Legos help a turtle walk, puppy dog eyes and waves in the sky

Did yesterday seem long? Like the sun might never set? That’s because it was!

Yesterday was the summer solstice and the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. It also means summer is officially here … which is hard to believe, since I’ve been sweating profusely and debating whether it’s worth showering for weeks (personal hygiene is winning that battle … for now). In Sweden, where the sun basically doesn’t set, they welcome the solstice by downing massive amounts of pickled fish and vodka. Or, you know, spending quality time with family is a fine alternative too. However you celebrate, the days are only getting shorter from here, so let’s all do our best to fill them with Good Stuff.

Our favorites this week

Get going with some of our most popular good news stories of the week

Pedro the two-legged turtle gets a Lego wheelchair

Let’s begin this week with the inspirational story of Pedro the box turtle. When he was first adopted, Pedro was already missing one back leg. Then, with the guile and speed turtles are known for, he snuck away from his owners recently and went on the lam for a few months. When he was found again, the little guy had somehow managed to lose his other hind leg. Though veterinarians at Louisiana State University’s School of Veterinary Medicine said he was otherwise fine, as you might expect, he was having some trouble moving with just two legs. The LSU veterinarians went to work on a solution and found one … in a kids Lego set. The vets constructed a wheelchair of sorts from a Lego car kit to help get Pedro back on the move, and now he’s flying around faster than his other shell-dwelling compadres.

These brothers with special needs are YouTube stars

“Rooey” and “Bean Boy,” who go by their nicknames, have faced limitations over the course of their lives. But for Rooey, who is diagnosed with autism, and Bean Boy, who has spina bifida, their disabilities do not extend to their imaginations. With the help of their father, professional animator Adam Kelly, an iPhone, and a green screen, the boys have brought an incredible world to life on their Go Go Brothers YouTube show, and have built a dedicated audience in the process. Rooey and Bean Boy had struggled with going to school, but their parents say producing the show has helped both boys to really blossom. And, it has made them stars in the eyes of viewers of all abilities. “Kids with disabilities can move mountains,” the boys’ mother Lisa Kelly explained. “You just have to give them the tools and the chance to do so.”

Abandoned newborn finds a family thanks to Twitter

This story is gut-wrenching but trust me — it ends with a miracle. Like many journalists, Vinod Kapri starts his day by scrolling through Twitter, but a disturbing video of a newborn girl left abandoned on a garbage heap brought him to tears. He showed his wife, Sakshi Joshi, and the two immediately agreed: ‘We should adopt her.” But first, they needed to find her. Joshi, who is also a journalist, tweeted a request for her followers to help and eventually, they tracked her down in a hospital in the city of Nagaur. The couple drove more than 300 miles to go meet her and are now in the process of finalizing her adoption. “I can’t express my feelings … what me and my wife felt was just beyond words …” Kapri said. Social media can be an ugly sometimes. But sometimes, it’s a place where miracles can happen.

Raise a glass to…

Michael Atkins has held basically every job in the public-school system. But as he walks the halls of Denver’s Stedman Elementary School as its new principal, he’ll never forget where he started: as a custodian mopping and sweeping these same halls. Now as principal, Atkins says he wants to put an end to the racial disparities he faced as a child bused to a mostly white school. To do that, he’s training his teachers to embrace methods that celebrate diversity. He’s also offering professional development courses for all staff — including the custodians — because you never know where you might find your next principal.

A bright idea

When it comes to food, we like pretty things. Most of us will choose the perfect zucchini over the one that looks like it’s sprouting warts. But those “ugly” fruits and veggies are perfectly delicious on the inside. When Ben Simon learned the US wastes 70 million pounds of food each year, he set out to save some from rotting in dumpsters and make some money in the process. He cofounded Imperfect Produce in 2015, which brings unwanted produce from farms direct to subscribers for less than you’d pay at the grocery store. So far, Simon said the service has kept 40 million pounds of food from going to waste.

You gotta see this

I have no idea if any surfer dudes were around to see this, but yes, those are really waves in the sky. They showed up over Virginia’s Smith Mountain Lake the other day, apparently caused by a rare combination of wind speeds, temperature and humidity. Anyway, they made for a very rad photo.

Wanna get away?

There’s never a bad time to take in the awesomeness of the Grand Canyon, but most people visit to look down into the canyon. Now, you might want to consider a night time visit to look up instead. The park was just named an International Dark Sky Park for its “distinguished quality of starry nights, ” and if you didn’t know such parks existed, you’re not alone. The Grand Canyon is joining dozens of other parks like Texas’ Big Bend National Park, shown here, in converting thousands of light fixtures to “dark-sky compliant” to fight light pollution and protect views of the night sky.

Hear, hear!

Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins on what he felt looking back from outer space at the tiny, blue planet we all call home.  If you’re a space nerd like me, you’ll want to tune in to “Apollo 11” tomorrow at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CNN TV. Trust me — you’ve never seen humanity’s first moon landing quite like this.

Who knew?

You know the look. The one your dog gives after they’ve destroyed your shoes, chewed up the check you were waiting on, and then thrown it all up on your new carpet? We didn’t need science to tell us “puppy dog eyes” were a thing, but new research shows they’re even more of a thing that we thought. Yes, scientists found that the slight raise of the eyebrows your dog pulls every time you’re ready to give them to the pound has been honed by generations of pooches to melt the hearts of their humans. The pups that did it best had a “selective advantage” over others, which helps explain why little Fido is in your lap right now, and not, well, a wolf.

Tell us something good

Medford, New Jersey

It’s not every day someone asks for help finding their pet turkey. But when Lindsay Condefer’s turkey Brady went missing from her farm, her neighbors and social media community jumped into action. Condefer is a prominent animal advocate, and in those tense days when Brady was on the run, she got offers of help and messages of support from far and wide. People even donated money towards her offer of a reward. A neighbor found Brady, but the poor thing had been attacked and was in bad shape. He has more than a few battle scars, but Condefer says he’s lucky to be alive and, with a lot of care from vet specialists, will hopefully be okay. The support keeps rolling in: A company that makes medical grafts out of fish skins has even donated grafts to help patch Brady up. “Brady is so important to us and to what we’re doing,” Condefer says. “I cannot believe the response of our neighborhood to support in this. I’ll never be able to bake enough pies for the people that found him.”

Shameless animal video

There’s always time for cute animal videos. That time is now.

We all dream of being something when we grow up. This furry little drum prodigy may have a future in rock ‘n roll. SOUND ON! (Click here to view)