The one about the pig-ckle

I spent some time this afternoon finding some jokes for the girls, and I came across this gem, which immediately had me laughing but I bypassed as point of reference: it is a'lackin' for the girls.  (I'm aware of how weirdly that sentence was punctuated.  That seems to be the best solution right now.  Keep reading, grammar fiend.)

Q:  What is large and green and pecks a tree?
A:  Woody the Wood Pickle

I hope your day is just a bit better for that.  I know that mine surely is.

I don't know how to transition here, so I'm going to do this:  TRANSITION.  (How many times will I try to use colons in this post?  Once?  Twice?  Too many...?)

We generally enjoyed camping trip 2015.1 this past weekend with The Hive.  And despite the cumulative hours it took to persuade the Younger to sleep for the love of marshmallows roasted over an open fire, the trip was a success.  We enjoyed two thunder boomers that swept in and out as if on a mission of spreading love and wetness across the campground, and I'm not joking there.  We really and truly enjoyed the rain both times.  During the first storm, it hit right at bedtime, and there's not much better than snuggling with your loves in a brand spankin' new tent, reading the minutes away while listening to the rain beating down and knowing that you are safe and you are dry and you are on high ground.  (And, you feel grateful that you got your rain fly on just a few minutes before the rain started, unlike the neighboring campers, who had left theirs off.)  And then, when the second round came through the next night, we were prepared with games and spent a thoroughly enjoyable hour or so under a shelter with family.  The littles were holding court with their grandparents and aunt.  The boy and I got through most of a game of Euchre with our brother(in-law) and sister-in-law, laughing and acting like adults with nary a care in the world.  And, another brother-in-law was roaming the perimeter, bouncing our three-month old nephew and filtering in and out of multiple, simultaneous conversations.  This was undoubtedly a highlight of the weekend for many of us.  Take that rain!  We accept your limitations and one-up you with good times!

And that little three-month old nephew...let's focus on him for a while.  Way back when (all of three years ago), we deferred from the annual camping trip because we were the family with a newborn and didn't feel that we were up to that particular roller coaster ride at that particular time.  But our sister(in-law) and brother-in-law handled the weekend like a champ with the little dude.  Granted, the little man was a champ in his own right as well.  He is a laid back little mister who likes to sleep and likes to eat.  There's not much that's better for first-time parents than that.

And our girls are enamored for their youngest cousin.  They are big fans of touching him, pulling on his feet, holding his hands, and petting his head.  I dig that.  Those are some of the best parts about enjoying a little babes.  Little kids have it figured out.  And this little guy is a solid little man-child, which has led the Elder to nickname him "Chubby Man Pig" because (in her words) "He's chubby, he's a little man, and he snorts like a pig."  And where the Elder wanders, so goes the Younger.  So the nickname has stuck, and this past weekend was, in some respects, the weekend of the Chubby Man Pig.   

See what I did here?  I started with a pickle and ended with a pig.  This is truly the one about the pig-ckle.