checking to make sure everyone was set to go, they all trekked off to see Santa.

They lined up and waited their turn with so much excitement and nervousness.  It's not every day you get to see someone like Santa!

One by one they got on Santa's lap and whispered in his ear what they wished for Christmas.  The only ones that didn't whisper were Lola (she wants sparkly bling of course) and Ed & Ted (they want leather suits for Fight Club).  They got individual pictures of each of them sitting on Santa's lap with a big smile (remember - they think the more teeth you show, the better the smile, always ends up looking more like a toothy grimace than a smile).  Then they all piled up on Santa for a group photo before leaving.

The chatter all the way home was about Christmas excitement and how great it was to see Santa, everyone very much hoping they get what they asked for.  Along the way they decided it was time to get a Christmas tree.  Obviously they couldn't get a whole tree, they're much to small for that, so they settled on a large branch.  After a lot of heave-hoing they hoisted it onto Raoul's skateboard and pushed it home.  They found a nice place to put it and strung up some cranberries and popcorn to decorate it.  They kept having to string up more, a lot more than it should have taken for one little branch .... someone kept eating it, we don't know exactly who it was.  They tried putting icicles on but they kept melting so that idea had to be scrapped.  They strung up lots of lights and were a bit disappointed that they weren't the blinking kind, so instead they all sat there and blinked their eyes to simulate the effect. When they were all finished I made them some pasketti for dinner.  Everyone ate and burped and went to sleep, dreaming about Christmas.

It's music time!

The hedgehogs and friends LOVE music!  Usually they just sit and bob their heads in time to the tunes, they call it the "hedgehog bob".  Now they've decided to put their talents together and form a band.  

Emilio was tickling the ivories on piano, Freddy was plucking on a cello and spinning it around between sets.  Pierre was on guitar and UpYours played trumpet.  Guerrero was smooth on the sax.  Being a hillbilly, Jed doesn't play a fancy city-folk instrument, but he does play the jugs so he was blowing on his jug in time with the music.  Lola had the tambourine and did some singing ... she was very sparkly and glittery.  Gustave  sat on the piano and hummed along.  He started out sitting on the piano strings but got bounced around too much.  He tried going rock but that made it worse so Emilio moved him to sit next to the keys so he wouldn't get bobbled all over the place.

Of course Ed and Ted played the drums.  They drummed with their drumsticks and also just bounced around on the drums themselves.  TOMH&R's favorite song is the theme to "Hawaii 5-0" ... Ed and Ted go crazy at the middle part when the music changes.  

Everyone in the band wore cool sunglasses, supplied by Jorgé.  The whole gang danced and had a great time.  

The only one that didn't join in was Ned.  He decided to take this time alone to work on a time machine.  Ed & Ted had tried to make a wormhole one time but that didn't work out so well, plus they couldn't find any worms.  Ned got books from the library to work on it and was trying to get some extra work done without anyone bothering him.  He's not done yet, still got a long ways to go.  He uses Pierre's friends from the lab as guinea pigs, since they actually ARE guinea pigs.

Ed & Ted haven't given up on joining Fight Club.  They keep badgering Guerrero to teach them some fancy ninja moves but he still says they're not ready.  They even chose code-names for themselves ... they want people to call them "Mayhem" and "Havoc".  Nobody does though, they still just call them Ed & Ted.  The other day Guerrero was sleeping in the sun (he is a cat, after all) and they were trying to get his attention.  They stood in his sunshine and made shadows on him, then lifted up one eyelid to see if he was awake or not.  He just ignored them and went back to sleep.

It's fall!

Everyone in TOMH&R loves every season, each for its own reasons and all the fun things they can find to do all year round.  They especially love the autumn when the leaves are falling.  Lola thinks it's very pretty, all the lovely leaves and colors.  She also loves to play in the leaves, just like all the others. (we seem to be rhyming a bit today)

On such a bright sunny day they decided to go out for a walk through the neighborhood to check out all the leaves.  Pierre had come to visit from the lab so he was really looking forward to it.  The leaves were EVERYWHERE!  Nobody had ever seen so MANY leaves at one time!  People had raked their yards into huge piles of leaves.  At first everyone just walked around on the sidewalks oohing and aahing at all the bright colors.  Then they couldn't resist it any longer.  Ted and Ed took off like 2 spinning tornadoes and headed for the biggest leaf pile they saw.  WHOOOSH!  There were leaves flying around in all directions ... falling down on the gang like rain!  Al watched from a tree, enjoying the swirl of colors from above.

All the hedgehogs, Raoul, Freddy, Guerrero, and UpYours were having a great time rolling around and throwing leaves all around.  Suddenly Emilio shouted "Everybody stop!  Where's Gustave?"  They all stopped throwing the leaves and stood very still as things settled down.  They looked all around but didn't see him anywhere.  Then Alphonso spotted a leaf moving along very slowly.  He lifted it up and there was Gustave underneath it.  They put Gustave into Ned's backpack so he wouldn't get lost again, then they carried on with the playing.  Gustave appreciated that a lot.

