Bruce

In June, Ben attended a work conference in Rhode Island. He promised something for the kids upon his return. He brought them a pet. Two actually. Hermit crabs. The kids named them Bruce and Spidey. (Nice carry-on luggage, Ben.) Bruce was housed in a shell painted to look like a shark. His name comes from the shark named Bruce on Finding Nemo. Spidey was housed in a shell painted like spider man - red with a black web and eyes. Two spare shells were also included for the pair because the crabs occasionally like to change homes.
Kate adores Bruce. You'd think this crab was a puppy the way she carries it around, asks to play with it first thing in the morning, throughout the day, and before going to bed at night. Bruce comes to Grandma's house. Bruce has a cage, but, according to Kate, he likes to spend time exercising in a large bucket inside and a plastic kids pool outside. She occasionally rocks Bruce to sleep. You might expect her to be a bit scared of a crab, especially when his legs and pinchers come stretching out of the shell while she's holding him. You also might expect her to think a crab is a bit of a creepy (no pun intended) kind of a pet. On both accounts, you would be wrong. She has been pinched once. She didn't like it, but it hasn't stopped her from loving the crustacean.
On Friday night, Ben took the kids out for a couple of hours. Upon their return, they discovered an amazing thing had happened in their absense. Bruce moved into one of the spare shells. As Kate says, "He changed clothes." He lives in a tiger shell now. Kate danced a jig. James was thrilled.

Here is Kate holding Bruce, now in the tiger shell, and also his old home - the shark shell.

Spidey, sadly, is missing. He's been missing since about 12 hours after meeting his owner. James was holding both Bruce and Spidey. Apparently, Bruce pinched him and he threw them both. Ben was with him, but didn't know James had been holding both crabs. Bruce's shark tail broke off in the fall. As James was recovering from the surprise, Ben superglued Bruce's tail back in place. That's right, superglue. Bruce was returned to his cage to recover. I came home from work just as the drama was winding down. "Where's Spidey?" I asked. It was then that we all learned that Spidey had been with James when Bruce flew. We have never been able to find Spidey. Is he still around? In our home somewhere? Alive?
Perhaps, someday, I hope in the very near future, this post will have a Part II. I'm quite anxious to resolve the mystery of Spidey's whereabouts.

Here is the empty shark shell. I can't help but wonder if Bruce moved out of it because the tail broke for a second time and he was dreading more superglue fumes. Also, I can now see a fine crack along the body of the shell. This poor crab has accidentally been dropped more than a few times. He must be a hearty creature.