Yesterday we packed all of the kids and most of the pets into the van and went to the house of a girl who used to go to school with Alex. A while back, the girl's mom had asked Jen if I would do a reptile party for her daughter, so I was basically working the party but doing it independently of the company I usually do parties for. I brought all four of the snakes, one of the tarantulas (the slow one), and the scorpion. Oh, and a whole cage full of Hissing cockroaches. The python ended up being the hit, with many of the kids posing for photos with it draped over their shoulders. We hung out for awhile afterwards, eating cake and ice cream and adding to the volume level.

Today we're hanging out and cleaning up. The boys are at a friend's house, so only the girls are here to undo our work behind us. They are very effective at this. Sophie, in particular, is in fine form today, clinging to my legs whenever I try to walk and belting out a childish, scatological tirade of her own devising. Things are cleaner than they were at this time yesterday though.