When they were all tired out from playing in the leaves and had made a huge mess of every yard in the neighborhood, they all headed back home.  They were very hungry!  Luckily the night before they had made a bunch of pb & j sandwiches in preparation for the next day.  They had made a HUGE mess of it but managed to get a lot of sandwiches made so everyone would have some.  Of course there was one without jelly for Alphonso, and Gustave still had plenty of licorice leftover from Halloween.  They all feasted on the sandwiches with milk to wash it down, then after Lola was done burping they laid down and took a nap, all tuckered out and full.

Happy, hungry halloween hedgehogs!

The hedgehogs and friends were very excited about halloween.  They love candy!  But first they had to brainstorm about what to dress up as.  First they all wanted to be ghosts, but it was unanimously decided that it wasn't a great idea.  For one thing, those with spiny spines would poke holes right through the sheets, plus it's not very original.  And since they left it to the last minute they didn't have time to go shopping for costumes.

Finally Gustave said he was going as a rock.  He just needed someone to  carry him around, so they all took turns, no biggie.  Guerrero took off his ninja gear and went as Garfield.  Freddy went as a gecko and UpYours was a ninja turtle (he wore Guerrero's ninja stuff).  Raoul walked around saying "eeeehhhh what's up doc" so people would think he was Bugs Bunny.  Al was Hootie with no blowfish.  The hedgehogs huddled around brainstorming a while, then all at once they shouted "porcupine!!!"  Once this was settled off they went.

They went all over the neighborhood to every single house they could get to, shouting "Trick or Treat!!" and filling up their bags with candy.  Raoul brought along the skateboard so they could load their treat bags on for easier traveling through the streets.  Finally when all their halloween bags were full of candy and everyone was tired they headed for home.  The hedgehogs have short little legs and were very tired from all the walking, so they came up with a neat idea.  They all stood in a circle facing outwards, then everyone slowly backed in to the center of the circle until their spines all locked together, then they just rolled home in a big hedgehoggy ball.

Once they got home they unlinked their spiney spines and tumbled loose.  Everyone dumped their candy out.  Gustave said they could all share his candy as long as they let him have the licorice, so they all went along with that.  Then they traded their favorites back and forth until everyone had what they liked.  Time to dig in!  Of course chocolate was a big favorite for everyone (except Gustave) and they all gobbled up some of that right away.  Lola let out a loud "buuuurrrrrrppppp!" Then with full bellies, tired feets, chocolate faces and sticky fingers they all laid around on their backs with round, full bellies and went to sleep.

Buddies, bouncing, and brownies!

Ned just loves to read.  He reads everything ... from text books to history books, novels, fairy tales, poetry, how-to books, science journals, you name it.  To help out Pierre he decided to read a book about locks and keys.  He read it thoroughly a few times, and then got to work and made a key that would open the cages at the lab so Pierre could let his friends out to play with the gang.    They were so grateful and had a great time all day on the loose.

Today TOMH&R decided to play on a trampoline.  First Emilio got on, tentatively did a few bounces until he got the hang of it, then he was bouncing all over the place.  Lola, Jorge, Chico and Luigi got on and bounced with him .... Yippee!!!  Then they got off and let the others have a turn.  Fred, Ned, Jed, Ed, Ted, and Julio got the next turn.  Gustave got on too.  First he used his snail foot to hold himself steady on the trampoline, just kind of went up and down a little bit. Ed and Ted were bouncing like crazy, landing on everyone else all over the place.   Gustave lost his grip and went rock, went flying off the trampoline and landed on the grass.  Al had no interest in it at all.  Upyours went on by himself and did some fancy breakdancing moves each time he bounced.  Guerrero had some wicked ninja jumps he wanted to practise ... Ed and Ted watched in awe.  Freddy didn't bother trying the trampoline ... after the skateboard and pneumatic tubes he knows he doesn't have the stomach for these things.

Pierre and his visiting friends from the lab got on, and this time Alphonso decided to give it a try.   Just then, Raoul came along and jumped on ... they all went flying in every direction.  Fortunately Alphonso didn't land in the mud, but he did get some nasty grass stains.  He'll have to work pretty hard to get those out.

Then they all went home for some brownies.  They love chocolate!  Everyone got pretty hyper from the sugar rush and wanted to go trampoline some more but they figured they should take a break and sleep it off.  After the snack and the nap Pierre took his friends back to the lab.  He'll keep the key in a safe place so he can have them over to play anytime he wants.  They were very grateful for the day out to meet TOMH&R.

At the Library ....

Tomh&r decided to go to the library.  They didn't want to settle for a small town library, no way ... they went straight to the huge one downtown.  After enjoying a few trips up and down the escalators they finally decided it was time to find some good books. 

Alphonso went straight to the  Origami section to learn how to fold origami napkins.  He had one with him, as always, and started right in.  He fumbled it up a few times and ended up with a folded up gob of nothing until he finally figured out the knack and made a lovely origami swan.  Now he'll have to get a new napkin for dinner time so he doesn't mess up his art.

