Dudley's new diggs

So it has been a while since I have contributed to the blog, so my turn to step up and not slack.

This last weekend we had the opportunity to get up bright and early on Saturday to head down to Mankato for our usual restock of "stuff". This trip was with the whole family because the boys needed to pick out a b-day present for Kyle's party later that day (lately we have been making a list of the stuff we need and one of us, Matt or Gigi goes which has really cut down on consumer grazing and spontaneous purchases). The other big need was a restock on pet supplies, and having to look into a new vivarium for Dudley (the Dobo Bearded Dragon).

Garek had decided that for his birthday he wanted us to get Dudley a new home (which worked out well for us since he was going to need the space no matter what). As we were shopping we came to find that Garek logic would dictate that once Dudley has a bigger cage, his old smaller cage could be used for an additional new pet that would be his (he originally wanted another beardy, and the bigger vivarium was his compromise).

As is turns out doing a restock for pets is a small stimulus of sorts for the local economy at our house- after all we do have 2 Shih Tzues (Roxy and Lucy), a Conure (Tiki), a Parakeet (BB), a Ball Python (Sammy Stick) and the Bearded Dragon (Dudley- who coincidently contributes to the fact that we need to keep crickets as "pets" so we can feed him). All said and done this was a big purchase, but then again we figured out that we only have to buy food for the dogs and birds once every 3-4 months, and the snake every one or two months since we buy the mice frozen ten or more at a time (and he only eats two every week or two). Dudley on the other hand requires more frequent trips since crickets don't "keep" very long.

So needless to say, the pet store is to our kids what a candy store is to most other kids (as it turns out our kids don't like sweets- don't ask me how we managed that). The new house for Dudley is a special occasion, but there were a few distractions along the way.

When we first arrived, Garek was going over the list of everything we

would need, and was taking charge

Then there were a few distractions

(there were others as well, but you get the point)















Once he realized that he got sidetracked, he was back on task











After checking out, the boys voted that Dad should go get the Outlook and they would watch the pile of "stuff"






While they were off enjoying the birthday party, Gigi and I took the opportunity to set things up at home (much easier without them around)



The Boys were impressed (it was much bigger than they thought it would be), and although Dudley was a bit unsure of his new surroundings at first, he seems to be settling in nicely.