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Lions, and Tigers and Bears . . . Oh My!

Posted on July 13, 2008 5:49 pm by TheAngelForever

On the 4th of July we were visiting my brother, sister-in-law and niece for the long weekend. Uncle I had to work in the morning, so we decided to head to the zoo later in the day when he was done. We had a quick lunch at Moe’s and then went to the zoo.

When we arrived nearby the zoo and parked, NHL decided to lead the way. He has been to this zoo two other times (just a year ago when we went to Aunt M’s baby shower), so he knew the way. The stroller brigade followed with Cousin S sleeping for the start of her first time to the zoo. JSL was awake and curious about all of the fuss.

NHL was on a mission. He wanted to see the lions and tigers. He was a little upset that we missed the last giraffe feeding, but was fine with just going to view them. We made our way all around the zoo and saw a lot of animals. Here is a sampling of the photos that were taken by JL.

It was a very warm day, so many of the animals were resting in the shade, hanging out in their watering holes, or hiding completely out of view by this point in the afternoon. We did have an "interesting" educational moment. The bear area is a crowd favorite. First there were the grizzly bears that were lounging. They could have cared less that we were there watching them. Next the polar bear was pacing. He/she definitely seemed to be sizing up lunch on the other side of the barrier. I have to say it was a little unnerving. Then we saw the Spectacled Bear. This bear was smaller than the rest and was quite active. The spectacled bear put on quite a show of nature. He came over to the edge of the enclosure and proceded to empty his bladder and then do the rest of his business. No, no pictures of that. However, here is a picture when he was done and NHL’s priceless reaction to the event.

At the end of the visit JL asked NHL what his favorite animal was. Without missing a beat he quickly replied it was the spectacled bear. When asked why he immediately replied "Because he peed!" Yes, he is a boy of almost 5 you know so not a shocking response.

Eventually Cousin S woke up to see some of the animals. I believe she may have enjoyed her first bomb pop at the zoo more than the actual zoo itself. Of course it is always fun watching my little brother as a daddy. My question to you, who looks better in the pink hat?

NHL also enjoyed going on the merry-go-round and the zoo’s playground. I have to say the playground is rather impressive. They did an amazing job making it follow a zoo theme.

Fun on the zoo playground

Just before JSL fell asleep from the heat and lack of napping all day, I asked to have a picture of both of the boys. Of course try to get them to look at the camera. Nope, that did not happen. Instead each looked in a completely different direction!

Just before the zoo closed at 5:00 JSL was sleeping and everyone else went to look at the sea lions underwater. JL captured my little niece with her daddy watching them. Too cute!

A fun trip to the zoo. The only part missing was the elephants because their home was being redone and will not be open until August.

Categories:
animals family holidays interesting jsl kid talk laughs nhl photos road trip weekend

Mission Impossible – the photo shoots

Posted on July 12, 2008 7:28 am by TheAngelForever

Last week before we left to visit my brother and his family my mother gave us a mission.

Cue the Mission Impossible Music please. . .

"Your mission, should you decide to accept it is to capture a photograph of our three grandchildren together. Do not attempt to return home unless you accomplish this task!"

No recorder self destructed in five seconds, but our attempts to get photos of the three kids last weekend quickly did.

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Attempt #1 – Friday morning while all of the kids were still in their pajamas and playing nicely. The resulting photos may be seen here:

Please note no children were hurt in any of the photo taking events shown.

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Attempt #2 – Friday afternoon before heading out to the zoo. The natives quickly got quite restless. A certain one year old dear too me was not cooperative, to say the least.

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Attempt #3 – Saturday early afternoon before heading out to lunch and cherry picking. The kids were all in a good mood so we thought it would be the perfect time. Unfortunately, they had other plans.

The results from this photo shoot were the best in that the kids were quite cute with one another. Unfortunately, there is no photo with all faces visible.

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Attempt #4 – Saturday evening post tub (another "interesting" experience for another day) we gathered the kids in the room NHL was sleeping in for one last attempt at a group grandchild/cousin photo.

So there you have it, another no-go on the photo for Nana and Papa. The problem this time around was the little kids, JSL and Cousin S were just too busy and wanted to be on the move and play all the time.

We technically did accomplish our mission though. We have lots of photos of the three kids together, so we did travel back home. A few of the ones above are ok and should satisfy the mission – whew!

