Fall Haiku at the Zoo

jewel tones and flip flops

soon we'll add tights and jackets

sunlight growing cool

5.) Write a Haiku for Fall and pair it with a favorite Fall photo you've taken this year.

Listen Up, Future Self!

Dear 99 Year Old Angela,

By this time, you know what happens in our life more than I do.  You know our disappointments, which of our dreams have come to fruition, and how some of those dreams have been reshaped into wonders I cannot yet imagine.

You may not have kept this Saturday in your special box of memorable days.  Days at the zoo can blend together, pushing the increasingly heavy double stroller over the cement paths, opening Goldfish, peering at monkeys for just a few minutes longer than an adult finds necessary.

But this Saturday was different.

You dragged your heels about going, a fuzzy-headed cold and a few nights of interrupted sleep compounded a nagging feeling of restlessness, of not being appreciated outside of your role as a mother.

You went through routine motions: automatically packing snacks and filling water bottles, applying sunscreen and remembering the stroller brake outside of the butterfly house.

Resentment bubbled under the surface of your smile.

Then something shifted.

It began on the carousel, a new fixture at our zoo, the animals still shiny and smooth, unblemished by errant wads of gum and the residue from sticky, chubbily childish hands.

Abbey’s infectious giggles coaxed out a real smile as she primped and posed, “Take my picture, Mommy!” reminding you that you hadn’t used the camera as much lately.

By the time we reached the prairie dogs, an underappreciated animal, cute and spry, the bubbling resentment had dissipated.  Abbey patiently helped Dylan into the children’s viewing area, holding his hand instead of pushing him away, quietly encouraging him and relinquishing her turn, with a smile, in a reasonable amount of time.

Of course, we had to remind Abbey fifty-nine times that she needs to tell us before jumping out of the stroller.

Dylan fell asleep as we ambled to the car, slept during the ride home, and refused to nap the rest of the day.

You forgot to refill your enormous zoo member diet pepsi cup before leaving.

Yet the day ended without the discontentment and resentment with which it began.

So today, I want you to remember that Saturday in October, warm and lovely, leaves just beginning to glow red and orange in the sun.

Remember how a small hand sliding into yours can ease worry about what will tomorrow or the next day or the one after that.

Remember to be present.

With love,

Angela, October 2011

P.S. You don't look a day over 93.  I promise.

This week’s prompt: Write a letter to your future self or your child.

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Next week’s prompt: What fuels you?

(Remember you can also write on a topic of your choice.)

Summer Checklist Update

Last week, I wrote my summer bucket list - fifty things I want to do this summer.

Let's see how I'm doing...

Pick Strawberries

photo courtesy of my lovely friend Rachel Padget Waller

I lost my camera somewhere at the cider mill

(that was NOT on my bucket list)

While camping last weekend, Dylan played in the lake, and we built sandcastles.

(that's three things from my list!)

Visit the Toledo Zoo

Ryan, the kids, and I made the drive on Thursday, which was after the disappointing loss of the camera.  We're fairly partial to our zoo, but Toledo has something Detroit doesn't, and that is a baby elephant.  Lucas the baby elephant was 27 days old on our visit, and honestly one of the most adorable things I've ever seen.  Abbey kept saying, "awwww, he's cuuuuutttteee," and smiling.  Of course, she also kept saying, "He's sooooo little!"  He's actually 345 pounds, which isn't that small at all, but compared to his 8000 pound mama, I guess it's downright tiny.

Don't They Already Have Animals?

Picking your battles is a crucial lesson to learn.  This lesson isn't just for parents, but it does become tricky when the battles are being waged with little people whose rationalization skills are still at the preschool level.

It becomes even trickier when those preschool rationalization skills best my grown-up reasoning skills.

We were packing up our things for a zoo trip with our friends Stacy, Connor, and Madison, when I noticed Abbey clutching her current favorite stuffed friend, Grampage Hooligan Ruffie.  I've recently ditched the diaper bag and am enjoying the newfound freedom of only carting around a quarter of my body weight in gear instead of my usual everything-but-the-kitchen-sink. 

I'm fine with Abbey bringing her Lip Smackers, because who doesn't love vanilla chapstick, but stuffed animals?

I quickly formulated my iron-clad argument:

"Abbey, we don't need to bring GHR to the zoo.  They have enough animals there already."

"Not dogs," she said, stubbornly.  And correctly, the smarty-pants.

I switched tactics.

