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....