Gang's All Here

We finally came back from a week plus up north (more on that later) and used the weekend to knock off some fairly big house/life to-do list items. One important item on that list was getting Mr. Declan George Vanneste his birthday fish. 

Saturday morning, we loaded up to head to the storage unit (for the girls' desks) and PetSmart. We got to the store, picked out his tank, looked at the fish, and then talked to the "expert" teenager working in the fish section. She told us that it is best to let the tank water nitrogenize for 24+ hours before you add your fish. So we left Saturday with a tank, fish food, and no fish. For the record, that is like the cruelest joke ever when you are seven. 

As soon as we got home, Mike helped D set up the new tank in his room. Then sweet D spent the next 24 hours staring sadly and wistfully at an empty tank. After dinner last night, Mike took Dec back to the store and they came home with a blue guppy and a yellow guppy - who have since been named Buckbeak and Hagrid. To his delight, D's buddy A was waiting in our front yard (and helping me weed the gardens) when he arrived with his new pets. So A happily helped introduce Hagrid and Buckbeak to their new home.

[A's mom sent me a text this morning that A had come home last night all excited that Declan got "gumby" fish. And when she told him that she thought it was probably "guppies," he told her that she was quite wrong.]

Tonight after baseball, two more fish arrived to complete the tank family. Harry, a zebrafish, and Ron, a red-tail guppy, have joined Hagrid and Buckbeak. Dec is beyond delighted with his new friends. His tank is filled with special rocks and shells that he has been collecting since April when we told him he could get a fish for his new room. And he is downright gleeful when they explore the special home that he built for them. Thus far, Harry seems to be the fastest and most adventurous. 

Think good thoughts for long, healthy lives for these guppies!