"Well, no, you're right.  But you can't bring dogs to the zoo.  They'll either scare the other animals or get scared themselves."

"Oh Mommy," she sighed, "Grampage Hooligan Ruffie isn't real.  He can come with us."

And that is how I ended up carting around a stuffed dog around the zoo.  Thankfully, he rode in the stroller instead of "walking with his leash," a clever contraption consisting of some ribbon and a fabric measuring tape.

checking out the prairie dogs 

again with the prairie dogs

I never knew they were so interesting 

Grampage Hooligan Ruffie made it out of the stroller for lunch

I'm slightly mortified to say that she PICKED that flower and put it behind her ear

I'm pretty sure last year I commented on a picture about another little girl picking the zoo's flowers

there's a karmic lesson there, a little one, but it's there 

judging how close I actually am and how far he might make it before I catch him

What Happens When I Forget My Camera

A warm, sunny zoo trip with Daddy deserves some cute pictures.  Unfortunately, I forgot the camera at home, so instead I'm sharing what happened after the zoo.  In my own little zoo.

Next time, I'll remember the camera.

happy but tired

and refusing to put on his shorts

seriously?

it was pretty hot out that day

and this is Dylan's Halloween costume

What is Value?

Sometimes I need to be reminded that my job doesn’t come with a paycheck. My impulse spending creeps up a little at a time, and suddenly we’re off budget. I try to make smart decisions about what I purchase, but that leads to the question, “what is a good deal?”

Wait, wasn’t I a math teacher? (strictly middle school, but still, I taught math!) I could convert into unit prices with the best of them (see, math nerd talk), but it can still be tough to figure out where to spend my limited spare pennies.

I’m bringing this up, because I’m confronted with a “bad deal” purchase every morning when I perform my miraculous transformation from tired mommy to super-hot-well-rested-mommy. Ok, so that transformation never actually occurs, but I do try to slap on some make-up and blow dry my hair daily, and that very make-up is causing me to regret one of my spending cuts.

For the most part, I’ve been using MAC cosmetics since college, when my friend Kathie introduced me to two little beauties (Vex eyeshadow & a tube of Viva Glam if you care about these things). When trying to cut corners a little this fall, I decided that MAC was an extravagance I wouldn’t miss too terribly.

Slap on the “shallow” badge now, because I was wrong.

I purchased some relatively inexpensive eye shadows, liner, and lip gloss in trendy colors and looked forward to a little change in my daily look. (I won’t mention the brand, because maybe I just don’t know what I’m doing, but it can be purchased at Target and not “department stores everywhere”.)

There’s no change in my daily look, in part because the make-up doesn’t stay on my eyes for very long, no matter what I do to prep my face. Also, despite my attempts to play around with the different colors available on my little palettes, everything looks exactly the same on my eyes. And I’m not talking subtle color differences – the green and purple eye shadows look exactly the same within minutes of application.

And that, in my oh-so-amateur financial opinion, is not a good deal.

Since I know many of my few readers (if that makes sense) come here for the eye candy (and not of the eye shadow type), here are some pictures of my best yearly deal - our zoo membership!  I could pay double and still consider it a value (but I'm glad I don't have to, because of that whole budgeting thing.)

My Future Son-and Daughter-In-Law?

Brought to you by Baby Jogger - arranging marriages and providing a smooth ride at the same time

(Another zoo trip with our buddies - Colleen, Brendan, and Lainey)

Dylan and Lainey hanging out in the reptile house

Abbey and Brendan hitching a ride outside

Halloween - Take Three

Zoo Boo is one of my favorite parts of the Halloween season.  This is Abbey's third time, and it is so funny how much the experience has changed for her (and us) each year. 

The first one, she basically cried unless Ryan held her, while I pushed the stroller.  (Remembering that, we should have been prepared for Dylan's reaction to the event, since he is almost exactly the same age she was at her first attempt.)

Last year, she and Brendan wandered slowly around the path, interested in each other and being silly as much as the sights and happenings around them. 

This year, she was thrilled with everything, from the decorations to the costumes to the trick or treating, although her little voice is still shy and quiet with the strangers handing out candy.  (Which is good, right?  Shouldn't she be a little wary of taking things from adults dressed up like animals?)

