Turtle Named Chad

Today the weather was beautiful so we spent a few hours outside. We had some areas in the lawn that needed leveling, and I began to outline where my pond will go. I have big plans and am very excited, especially since I'm going to try my second attempt at turtles. I had a pond at our old house, and after weeks of research I picked up a couple of red-eared sliders. I was told by several "experts" that my koi and catfish were big enough to fend for themselves, but they were wrong. Within 2 minutes of releasing Penelope and Chad into their new habitat, Chad grabbed an albino catfish and I had to pry the poor thing from his jaws. The fish survived, and the turtles went to live in my dad's pond. I couldn't bear to watch any of my prized fish become turtle food. And you read correctly, I did name one of the turtles Chad.

So anyway, my goal with this pond is to have 2 pools with a waterfall connecting them, one for turtles and one for fish (which will be turtle-proof). We'll see if I can make it happen. I need to think of an equally-cool turtle name though. Any suggestions?

Owen's doing well. Chris saw a Caterpillar dump truck at Target and said "I have to buy that for Owen" so our little guy has a new toy. He is able to stand behind it and walk, and it's already provided lots of entertainment for us. Owen continues to show off his vocal chord abilities and makes the funniest sounds. Rather than "mama" and "dada" he'll say "mom-mom" and "dad-dad" which is totally cute. And he says "baby" quite a bit. We're not really claiming that as his first word since it's still just babble, but it's fun to listen to.

Our next several weekends are pretty busy.. wine-tasting party, trip to eastern WA, Easter, Owen's birthday... so check back for new updates. Thanks for reading up on us :)