Lola headed for the joke book section.  She was looking for a "1001 fart jokes" book but didn't find any.  She settled for one called "Really Stinky fart Jokes" and thought it was hilarious.  She told the others jokes all day long.

Ted & Ed wanted to get a book on how to make a vortex or a black hole but it had to be a picture book because they don't know how to read.  Gustave spent the day teaching them.  Good thing they're fast learners.

Luigi looked up cookbooks.   Pierre was looking for instructions on how to build a meth lab to make a few extra bucks but couldn't find anything.  The security people were giving him funny looks so he gave it up.  

Ned chose some light reading like Pride & Prejudice and War & Peace.  He put them in his backpack and as soon as he put it on, he fell backwards from all the weight.  This happens to UpYours all the time so he gave Ned some tips on flipping back upright.  Ned was very grateful for the help.

Freddy was trying to find a book on how to kill flies (for his crumpets) without squishing them.

They looked all over for Jed, he seemed to have disappeared.  Finally they found him in a corner with a cappuccino  reading Cosmo. Oh dear.

They toured the whole library, from the bottom floor all the way up so that everyone got a chance to look for whatever interested them.  Al helped them out with the books on the top shelves by knocking them down for easier reach.

Finally it was time to go home.  Ned's backpack was full, but at least he mastered walking upright without falling on his back again.  UpYours has a very roomy shell and carried quite a few books in there.  Raoul had brought along his skateboard and carried the rest on it.

When they got home they discovered a new friend had arrived.  It was Guerrero.  He's a fluffy orange cat.  He's also a ninja, or thinks he's a ninja.  He wears a black mask and his fluff sticks out all around it.  Guerrero is Ed & Ted's idol, they keep badgering him to teach them ninja moves for Fight Club but he says they're not ready.

Time to be thankful!!!

It's Thanksgiving!  Emilio and Alphonso have gathered all of their friends together for a great Thanksgiving meal.  They had all the usual Thanksgiving type food .... roasted turkey, mashed taters, yams, carrots, stuffing, cole slaw, cranberry sauce, pickles, rolls, and scrumptious cheesecake for dessert.

They also added everyone's regular favorites to the meal ... pb & j sandwiches, plain pb sandwiches, pasketti & meatballs, chimmichangas, grapes (peeled), chocolate covered raisins, licorice, fig newtons, crumpets with flies, and for drinks there was milk, cranberry juice, lem onade, cold beer, and gatorade.

Everyone lined up and sat together at the table with wide eyes and drooly mouths.  Their noses were sniffing like crazy, what a glorious feast!  Gustave was seated at the head of the table.  Before they ate he had a request.  He wanted them to go down the line and each one say something they're thankful for, then something they would wish for.  It started out well, with Emilio saying he was very grateful for all his friends ... his wish would be to have even more friends.  UpYours was thankful for his sturdy shell, he wished that they would all be together forever and always.  how sweet.

Then things started to go a little askew ...

Alphonso was thankful not to have to sit next to Luigi so he wouldn't get splattered on.  He wished for stain repellent and an SOS pad (steel wool).

Lola was thankful that she's so beautiful and wished for bling. Gustave rolled his eyes and went on to the next one.

Ted & Ed were thankful for all the fun and adventure they always have.  They wished for more fun and adventure.

Chico and Jorge were both thankful for being so grooooooovy and for their brotha from anotha motha (each other).  Chico wished for chimmiCHANGas.  Jorge didn't wish for anything, he's happy as he is.

When Gustave asked Luigi what he's thankful for, he said "that's amore!".  We're not sure he understood the question.  Then he wished for pasketti.

Ned was thankful for books, wished for more books.  I get the feeling they thought the wishes were going to be granted by a genie or something.

Fred was thankful for his truck and zamboni, he wished for an airplane.  He's unstoppable!

Jed likes the city (remember, he's the hillbilly) and is thankful for cement ponds.  He wished he had a toothpick.  He currently chews on a piece of straw or grass ... a toothpick wouldn't wilt and die.

Julio/coach was thankful for his whistle.  Raoul was thankful he's so soft and fluffy.  Neither of them had a wish.

Al doesn't participate in many of the gang's adventures and he's very grateful for that.  His wish was "Vegas baby!"  or maybe Atlantic city if he's still banned.

Freddy was grateful for dramamine to help him with motion sickness.  He wished for health and happiness for everyone.  aww, so sweet of him.

Pierre was thankful for his laboratory and wished for the key to the cages so he could release his other "co-workers".

Finally Gustave was just grateful for his wisdom.  He's very old and very wise and has seen and learned a lot from life and his many friends.  He's thankful for them all.  He's very happy and had nothing to wish for.

