Archive for the ‘weekend’ Tag
September 01 2009
We visited the zoo this weekend, mainly for Buzz’s benefit. The boy is all about the animals. He has a fascination, especially with penguins and monkeys. Stemmed from copious amounts of Madagascar and Over the Hedge, no doubt.
It’s a good thing he doesn’t have a fascination with, say, giraffes or elephants, because there were none of those there.
Our local zoo is not the best zoo. In fact, it’s rather lousy. It’s dirty and outdated and in desperate need of renovation. I tend to compare it to a farm, because it’s range of animals isn’t very far off. There are horses and donkeys and goats, complete with a barn, interspersed throughout. Although a farm might be better kept.
The especially unnerving aspect, however, were the state of a lot of the animals. There were more than a few that appeared in immediate need of some medical attention. Even the ones that didn’t look as if they were about to keel over as we passed were still old and degenerate (seriously, the cougars even had a sign on their enclosure “we suffer from degenerative joints”). We were also unfortunate to arrive right at feeding time. Nothing says family friendly quite like witnessing a hawk peck apart a freshly mauled rat.
Buzz had a blast, though, and didn’t seem to mind the mangy peacock or sedated wolverine or bloody rat carcasses, even. There were penguins! Which he saw up close! Right in front of him! I’m pretty sure that made his year.
August 03 2009
The only item on our agenda for this past weekend was to repopulate our goldfish aquarium. That was really all we had to do. Buy a fish.
Exciting! Blog! Material!
Except it was for Buzz, because pet stores are like crack for that kid. He’s truly enamored by animals of any kind, and there were plenty to go around. Turtles and lizards and rabbits and birds. He stuck his face too close for my comfort up to a rat and splashed his hand in dirty pond water. He watched, momentarily amazed, as every kind of fish swam past. Nemo fish! Dori fish! The boy couldn’t get enough. It was like the zoo, only miniaturized. And lined with bottles of water treatment chemicals.
He had the joy of this twice, since the first pet store’s goldfish were in quarantine. Which meant a simple outing turned into an almost 2 hour event. To that, all I can say is of course it did. However, a child’s happiness + 4 goldfish (that are still alive!) = priceless. Well, .87 plus the cost of gas, actually, but that’s about as close to priceless as you can get.
June 08 2009
We went to our first fireworks show of the season this weekend. A warmup, if you will. Last year, Buzz threw a fit of magnificent proportions on the 4th of July, complete with leg kicking, arm flailing, nose running, and tears gushing. The majority of the incident was spent with him in the car, attempting to soothe his fear and quiet him down and failing miserably.
Before the festivities began this time, we aspired to fabricate as much preparation as possible. We were all “POW! POW! FIREWORKS!”, and he was all “POW! POW! FIREWORKS!”, hand gestures included, and everyone was smiling and happy. With the first illumination, however, Buzz turned from smiling and happy to hostile trepidation. At least we didn’t leave with a layer of snot covering his chin, though, so I’ll consider it a success.
I wanted to take pictures, but it’s difficult to balance a camera, 3 kids, and a blanket without dropping someone and/or breaking something. Instead, I’ll use my super awesome power of the written word; they were big, they were bright, they were colorful, and they were loud. It’s like you were right there, isn’t it?
Or, as Jedi proclaimed after a particularly vibrant color burst, “The guys on the moon could see that!”
May 26 2009
What better way to celebrate Memorial Day than by grilling enough food to feed an army? I wish I had more to say about that, but my stomach. It’s still filled with grilled chicken, hot dogs, sweet rolls, pasta salad, potato salad, and deviled eggs. There was also steak, but a girl has to set her limits. Plus, I wanted to save room for dessert; brownies or apple pie. Life is full of such difficult decisions.
Our paper plates runnethed over.
We shared this feast with my parents, along with my brother and his 8 year old son. This always makes for an interesting time and the mood of the room usually varies with the hour. The topics of discussion stayed safe, however, focussing on sports and the kids. After my parents called it a day, my brother stayed a little while longer. Soon enough, this turned into a Guitar Hero battlethon. I dare anyone to find a more appropriate cap to the night than by rocking out to Eye of the Tiger. Good times, people. Good times.
May 18 2009
I do not like to drive. In fact, I quite loathe the entire driving experience. This is why, shortly after becomming a stay home mom, I stupidly allowed my license to expire. It had been over 4 years since I even touched a steering wheel. Until yesterday, that is.
While I could probably spend the rest of my life as a happy passenger, reason has recently got the better of me. It might be wise to become a legal motorist again, if nothing else than for those “what if” scenarios. As I sat in the driver’s side for the first time in 4 years on a practice run, it was almost like I was 16 years old again and a “Student Driver” sticker had been afixed to the car door. Only I wasn’t trying too hard to be deep and misunderstood, my mouth wasn’t lined in braces, and my daughter was sleeping peacefully in the backseat. Plus, I kind of knew what I was doing. So not like 16 at all, I guess. Thank God.
As it turns out, driving a car is a lot like riding a bike. Even after a number of years have passed, the main gist is still clear: keep in your lane, don’t hit anything. My feelings on the matter haven’t changed, either. I’m much more akin to the passenger seat.