Categories:
family photos road trip sarcasm weekend

Heigh-ho the cherry-o . . . a picking we will go

Posted on July 10, 2008 6:00 am by TheAngelForever

When I think of summer I automatically picture the fruits of the season. Watermelon, peaches, plums, nectarines and cherries to name a few. Talk about tasty healthy snacking. When the weather is so warm and nothing sounds good, fruit is always perfect and hits the spot.

My favorite fruit by far is the cherry. I love cherries! I have fond memories from my childhood of buying bags of cherries from the store to gobble up. One fun recollection is from a summer that my two cousins came to spend time here from the west coast. Cousin M and I went to the store with my mother and we stood there for a LONG time picking out the perfect cherries. We filled up an entire bag with probably 4-5 pounds or possibly more. When we went to our house we stood outside with my father and had a cherry pit spitting contest. I do not recall who won, but I know we had fun eating and spending time together as a family.

It is only fitting that this past weekend while visiting my brother, sister-in-law and niece that we made some cherry memories for our children (I wish Cousin M had been there). We heard that there was a cherry picking place not too far from their house that had dwarf cherry trees. Those would be perfect for all of us to pick from.

We all got into my car and wandered out into territory that nobody had been to before. After a while we finally arrived to cherry land. From the parking lot you could see the amazing trees ready to be picked. Our mouths were watering from the view. We had hardly had cherries this year thanks to the ridiculous price ($4.99 a pound and up for the bing variety). We slathered everyone with sun lotion and went to get buckets for collecting our fruit.

Then we were off to find the fields with the sweet cherries. Quickly we were walking in a cherry wonderland.

It was absolutely amazing. There were cherries everywhere. Hundreds of trees chock full of cherries ready for us to pick. We set up a place and I stayed with JSL and Cousin S. Aunt M, Uncle I, JL and NHL set off to fill our buckets.

The two little ones were quite content sitting back and watching everyone. At one point S wanted to hold JSL’s hand. He was sweet and played with his little cousin. This was also where they taste tested some of their first cherries. JSL was quite partial to the white cherries that tasted much like peaches inside.

NHL was really good and asked if he could try a cherry from one of the trees. We told him it was fine. He was too cute selecting just the right one, and then finding the perfect place to taste test.

After a short time both buckets were approximately half filled with both cherry varieties. We had no real clue how many pounds we had, so we figured it was best to stop at that point and check in. We got all of our things together and went to the line to check out, weigh in and pay. As you can see cherry picking made NHL quite thirsty!

And for your viewing pleasure, I present you with our gorgeous cherries. All 22.4 pounds of the juicy summer goodness!

Those buckets are very deceptive in the amount they can hold. We were quite impressed with our haul and went back to the house to eat more cherries before giving the kids tubs and ordering our dinner.

What will our next picking adventure be? Perhaps veggies next time! Do you have any memories of summer time fruit or veggie picking fun? If you do please share.

Categories:
family fun jl jsl looking back nhl photos road trip travel weekend yummy

Kindergarten and Mommy’s denial

Posted on June 30, 2008 12:03 am by TheAngelForever

Denial is a hard thing, especially as a parent. As much as we want our children to stay little and innocent, they inevitably grow up. No matter how many times I have asked both of my boys to slow down, they seem to be growing in leaps and bounds.

I admit it, I want my little boys to stay just the way they are. I love that NHL is exploring the world around him, anxious to learn to read and write, talking about video games with Daddy, and learning to love chapter books. What I am in denial about is that my baby, yes he technically will always be my baby, is hardly a little boy anymore. Before my eyes my little boy of four has morphed into an almost five year old boy who will be off to kindergarten this fall. I am in major denial that my little boy, my first born is old enough to be in "real" school.

The reality partially hit Thursday which was NHL’s last day of nursery school.

It came at me quickly and right between the eyes. This is the last summer before my little man goes to school and has homework, before our lives as a family will really change. I feel like I lost so much time with him when I went to work for three precious years of his life . . . time I will never get back. Thanks to this guilt I am going to try to make this a great summer for NHL. I want to make sure he has fun, gets to be a kid, and most importantly does not have time to worry about kindergarten. My poor little guy is a worrier and change of schools is upsetting to him.

Last Wednesday when we were driving home from school NHL and I had the following conversation:

NHL: "Mommy I want it to stay June."

Me: "Why NHL?"

NHL: "I don’t want to leave my school"

That tugged at my heart. I so wish I could have stopped time for my baby and let him stay in the place that helped to make him believe in school again after the horrid start in the fall.Unfortunately, I can not push the pause button and before I know it September will be here. I just pray that things go well. I really fear that another bad start could ruin NHL’s desire to learn and he has so much potential and is thirsty for knowledge.