Once all this jibber-jabber was done with it was time to dig in.  Alphonso tied a napkin around his neck and they started passing the food around.  For a few minutes it was a lot of "please pass this .... " and "please pass that ..." so everyone got a little bit of everything.  Nobody had ever had cranberry sauce or pickles before and they all wanted to try them.  It was similar to when they had salt & vinegar chips ... they took a bite, made a sour face, then kept on eating them.  Yum yum!

A few minutes into the meal someone noticed some strange marks in the mashed potatos.  They almost looked like feetprints.  They asked Gustave if he had any help making the dinner and he reluctantly told them that Ed & Ted had volunteered to mash the taters.  Apparently they decided the best way to do that and get them all whipped and smooth was to spin around in them like a tornado.  They were supposed to sweep out their tracks but must have missed a few.  Ed & Ted sat there with big smiles and looked around the group, waiting to see if they did a good job.  Everyone agreed that they were the smoothest taters they'd ever had.

When they finished their dinner they went on to the cheesecake for dessert.  It was so rich and yummy, between them they ate the whole thing.  Then they sat back with full round bellies and took a nap.  All far from the sweet yet gassy Lola.  Everyone was very full and happy and thankful for each other.

tubes and Pierre

The gang went to the hospital to visit Pierre.  Pierre is a pale rodent in the hospital laboratory who takes part in experimental projects.  Yes, he's a white lab rat.  He wears a lab coat and sometimes latex gloves, a mask or protective goggles when necessary.  When they got to the lab to see him he had a surprise for them.

He took them all over to a neat little gadget in the wall of the lab.  It was a pneumatic tube system that they use to get test samples from one place to another within the hospital.  He had it all set up and ready to go.

UpYours couldn't fit in the tubes so he was in charge of the hats and coats while the others were gone.  Raoul tried and tried to get into a tube.  First he went in head-first and his big fluffy butt was sticking out.  Then he tried to back in, but his furry cheeks and head wouldn't fit in, so he had to sit out with UpYours.

The others paired up to take turns in the tubes.  First went Julio with Freddy.  They got in the tube and Pierre pressed the button.  The tube took off through the hospital ... up, down, sideways, like a roller coaster at top speed.  They should have known better than to let Freddy go after the skateboarding incident ... he just doesn't have the stomach for these things.  He ralphed his crumpets as soon as he staggered out of the tube.  Then Emilio and Alphonso went.  They could be heard shrieking and giggling all over the hospital from the time they took off until they returned.  Then Ed & Ted zipped off.  Next went Chico and Jorge, then Fred & Ned, then Jed and Luigi.  

Gustave went with Lola.  He needed someone extra fluffy to go with so he wouldn't just bounce around all over the tube during the trip, plus Lola is quite "gassy" as they learned after she had meatballs, and nobody wanted to be stuck in a confined space with her for very long.  Gustave didn't mind and had a great time.

They all took a few turns through the tube system and then they all went home to leave Pierre to finish his work.  

Julio / Coach

 We have a new addition to the gang ... he's another hedgehog (regular size) and his name is Julio.  He is the big brother to Ed & Ted and is here to keep an eye on them so they don't get out of control.  

The twins are a bit embarrassed about having their big bro around, so they call him Coach instead.  They got him a snazzy red ball cap to wear and a whistle for around his neck so he looks the part.  They tell everyone he's their Fight Club coach.  

The rest of TOMH&R calls him Julio, because they know who he really is, but Ed & Ted are in denial and keep calling him Coach.  He knows they're troublemakers and he's one of the few around that they actually listen to, so the rest are glad to have him here.  He really likes the whistle.

new hats!

Ever since Jorgé's cowboy hat got all fluffy in the dryer, he's been scouting around for a new hat.  He finally found one!  He loves his new "three muskateers" hat, thinks it makes him even more groooooovy looking, especially with the fancy feather!

 

He's not the only one that got a new hat.  Luigi found this "chef boyardee" hat to wear.  

It was intended to just wear when he's making his pasketti, but he loves it so much he wears it all the time. 

Very snazzy indeed!

Lunch in the cafeteria

Everyone was hungry and ready for lunch.  Chico and UpYours volunteered to provide the food.  Chico strapped a ScoobyDoo lunch box to UpYours' shell and off they went to meet the others at the cafeteria.

When they arrived everyone was at the table, eager to see what they brought to eat.  

Chico unstrapped the lunch box and opened it up.  He took out a peanut butter & jam sandwich, passed it to Jorgé, who passed it to Freddy, then on to Lola, all the way down the line until everybody had one.  At the bottom of the lunch box was a single peanut butter (no jam) sandwich for Alphonso.  

Then he got out the milk.  It was in a ScoobyDoo thermos with 16 straws.  They loved their pg & j sandwiches, and Alphonso was very grateful to have his with no messy jam.  Each one would take a big bite, chew it up - nom, nom, nom - then pass the thermos around for a drink.

For dessert they had a big juicy apple.  It was peeled and cut into 14 slices.  Ted & Ed ate the peels and the others ate the apple.  

