Awesome babywearing

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Christy

We went to the zoo again last week. I know, big surprise. I hadn’t planned on posting about it because it wasn’t our favorite trip. There had to be 5 or 6 school’s there for field trips and those kids were rude and I almost had to smack a few because they kept separating Lily from us. The teachers were just as bad; one of them boxed Lil in between some kids and the glass wall in the Orangutans viewing area. Anyway, this post isn’t about the kids and the teachers, it’s mostly about the Orangutans.

The two Orangutans at our zoo had babies in the last few months and we got to see them and they are just so cute. And it’s amazing how they cling to their Mama’s, that is some amazing babywearing.

Just look at that sweet face!

There were other babies at the zoo. The keeper informed me that these guys are peccaries.

We stopped by the Tapir, which we usually forget about.

And we saw the peacock, who wanders around the zoo and we usually miss.

The Warthog is a new addition to our zoo.

We saw all the usual suspects too, when we could squeeze in around the school kids, but I’ve posted lots of pictures of those guys before. However here are the ones you all have been waiting for. Lily!

Egg hunts

Posted on May 3, 2011 by Christy

I know I’m a little late to the Easter post party, but better late then never.

We aren’t religious so we treat Easter pretty much the same as we do Christmas, it’s just something fun to do. We also don’t give Lily much sugar so she got no candy and didn’t miss it.

I bought Lil a little Easter basket and the color dyes for eggs sometime in early March, I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss anything. The day before Easter around 7pm (nothing like waiting till the last minute anyway) I got out a bunch of leftover birthday party cups and the vinegar and set to work activating the dye tablets. Waldo put Lil in her chair and put her art smock (one of my old t-shirts) on and as I grabbed the first batch of dyes to take to the table I spilled one. We knew this was a sign of things to come. Waldo dropped a egg in a cup and right then and there we decided this sucked. I grabbed all the cups (after cleaning up the pink dye from the white counter) and tossed them in the sink and went to my art box and grabbed the new Crayola paint I bought. I put some paint in a few of the leftover party cups and I showed Lily that it was okay to paint the eggs. While I was getting the paint Lily and Waldo tried using crayons to color the eggs (bust) and markers (worked good) so some of the eggs had quite the decorations on them. Lily and I had fun painting the dozen eggs I boiled.

We take egg painting seriously

The new art cover for the table needed some color - apparentelly.

Easter morning or more accurately early afternoon I went out and hid the eggs and then got Lily all dressed up in the cute dress my Dad and step-Mom bought her. We all went outside and the egg hunt began.

One of Lily's painted eggs.

I was a little worried that the paint wouldn’t dry on the eggs, but it dried very nicely.

She found her first egg.

And another egg.

The eggs that got wet did bleed a little of their paint, but it’s washable so not a big deal.

Oh look, there's one in the fern.

And in the tree.

Once she found them all (the dozen painted eggs and a few empty plastic eggs), she and I went inside and Waldo hid them again.

Kitty's helping.

There's a egg in with those rocks, somewhere.

Checking out her haul.

We went inside after this and she played and played with the eggs. It was really cute. She wasn’t thrilled when the painted eggs kept breaking, but she was a good sport about throwing them away.

I hope everyone had a good Easter, no matter how you celebrate.

Random Mobile shots 7

Posted on April 22, 2011 by Christy

I was trying to get a good pictures of Waldo and I while we were waiting for our table when we went out for dinner on our third anniversary.

Going on a bike ride

Posted on April 14, 2011 by Christy

A few years ago Waldo bought a really nice bike and he loved riding whenever he could, but since I had no bike and no desire to join him his pleasure rides were few and far between. Then a few weeks ago something changed in me and I decided that going on bike rides would be great family time and a great way to get some much needed exercise into our lives. We looked around at Target and Walmart for bikes and trailers and while they have a wide selection with a range of prices, we decided to spend a little more money and buy from a locally owned bike store. We are so happy that we did. We got a really good deal and I love helping out a local business. We bought my bike, Lily’s trailer and a helmet for Lil and got some maintenance done on Waldo’s bike from the shop, the owner did a little jig as we walked out.

Before we hooked it up we let Lily sit in the trailer in the living room and since the trailer can be used as a stroller I took her for a little walk around the block so that she’d be comfortable in it.

We know better then to just throw Lily into something big and new and call it good. She needs time to adjust and get to know something first. Once she was okay with it we hooked the trailer to Waldo’s bike and let Lily watch him go for a ride out in front of the house. She thought this was great.

I hadn’t ridden a bike in at least 20 years so I was very scared to get on my bike for the first time, but the old saying is right on, you never forget how to ride a bike. What the saying fails to mention is the balance takes a little practice to get back. The first time I braved my bike I felt so shaky I was shocked that I was staying upright. After a short ride I returned to the house and Waldo (with Lily in the trailer) followed me around the block and the following conversation ensued:
Waldo “see, you are already much less shaky”
me “oh you could see that”
W “you looked like you had Parkinson’s.” I laughed so hard I nearly fell off my bike.

I am much more comfortable at this point and weather permitting we go on a ride just about every night after dinner. It has been wonderful and the best part is that Lily will tell us at some point during the day “we go on a bike ride together later”. The “together” part is my favorite.

Zoo! Again.

Posted on April 12, 2011 by Christy

We went to the zoo again last weekend. Can you tell, we love the zoo? We actually bought a membership to the zoo this time so now we can go as often as we want without worrying out our budget. Our goal is to go at least once a month, but more often if possible. I might or might not blog every time we go, that will be decided on a trip by trip basis.

This time we let Lily decide our route around the zoo, so we probably went from one side to the other 5 times. We were so tired when we left.

Here are some of the highlights from this trip, in no particular order.