What I am not going into now is a phone call from NHL’s kindergarten teacher for the fall. I cried on Friday after the conversation and was beyond upset. Heck, I have tears in my eyes now. I really hope that my first impression (over the phone) is wrong and we will not have any issues, but I guess I am quite pessimistic after the start at the other school in the district back in September. I truly hope I am making something out of nothing.

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More on the denial front is that my baby technically is not a baby anymore. JSL is a toddler now, although he will always be my baby like his big brother.

This week JSL has learned so much and had so many milestones. His first molar FINALLY popped up during a nap one afternoon. Now the poor little guy has three more of those and the four canine teeth to work on. Words keep flying from JSL’s mouth. If he wants something he now has words to use for many. A favorite is "Wah-wah" for water. Saturday night while out with family friends and my parents, JSL wanted my mother. He knew that we were all leaving and he said "Nana go bye-bye" while waving to her. Then as he saw her move away from her he started to cry and throw his body to her.

Temper tantrums are another big milestone. When he does not get something he wants JSL has learned to use his voice to show discontent. Not only does the little guy scream, but he will also stomp if standing and jump up and down. JSL will throw his body at the object he wants and hoot and holler hoping to get the item of desire. The other night while NHL and JL were playing Mario Kart on the Wii, JSL decided he wanted to play and/or get NHL’s new hair brush. Neither of these was an option and we had our first real temper tantrum. I sat there watching all of his antics. I was a bad mommy – I laughed so hard I had tears coming out of my eyes. It was just too much seeing such a little person make such a fuss.

JSL is also very close to walking on his own. He lets go of items for long periods of time and is starting to walk holding onto the wall, letting go and thinking about taking more steps. We all are curious to see if those first solo steps may come at Uncle I and Aunt M’s house since that is where NHL finally walked on his own. Perhaps it will be a tradition – update to come soon.

I guess I need to get used to milestones coming and going with both of the boys. I can not imagine how much of a mess I will be in Setpember, no less on JSL’s last day of nursery school in four short years.

Will watching my boys grow and become more independent ever get easier?

BTW – Here is a photo of me the summer before I went to kindergarten.

Categories:
decisions jsl kid talk milestone nhl photos school teething vent

My little guppy

Posted on June 28, 2008 1:48 pm by TheAngelForever

One of the wonderful things that was available where NHL went to nursery school was swim lessons. I grew up taking lessons and feel the need to make sure both of our boys know how to swim. Thanks to too many things going on, I slacked at getting NHL started with this earlier. During the winter months I was silly and did not want to schlep the baby out in the cold for lessons. This spring I finally signed NHL up for six weeks of lessons.

We kept talking all about it and making it sound fun. NHL was excited that the little girl that will be going to the same elementary school this fall was in the same class with him. We watched the Little Bill episode on Noggin where he goes swimming too many times to count. Thanks to this NHL was officially my Guppy Guppy Guppy!

Although excited at first about swim lesson, he quickly decided that he wanted nothing to do with them. By the second week I had to go down by the pool and force him to get into the pool. I made it clear to his teachers after that that I was quite comfortable with him being pulled into the water. He had to get in and if some screams were the way, so be it. By the forth week progress was made. He enjoyed swimming with a noodle. During week five and six he actually left the side of a teacher and used the pool noddle to move around on his own.

After the sixth and final lesson the teacher approached me. She told me that although NHL had been there for all six lessons she was going to invite him to the make up lesson the next week. It was probably going to be outside in the kiddie pool and she thought it would be a gret experience for him. We gladly accepted.

Here are some photos of the outside lesson. JSL and I went to watch and tried to stay in the shade since it was so sunny and hot.

Getting comfortable in the water with his teacher.

Once he was in the water he loved it.

He finally realized that the ENTIRE pool was 3 feet deep and he could walk around without anyone.

Meanwhile the little guy and I were getting very warm waiting outside the pool in the heat.

Of course the 3 feet deep kiddie pool had some negative features. NHL thought it was more fun "walking" around the pool rather than putting his legs up and kicking.

Usually the class is only thirty minutes, this day they were outside close to an hour. All of the kids had such a great time – even NHL wanted to race around.

We are hoping to find another location for swim lesson for the fall. At this point we can not even think about membership where NHL was at school and they require that for future lessons. For now we just hope that this great introduction help to ease his fear of water and allow him to enjoy swimming fun this summer.