While they ate they brainstormed about their next adventure.  Someone suggested (as a joke) that they could rob a bank.  Since Gustave is the smartest he would be the leader.  Like Oceans 11 they would be called Gustave's 16.  It was mutually agreed that this was a bad idea and that they've been watching too much tv.

Catapults, races, and meatballs!

Jorge and Chico came upon a large wooden fence and were very curious as to what was on the other side.  So Chico got a large kitchen serving spoon and set it up on a rock like a teeter-totter.  Jorge sat in the scoop part, then Chico jumped on the handle.  But Al distracted him and Chico's jump went bad ... Jorge went woooooooooooo through the air, then *SPLAT* into the fence.  So they tried again with a bit more oomph in the jump.  This time Jorge went over the fence and into the yard beyond.
Everyone sat quietly and waited and worried and wondered where he was.   They started talking amongst themselves to see who should go looking for him.  Then he came running back from around the other way with a huge chihuahua chasing him.  Fortunately the dog was tied on a leash in the yard and he got yanked back when he ran out of chain.

They moved on to the next yard.  Chico set up the spoon, Jorge got back in the scoop.  Chico jumped and Jorge went weeeeeeeeeeee up in the air, then down below the fence line.  They waited and listened .... then they heard SPLASH.  This time he landed in someone's pool.  The people that owned it were outside and thought he was "pool junk" and threw him back over the fence.  He did a tuck and roll and landed safely, but wet.  He was too cold to walk home so he sat in the spoon shivering and Chico dragged him home.

They got home and he stripped off his wet coat and cowboy hat.  They couldn't reach to put it in the dryer so they all stacked on top of each other's shoulders to reach.  Then they all sat back and waited. Once the dryer buzzed that it was finished they got his clothes out.  The jacket was nice and warm and dry, so he put it on.  But his cowboy hat got fuzzed up in the dryer.  He tried to smooth it out as best he could, but it was still way too fluffy looking so he said Lola could have it.  He'll have to get a new one.

Then they all decided to have a race.  Emilio and Luigi wanted to use a shopping cart ... they found one and started taking it down the street but it turned out to be a homeless dude's house and he chased them.  They managed to get away with it though.   

Raoul still had the skateboard, Gustave had a convertible '57 Chevy Bel Air model car with Lola in the passenger seat, Ed & Ted found a barrel with no top or bottom, Alphonso got a hamster ball to use like a bubble.  

They got all set up at the top of the hill and waited for Al to whistle to start the race.  Ed & Ted were anxious to get going ... Ted stuck his head out the end of their barrel to try to get a head start but ended up starting too early, then he fell out so they had to have a do-over.  So they all got lined up again, Al hooted and down the hill they went.  Ed & Ted were bouncing around in the barrel as it rolled, giggling and having a great time.  It ended up not really being a race, just a fun trip down the hill.

Then they all went home and I made them meatballs for dinner, one meatball each.  Alphonso had to rinse the sauce off of his so he wouldn't get dirty and sat in the corner so nobody would splash on him.  They didn't have a large variety of drinks so they all shared cranberry juice (except Alphonso of course, he had water).  They were all very full and laid around on the floor with full round tummies.  

Then the burping started.  One would burp and everyone would giggle.  Then another one would burp.  Then Lola let out a huge long belch and everyone was surprised and thought it was hilarious.  They all went to sleep holding their full little bellies and Lola burping all night.

Zamboni!

Fred (the hedgehog, not to be confused with Freddy the chameleon) got a job driving a zamboni at hockey games when he's not driving his semi. 

He was very excited on his first day this past weekend, but he didn't expect it to be so SLIPPERY!  He was veering all over the place.

He had the left-hand side of the arena to do, the other zamboni driver was doing the right-hand side.

He wasn't sure how close he should or could drive to the outside wall so he went very close.  It made it much easier to drive straight but he scraped off all the ads with the zamboni and the ad guys had to come put new ones on.  When he got to the far end he gassed it and fishtailed all over the place, then cleared wiggly lines right down the middle of the ice.  The other guy had to go behind him and smooth it out.

Al sat on top of the glass to watch from above, the others sat on the side ledge with their faces pressed against the glass.

It only took him one intermission to get used to it, he did much better the next time around.  He thinks he's going to like being a zamboni driver.

Grocery shopping

The gang was hungry and they needed to get some food, so off they went to the grocery store.  The doors at the store were the kind that you step on the mat and the door automatically opens to let you in or go out.  They stepped on the mat and nothing happened.  Everyone just stood there wondering what they could do to get the door to open.  Then Gustave caught up to them and when he crept onto the mat it was just the right amount of extra weight they needed, the doors opened right up.  Everyone went inside, but Gustave was left out on the mat alone (he's a tad slow).  Chico watched the "out" door until another shopper went out and he quickly ran out, scooped up Gustave, and came back in the out door before it closed.  He put Gustave in Ned's backpack so he wouldn't get left behind again.

They browsed the whole store trying to decide what they could get.  They had the $2 that Emilio won in Vegas so they could buy something.  It was hard to choose something that everyone would like, and that they could easily transport home in the back of Fred's semi.  They don't let birds in stores so Al had to wait outside, so all they could access was stuff on the bottom shelves.

