Coney was incredibly excited. He could hardly wait for the day to begin. He jumped out of bed and searched frantically for just the right outfit. It had to be perfect! First impressions are so important.
“Hey mom, where’s my blue shirt?”
His mom hollered from down the hall, “I think its in the laundry room, Honey. I just washed it and haven’t had a chance to put it away yet.”
“Thanks.”
He scurried to the room and found exactly what he was looking for. He changed in the bathroom after washing up. Staring at his face in the mirror, he slicked his fur back and polished up his bill.
“I wonder if there will be any other duck billed, web-footed beavers in class today?”
Coney and his parents had recently moved from North Creek Ridge to Southwest Creek Ridge. No DWBs lived in North Creek. Growing up, Coney never felt like he fit in. He always felt out of place with his large bill and little teeth. He could swim as good as a duck, but he couldn’t fly because he had no wings, just paws.
It was hard to say goodbye when his family decided to leave but he knew it was for the best and in his heart he hoped that in Southwest Creek Ridge there would be other DWBs. He was tired of feeling like an outsider.
“Coney, hurry up. You don’t want to be late for the first day of school, do you?”
“I’m coming,” he said.
On the way to school, Coney was very quiet thinking about what would happen through out the day.
“Coney, are you all right?” asked his mom.
“Yeah, Mom. I was just thinking about my day. Do you think there will be any DWBs in my class?”
“Oh, honey. I don’t want you to be disappointed. DWBs have been around for many years. You have relatives that lived during the time of the Dinosaurs. Be proud of who you are, I’m proud of you. But don’t be surprised if you never meet another DWB. I’ve only met two others my entire life. We are quite rare.”
Coney was disappointed. He had been looking forward to meeting another boy just like him, or maybe even a girl. He took a deep breath and walked through the school doors. He was happy in spite of himself. He went to the office and asked where his class was. A stoutly bear cub, who worked behind the counter said, “I know just who to get to show you around.”
To Coney’s delight, he saw another DWB approaching the office.
“Hi,” she said, “my name is Sarah. I’m here to show you around.”
“I knew it,” said Coney, “your a DWB. . . your beautiful . . . your so . . . um . . . um,” Coney blushed, “Sorry”.
“A DWB?” said Sarah.
“A duck billed, web-footed, beaver.”
Sarah smiled. “Your cute,” she said, “It’s going to be nice having another platypus around. Think of all the trouble we can get into.”

Daphne awoke to the warm sun rays. She stretched, as well as a flower could stretch, and sighed. “What a wonderful morning! Wouldn’t you agree, Tulu?”
Tulu, a cherry red tulip, said, “Indeed, it is a fine spring morning. The sun’s rays feel comforting today. Last night was kind of cold and I can still feel the ache in my stem.”
Daphne said, “Do you ever wish you were a Late Bloomer? I mean we never really get to enjoy the sun much. The spring nights are often chilly and brisk. Sometimes, I’m not happy being a daffodil.”
“Daphne, you are a silly posey,” said Tulu, still not quite awake and not entirely listening. “Next you will be telling me you want arms instead of leaves. Be happy being you.”
“I can dream if I want to, Tulu. Late Bloomers have it better. Everyone knows that.”
“Nonsense, I don’t’ believe it,” said the tulip.
Daphne and Tulu’s argument continued throughout the day, but no matter what Tulu said to convince her she was wrong, she would not believe a word. “Late Bloomers have it better. It’s not cold, they get more sun and some grow to be huge, bigger than humans.”
Daphne wished that night that she could be a Late Bloomer. She knew if she were, everything would be perfect and she’d never be cold again.
“Excuse me up there!” said a tri-colored pansy, “Hey, sunflower, point your head to the right!”
Daphne heard the noise and looked around, “What?” she said.
“Down here,” said the voice, “You’re blocking our sun again and you promised you’d stop. We’d appreciate it if you turned your big old head to the right.”
“Okay,” she said, turning her huge yellow mane. She was enormous, maybe six foot. How did this happen?
Her wish! It had come true, she was a sunflower, a Late Bloomer. She stood proud and tall and enjoyed the August sun.
But soon the sun didn’t feel so warm. It felt hot! Extremely hot and her enormous head began to droop.
A grasshopper landed on her leaf, “Do you still like being a Late Bloomer?” she asked.
“Tulu?” said Daphne, “Why . . . How?”
“Hey, if you’re a sunflower, I can be a grasshopper. Right?”
“I guess so,” said Daphne.
“So, do you like it?” the bug asked again.
“Yes! I love it. It was a little hot today, though.”
“That’s August for you,” said Tulu, as she began to chomp on Daphne’s leaves.
“Hey! Quit that,” said Daphne, trying to shake Tulu off.
“A girl’s got to eat, dear.”
By evening, Tulu had eaten a huge whole in Daphne’s big, beautiful leaf. Daphne was glad that Tulu had her fill and jumped off. However, she soon was very lonely. She could hear the other flowers murmurs, but no one tried to talk to her. She was just too high up.
Daphne was terribly sad. “I never should have made that wish. I liked being me. I liked being me! I liked being me . . .”
“What are you shouting about?” asked Tulu. “It’s not even dawn yet!”
Daphne looked around. She’d never been so glad to see a tulip in all her life. She was her bright yellow daffodil self again! It was just a dream!
“You were right about everything, Tulu,” she said. “I don’t want to be a Late Bloomer. I want to be me!”
“That’s splendid, dear. Tell me in the daylight,” said the tulip, nodding back to sleep. “Such a silly posey,” she mumbled.

Here we are at the totally awesome Finding Nemo exhibit. I still can't figure out how they did that interactive talk to Crush the turtle thing. Too Cool

This is one of my all time favorite layouts. I love how it turned out. Especially the belt buckle and the little cowgirls. Too cute.

Close up of one of the cowgirls

Close up of the WOODY autograph belt buckle.

Here we are with Minnie.

And here we are with Goofy

Close up of the Fairy Godmother in non-traditional attire.

Here is my first layout from Chef Mickey's.

This is when we were meeting Pluto.

Here is a close up of the Donald on the next layout. Donald is my middle daughter's absolute favorite character of all time...they have a lot in common. Crabby but loveable.