Dylan, as was to be expected, enjoyed the stroller for a brief time, loved being carted around in the Ergo for a while, and then fell asleep, warm and heavy on my chest.

loving the line of carved jack o' lanterns 

one of the last times he was happy in the stroller for the rest of the night 

he happily enjoyed the sights from my arms

in front of the giant pumpkin 

hay maze

so many of my Halloween pictures are of her back, because she was too excited to slow down 

cheesy smile because she was too busy having fun to take pictures 

good thing we brought the Ergo

the universe was laughing at my attempt to look cute in boots with a little heel 

she was excited to go to the reptile house all night 

of course, that's pretty much the only thing you can see, animal-wise, during the Zoo Boo

these creatures are much more my speed 

the boys back at home

PS - Happy voting today!!

Another Zoo Adventure

Stacy and I always talk about getting the kids together, but conflicting schedules, other obligations, and the way time marches on and on all seem to get in the way of us meeting up as much as we would like.  Thankfully, the stars (and more importantly, the sun) aligned last weekend, and we were able to meet at the zoo.  We had a blast wandering through a few exhibits (because three walking pre-schoolers means there's no rushing anywhere!), eating a picnic lunch, and playing on the play structure (since Dylan slept through lunch and needed to eat before going home.)

Abbey and Madison are so close in age, really,  but they are just now starting to seem close together.  Seven months can be an eternity when one of them is one and the other is five months!  Now that they're both running around and talking, it's fun to watch them begin to interact and "hang out".  I hope that a friendship develops between them as they grow up together; Stacy is like a sister to me, and Madison is my god-daughter, so I anticipate having our families share many memories together!

Later, the kids and I went to my mom's to watch the annual Michigan State/U-M game.  Victory for MSU, meaning that the day couldn't have gotten much better!  One day, we'll be able to take the kids to East Lansing for the game, but I don't think that day will happen for a few years yet :)

three frogs, three happy kids

hopefully Abbey doesn't mind sharing with Dylan when he is old enough to care!

surprisingly, they all listened and stayed on the frogs instead of running through the water

it was a warm day, but not warm enough for sprinklers!

one of Abbey's favorite zoo spots

even more fun when shared with friends

the tigers were actually running around

they are normally hiding or sleeping

yet, my girl preferred hanging out with the tiger statue

bonding, pre-school style

they were actually having a little conversation at this point

Zippity Zoo Da

Another week, another day at the zoo, this time with some of our favorite people - Colleen, Brendan, and new baby Lainey.  Sorry Lainey, I didn't snap any photos of you in the carrier.  Both Lainey and Dylan spent the majority of their zoo visit strapped to our respective chests, enjoying their rides and providing a little extra calorie burn for the mommies.  Seriously, I have those Sketchers flip flops that are supposed to help you tone your legs and tush, and they never seem to do anything.  Throw D in the Ergo for a zoo visit, and suddenly I feel like writing a testimonial for them!

Of course, it didn't hurt that we were at the zoo for about fourteen days.  Abbey and Brendan had a blast hanging out and checking out everything.  By everything, I don't necessarily mean the animals.  Animals were visited, don't worry, but so were zoo benches, random blades of grass, and some plucked marigolds.  (The marigolds in question were NOT picked by our children, although it was touch and go for a few minutes trying to explain why they couldn't pick the flowers after watching another little girl do it.)

All in all, the zoo delivered, as usual.  We have paid for that membership so many times over.  I almost feel guilty about it!

so excited to see her great friend

"the turtle you ride on"

filling cups with water

and dumping out water

and filling cups with water

a rock to climb

a pipe in the ground to explore

a tiger to visit

an elephant to hug

Handy Brendan, a close cousin of Handy Manny's is fixing the ground for the elephant

Handy Brendan's skills were also needed on various benches and fences around the zoo

the ice wall

copious amount of hand sanitizer are always used after the ice wall

no photographs, please

look at that little smirk

flirt

Zoo with Daddy

With Ryan's studying in full swing right now, we don't have a ton of weekend time together as a family.  This past Sunday, Ryan took a little break, and all four of us went to the zoo.  Despite being a little tired, Abbey managed to run through a great portion of the zoo; things are a little more fun when Daddy joins in.  Even Dylan joined in the good times - I am pretty sure this is the first time he really noticed the animals.

looking at ducks swimming in the fountain

Dylan checking out the ducks

and laughing at Mommy's goofy quacking noises

he was saying duck, for sure

ok ok so dadadadada is his favorite babble and not exactly duck, but close

filling up and dumping out and filling up her cup

this is the fountain where the rude lady incident occurred

geese are pretty interesting

this is one of the things that A requested to see

many times

sleeping during the walk to the "turtle that you sit on"

look at all the peacocks!