They all have very different tastes ... Gustave loves licorice, Chico loves mexican food, Luigi wanted pasketti ... so they finally decided they would try something new to everyone.  They got a bag of salt & vinegar chips.  Emilio paid for it and they put it on the back of the truck and home they went. 

They got home and looked at the bag a while, trying to figure out how to open it.  Finally Ted and Ed got impatient and just jumped on it, so the bag exploded and chips spilled out.  Everyone grabbed a chip and took a big bite.  Nobody had ever tasted salt & vinegar chips before.  They all made a face at the sour vinegar, but they loved the crunchy chips and kept on eating.  mm mm good!

Skateboarding!

As they were out for a walk they found a skateboard and decided to try it out.  Al isn't much into the group activities, UpYours didn't want anything to do with it, but everyone else was excited.  All the hedgehogs, Gustave and Freddy climbed onto the skateboard.  Then Raoul jumped onto the back and they all went flying like a catapult.  Poor Freddy went *splat* into a tree.  It was unanimously decided that Raoul would have to sit this one out.

So they got back on the skateboard and it just sat there.  It was on a flat sidewalk and didn't move a bit.  Emilio decided they would have to all take turns pushing to get to the skate park, then the real fun would begin.  So a few at a time would push, while the others rode on top (except Lola, she was just a rider, she wouldn't push).  Luigi was huffing and puffing and said (in his Italian accent) "it'sa not-a so easy!!"

Finally they arrived at the skate park.  They climbed up onto the skateboard together, Raoul gave them a little nudge and down they went.  They swooped down, then up the other side, back down, back up .... whoooooosh ... whoooosh ...
Gustave had to stay surrounded by the hedgehogs so he wouldn't lose his grip and go flying off.  The hedgehogs' quills were all flattened back from the g-force and the wind from going so fast.  They were having a great time!  Al watched from a tree overhead.  Emilio cried out "duuuuude!!!" and Alphonso said "Radical man!!!" ... so much fun.  Gustave agreed and said "fo-shizzle!"

Once the momentum slowed down and they stopped swooping, Freddy staggered off the skateboard and ran for the bushes and lost his crumpets.  He doesn't have the stomach for these things.  Then they got the skateboard back up to the top and let Raoul go by himself so he could enjoy the ride without sending everyone else flying.

Picnic fun at the beach!

The gang decided to go for one last picnic to celebrate the official end of summer.  They took a picnic basket with a red & white checked blanket and headed to the beach.  They found a nice shady spot on the grass and spread out the blanket.  Gustave doesn't go down to the sandy part of the beach or he risks being taken home as part of someone's shell collection, so he stayed on the blanket.  Raoul and UpYours stayed with him as guards and to hold the blanket down in the wind.  Freddy said he'd be a guard too, although he really wasn't ... he just doesn't like the feel of sand between his toes.  Al sat in the tree overhead so he could keep an eye on the hedgehogs playing on the beach.

They burrowed around and built sandcastles, splashed in the water and had a great time.  Then Ted & Ed decided to spin together really fast in the water and created a whirlpool.  When they saw what they had done they just sat back and laughed and laughed.  But then people in the water started getting sucked into it and the lifeguard made everyone evacuate the water.  

The hedgehogs all headed back to their blanket in the shade to have lunch.  They wanted to barbeque, so they dug a barbeque pit (they're very good diggers) and filled it with sticks and bits of paper they found around the area.  Then Ted & Ed (since they're very fast) rubbed sticks together to get the fire started.  Freddy used Ned's spectacles to catch some sunshine to help get it going.  Gustave told them that a fire needs plenty of air to "breathe" and burn well.  So once it got started Ted & Ed spun all around the barbeque pit to get a good wind going.  It got a bit out of hand and they had to stop and let it burn out before they had a serious problem.

After all this they were all still very hungry so they sent Fred in his semi to go pick up some food at KFC.  They all wanted drumsticks so he had to special order it in the drive-thru.  He got fries too ... they all love french fries.  No ketchup for Alphonso though, it's very messy.

Fred got back to the blanket with the grub and they all dug in.  Once their bellies were full they all just laid around on the blanket and napped for a while before heading home.  All in all it was a pretty good day at the beach.

Family & time travel

It seems that Ted & Ed have a bunch of cousins.

There's Ned, he's a bit of a nerd and loves to read.  He wears round, gold spectacles and carries a backpack full of his books.

Fred is a trucker.  He drives a semi.  His CB handle is "prickles".  We don't know yet what he carries in his truck, just that he basically goes across the street from curb to curb.  ** remember these are hedgehogs, to them this is a long distance!

Then we have Jed.  He's a hillbilly.  He wears a straw hat and  denim overalls and usually has a piece of grass or hay in his mouth.

When Ned, Fred, and Jed arrived last night Ted and Ed were very excited.  They had an idea they wanted to try but none of the other hedgehogs would participate so they figured their cousins might be game.  

