Zoo Reflections

This Time Last Week...

I'm quite sure there is a little bit of ocean running through my veins. All of my childhood summers found me at the water's edge digging in the sand, jumping waves, collecting shells, and soaking up the sun. And so it was with great JOY that I spent an hour watching Liza experience the beach for the first time. She seems to feel at home there too.

Family Hike

Friday Letter #5 - Events & Landmarks

Dear Liza,

When I was a little girl, there were three events that I looked forward to each year. Every July we had front row seats to the fire department's fireworks display. Our neighborhood was just across the street from the field where they set them off. We'd lay in the back of the station wagon and peer through the windows at the colors raining down. If we were brave enough to take the booms full strength, there were blankets laid out under the sky. Fall meant the Arts & Crafts Festival. I could smell the hay bales and hear the bluegrass long before we passed through the entrance gates. Inside were tents as far as I could see full of handmade items. My favorites were the wooden flutes, the rubber stamps, and the marble guy. Oh, and there was funnel cake doused in powdered sugar! At Christmas time Aunt Gibi and I got to go with Grandaddy to his bank's holiday decorating party. It felt strange to be there after it was closed for the day, but so much fun to help decorate the gigantic tree in the lobby. We got to stay up way past our bedtime, eat yummy treats, and open a special present picked out just for us.

Bitsy, you aren't quite old enough yet to look forward to annual events, but you sure have an affinity for a few local landmarks. Going to the park is your thing right now, especially since we have finally dipped into the low 90's. We've spent this week exploring five different parks. You've worked on your climbing skills, visited the animal fountain, and discovered this amazing thing called sand. Watching the wonder with which you meet the world is pure JOY for me.

Love, Mama

This post was inspired by FridayLetters.com's question #152. 

More Park Pics

Blackberries

"Babies and nature are good for the soul." ~Aunt V

Liza loves blackberries, especially right off the bush! The juice dribbled off her chin and onto the Ergo, leaving a purpley stain that would have annoyed me before becoming a mama. Ahh, my perfectionist self is finally giving way. Every time I put on the Ergo, I see that spot and am transported back to the rows of lush green leaves, plump juicy fruit, and a little girl tasting blackberries for the very first time.

It was a delicious day beginning in the sunshine amongst the blackberry bushes and ending in the kitchen eating this warm from the oven.

At the Park

We visited a new park today. Guess what we saw?!?

Turtles! Lots of them! Babies too! This one was the only one brave enough to stay on his rock while I took his picture.

The duck was a lot more courageous than the turtles. We got pretty close, and Liza kept leaning forward, reaching out, and wishing she could touch it.

Going for a Stroll

Teeny Tiny Park Pics

It was a gorgeous day, so we took play group to the park. Trying to get a picture of a bunch of babies is like living an episode of The Three Stooges. So silly!

Desert Weather Update

I'm quite sure we broke all kinds of records here today.

Autumn Sunshine

Windy Afternoon

There was lots of nose-wrinkling and...

clapping while we enJOYed the cool October breezes today.

Sunny Afternoons

I can count on one hand the afternoons that have been cloudy here in the desert, and the sweltering, too hot to breathe, afternoons are too numerous to number. But, these gorgeously perfect afternoons that Liza and I have been enJOYing the past few days, they more than make up for all the others. 

Welcome Fall! We're so glad you're finally here.

Granddaddy's Daylilies

The first daylily of the season bloomed today.  Granddaddy took Liza out in the garden bright and early to see it.  

EnJOYing Spring

The sky is an amazing shade of blue today.  It's warm, and the trees are beginning to bloom.  

Liza and I tried the Mei Tai for the first time and took a walk in the yard to soak up the gorgeous day.  It did us both a world of good. 

Possibilities

I love this big glass jar with its flip-top lid.  Gini & Allen gave it to us filled with brown sugar walnuts, almonds, and chocolate chips.  We polished them off last night, and I've washed the jar.  Now I'm just imagining all the things I could fill it with...buttons, pens, an assortment of chocolates, sea glass, jelly beans, granola, shells, trail mix.  

Have you got any other ideas?

ps. Check out those amaryllis.  They just might win this race.

Snow Day!

Our first in 5 years, and Penny's first EVER!

The day started out like this.

Penny wasn't too sure about the cold, white stuff.

It felt a bit strange on her paws.

She finally got comfortable with it, though.

Here's how it looks tonight, and it's still coming down.

Amaryllis & the Belly

Each year I receive an amaryllis bulb (or three!) for Christmas.  Once unpacked and watered thoroughly, they take 4-6 weeks to bloom.  I was checking the growth of the tiny green leaves this morning and realized that I'm expecting their gorgeous red blossoms right around the same time we're expecting the arrival of our girl.  It's a strange place we've entered in these final weeks of my pregnancy...wondering,watching, and waiting.  The question is, who'll arrive first, the flowers or our baby?