Oh my heavens. My girl is FOUR.
Happy Birthday, Sweetness!
The sun shines a little brighter, the flowers bloom a little bigger and the birds sing a little more sweetly all because you are in the world.
And Now She Is Four
Tourist in My Own Town
I’ve been at my parents’ house since Thursday…a longish visit these days. Besides getting some quality time with family, this time around we’ve been able to be “tourists” and see a slice of Northwest Indiana/Southeastern Michigan that we drive through but never see.
Friday night, we went to Redamak’s and bit into a legend. How good are the burgers? So good that MAM ate her entire cheeseburger, with not prodding from me. That never happens. We also took a long walk around the New Buffalo beach and got our toes wet.
Saturday morning, we visited Ragtops, a small car museum. Car enthusiasts would probably be in awe. As it was, it was fun to walk around, and amazing to see how big some of these cars were (and how so many were lacking in seat belts!)
Saturday afternoon, we visited (and climbed) Mount Baldy, part of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. It’s gorgeous, clean and so-not crowded. The only downside is that from the water, the bathrooms are basically a 10 minute hike away. Our friends and family all had a ball there–and BgK and I are trying to figure out when, exactly, we can make it back. It’s a three hour drive from home, but so incredibly worth it.
Monday morning, we went to the Washington Park Zoo. All of the above pictures were taken there, at their River Otter exhibit (with a tunnel, so you can crawl under where the otters are swimming, and at the playground, where you can slide like river otter…) For a small zoo, they have an amazing collection of animals, and the exhibits are set up so that even a four year old can see most of them without having to be held up. You are really up close to the animals, which both kids loved. Also, there were no vendors hawking face painting, tattoos, hair braids or anything else as you walked through the zoo. There were no “extra” tickets to purchase, no trains or 3-D movies or carousels to distract from seeing the animals. For young kids, a total gem of a place.
Today we arrived home, and have a few days of normal….then it’s on to the next (and sadly, last) summertime adventure!
(we also celebrated birthdays…but that’s in a post yet to be written)
The ABC’s of Me
Hello! Welcome! If you’ve found me via ICLW, I’m glad 😉
Last month I sort of jumped right in, this month I thought I’d introduce myself, using the alphabet.
A Apples. I love to eat apples. Not so much a fan of the “apple theme” that seems to go along with being a teacher. No, really.
B Boy,I am mom to one boy, and boy is he different from my girl! The obsession with wheels and things that go seemed to happen shortly after he arrived home.
C Cake. Cookies. Candy. Chocolate.
D Domain name! I own my own domain! It’s all of about 1 month old, and only about two weeks live on the internet.
E Elephant, I was one for my tap-dance recital in kindergarten. I can still sing the song.
F Feet, size 10 feet, or small canoes, really.
G Gotchababy was actually a name generated by Blogger way back. I liked it, and it stuck.
H Hope. Is there anything without it?
I Ice cream, sweet, delicious ice cream.
J Jail, I’ve toured a few, but always as a visitor, never a resident.
K Kieran, That’s my hubby’s middle name. I LOVE that name.
L Little feet, we have two pairs of little feet running around our house. Man, can they run (well, one crawls, but he is fast)!
M is my absolute favorite letter of the alphabet. It was even before my initials were 3M.
N No, I feel like I say this constantly to the boy. He doesn’t seem to mind though–he just smiles and continues to go about his business!
O Octopus, sometimes I think I’d get more done with more arms.
P Pizza, hot, cheesy, melty thin-crust pizza.
Q Quiet. My house is hardly ever quiet. I relish it when it is…at least the first 30 minutes or so.
R Rice Milk, is my daughter’s drink of choice. I buy it a case at a time from Trader Joe’s.
S School is starting in one short month.
T Teacher. I am going to start my 13th year of teaching in one month. HOW did that happen?
U Upside. There’s an upside to just about everything. I work really hard to find it.
V Very. Very hungry, very busy, very tired, very content, very.
W Wings. A new game with my daughter, she likes to pretend she has them.
X Xrays.It seems like one of us is always getting x-rayed for something. Most recently, a chest x-ray for the boy’s cough.
Y Yellow. I love it when kids say, Lell-yow instead. I may have pronounced it that way so MAM would. No one can prove it though.
Z Zoo. I feel like my life is a zoo sometimes. A lot of it is of my own making.