Ned, Fred, and Jed stood closely together on a spot.  Gustave joined them, he's always up for trying new things.  When Gustave is afraid or in danger he "goes rock" ... basically he tucks himself into his shell hoping to be mistaken for a stone.  So while standing there with the cousins he went rock, peeking out from time to time to see if anything had happened yet.

Then Ed and Ted whirled around the group as fast as they could, thinking that if they circled them fast enough they might be able to create a worm hole and time travel.  The only problem was, they spun in opposite directions and kept crashing into each other landing on their butts.  Ted and Ed would then crack up giggling and have to start all over.  They did this over and over until the group in the middle decided they weren't going anywhere and drifted off to each do his own thing. 

Gustave was particularly disappointed.

Ted, Ed, Ned, Fred, and Jed weren't too disappointed though, it was their birthday so they were happy just to be together and have cake.

Fight club

Ed & Ted say they want to join fight club.  They have the impression it's like boy scouts only cooler.  They can just imagine the great badges they would earn ... punching, kicking, biting, and maybe even knot tying or how to start a fire!

Emilio tried to explain to them that boy scouts and fight club are nothing like each other in every way but they don't want to listen.  They want to get jackets or hoodies with a "Fight Club" logo on it and go tell everyone about it .... Alphonso told them the main rule to fight club (i.e. you don't talk about it) but they're so excited they want to tell everyone.

Ted's been running around with a magic marker to make signs ... Alphonso makes sure he stays clear of him so he doesn't get marker stains.

Buffalo wings

Last night Emilio convinced the others to go buffalo hunting with him. He wanted buffalo wings. They looked on a map and saw that Buffalo is near a Big Apple, so they figured it was do-able and headed east.

They actually didn't get very far before they saw a huge shaggy cow ... Gustave told them a buffalo is like a bad-ass cow so they knew they had found their goal.

Emilio looked way up at the huge buffalo and said "holy crap". Alphonso looked up and said "holy crap". The rest of them did the same. They looked the buffalo all over and tried to figure out where the wings were.

The buffalo started to look a bit angry so one of them grabbed Gustave and they took off for home.

So much for buffalo wings....

Bungee jumping

The gang decided to go bungee jumping. It was up to Ted & Ed to acquire the bungee cords. They all went to a fence with nice sturdy rails to jump from and lined up to go.
 
Emilio held on tight and jumped ... ~twang~ ... it was just a rope. He held on tight but just dangled there, no bungee-ing at all.
Next came Alphonso ... ~twang~ ... same deal. He hung there next to Emilio.
Then came Jorgé, Chico, Lola, Luigi, and Freddy. All 7 of them just hanging there side by side on their ropes. Another rope came snaking down and Gustave slowly made his way down it. He wasn't too disappointed because he can't hold on that well anyhow, but it was still a bit of a let-down.

Then Ted set up his cord on one end of the row, Ed on the other end, and they jumped at the same time. They had actual bungee cords and went boing-boing-boing all over the place -- up, down, sideways -- slamming into the others and everywhere, laughing like crazy.
Al watched from a tree branch overhead. Raoul sat on the sidelines below, just watching and shaking his head.

When the twins were done and all out of bounce, UpYours laid on his shell below them all so they could each drop down and land safely on his belly.

I doubt they'll go bungee jumping again, and if they do they sure won't let Ted and Ed manage the cords.

milking a cow

Last night they all went to a farm to get some milk. Emilio found a basket for all the hedgehogs, Freddy, and Gustave to ride in and Al latched onto that and took them all together. They were supposed to sit still but Ed & Ted ran around like crazy the whole time so it was a bit of a rocky ride.  Al tried to fly smoothly and straight but ended up veering off in every direction.  When they got to the farm he gently set the basket on the ground, then flew a little further to safely tuck and roll for his landing.

Before getting started, Alphonso put on a white suit (like the decontamination suits the CSI guys wear, without the face/breathing apparatus .. his face was still showing) to keep himself clean. They chose a brown cow so they could get chocolate milk and were very disappointed that it doesn't work that way.

Then Alphonso, Emilio, Jorgé, Chico, Luigi and Freddy all took turns hanging from and pulling on the cow's udder to pull out the milk. Gustave hummed to keep them in time ... hm hm hm hm hm squirt squirt, squirt squirt ... hm hm hm hm hm squirt squirt, squirt squirt ...

Ed & Ted each had a glass to hold underneath on a stool to catch the milk, running from squirt to squirt, but every time the gang took a break to see how much milk they had Ed & Ted had drank it all.  Once they had gotten all the milk from the cow and everyone was ready to have a drink they saw Ed & Ted lying back to back with bellies full of milk and nothing in the glasses.  Everyone was a bit disappointed and still thirsty but they had fun milking the cow so it was a good day.  They all piled into the basket and Al flew them back home.

The Order of Mostly Hedgehogs & Raoul

The Order of Mostly Hedgehogs & Raoul consists of mostly hedgehogs ... the "mostly" includes a snail, chameleon, turtle, and an owl. Then there's Raoul, who likes to be named separately. So let's meet the gang:

Emilio is the unofficial leader of the hedgehog group. He's a brown hedgehog. He loves to eat peanut butter and jam sandwiches and drink cranberry juice. He's very friendly.

Alphonso is Emilio's best friend. He's an albino hedgehog, so he's completely white with a pink nose and pink feets. He eats peanut butter sandwiches without jam and only drinks milk or clear liquids so he doesn't get stained. He usually wears a bandana or cloth napkin around his neck to keep himself clean.   Once his quills are dirty it's very hard to get them white again.  He's very environmentally conscious.

Lola is the only girl in the group. She's a showgirl, of course, and is a very good dancer. She's a regular brown colored hedgehog but has pink lipstick and pink painted toes.

Ed & Ted are twins. They're miniature hedgehogs.  They have to constantly remind people that "We're not babies - we're just small!!"  They love to eat chocolate covered raisins and drink lemonade (because it reminds them of poo and pee ... they're a tad disgusting and it drives Lola crazy). They love to cause trouble and move around by spinning very fast. They are always together and hardly anyone can tell them apart.

Jorgé hates it when people call him George. He's very groovy and says so all the time ("I'm so grooooovy!!"). He wears a psychedelic colored jacket, a cowboy hat and sunglasses. He likes gatorade and peeled grapes. Ed and Ted peel the grapes for him so they can eat the peels.

Chico is Jorgé's brother from another mother. He's also groovy with a cowboy hat and sunglasses, but he wears a green jacket instead of psychedelic colors. He likes fajitas, tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas, all kinds of Mexican food. He drinks milk to keep down the spicy. He loves to say chimmiCHANga! He's very good with the ladies and likes to say it in a sexy deep voice like "the layyyydeeees"

Luigi is Italian and goes around singing "That's amoré" all the time. He doesn't know the whole song, just sings that line. He loves to eat pasketti and meatballs and slurps his pasketti ... Alphonso can't sit next to him or he'll get splattered on.

So those are the hedgehogs .... here's the mostly:

Gustave is a snail. He likes to eat licorice but since he has no hands he needs someone to cut them into bite sized pieces for him. He's very polite and always says "thankyou muchacho". He's very wise.  The others often ask for his advice.  He goes to Mexico for Cinco de Mayo every year.  Usually he leaves in February because it's a long trip and takes him a long time to get there.

Freddy is a Chameleon. He's British and of course likes tea and crumpets (with flies in the crumpets). He has a slight superiority complex to the other critters sometimes.

UpYours is a turtle. He comes from a broken home where his parents were always fighting and yelling "up yours!" to each other, thus his name. His shell is very roomy and can hold just about anything inside it.  Unlike other turtles, he is very fast.

Al is a brown owl. He's very bad at landing ... has to tuck and roll. He likes fig newtons and cold beer. He has a gambling problem and recently got kicked out of Vegas for counting cards .... out loud.  

Then finally there's Raoul. He's a brown rabbit. He's very independent and doesn't want to be lumped in with "mostly" like the others. He doesn't like to be told what to do. 

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Emilio and Alphonso love to tell jokes. Their favorite is "knock knock" .... "To get to the other side!!" and then they both crack up laughing. Lola rolls her eyes at them. Ed and Ted think they're hilarious.

Ed and Ted got a wagon and wanted to hook it up to Raoul to haul them around, but Raoul wouldn't do it. He says he's not their Cabana bunny. Sometimes they use Gustave's licorice as a straw, but Gustave doesn't like that because it taints the taste of the licorice. They giggle crazily when anyone says the word "but" or the letter p. Lola thinks they're disgusting.

The hedgehogs love music. They don't sing (besides Luigi singing "that's amoré"), though Gustave sometimes hums, he has a very deep voice. When they hear music the hedgehogs stop whatever they're doing and just smile real big (no teeth showing) and bob their heads to the music. Lola and UpYours dance ... she obviously dances because she's a showgirl, UpYours breakdances and spins on his shell.

They all love to have their picture taken.  They think that when you smile for the camera you should show all of your teeth, so they sometimes look a little crazy in pictures with big wide teethy faces.

Al took Emilio and Alphonso with him on his last trip to Vegas.  He carried one in each claw while flying, then gently let them go before tucking and rolling.  Emilio had 5cents with him to gamble with and ended up winning $2.  He was rich!  Someone spilled red wine on Alphonso though, he had a big pink stain on his back.  Emilio wanted to bleach him to get it off but Alphonso would rather just wait and let it wear off.

This is not a very talkative group.   They don't sit around discussing things to decide what to do.  Usually they just follow each other's lead and do what feels right at the time.  Like if they need to leave somewhere in a hurry they all know that whoever is standing next to Gustave is supposed to scoop him up before running away.  The hedgehogs are good runners ... they have a determined look on their faces and usually run everywhere they need to go.