Wonderful Weekend

We had a good weekend, though Alex probably had the best time of all of us. ;)

Yesterday morning our favorite pair of babysitters came to visit. One stayed with Alex and took him to the park while I went to the mall with the other one. I meant to buy Alex some more summer pajamas, but instead I wound up buying a pair of slacks, a blouse, and a dress. Maybe this weekend we can use a gift card he got for his birthday.

After Eugene got home, we visited some friends we met in our birthing class. They now have two daughters; one is about ten days younger than Alex (but she really has great verbal skills), and the other is five months. We met the younger one for the first time yesterday. Alex enjoyed playing with all the toys at the house, but he didn't get to play in the pool due to the weather. He also got a belated birthday gift: a set of play golf clubs. (Alex gave Anna a book.)

This morning, I unpacked one of his birthday presents: a "megamaze" consisting of two tunnels, a toy tepee, and a tent. They're supposed to attach together, but they're too big to all have up in the house, and I don't want to leave them outside. Alex loved crawling through the tunnels so much he insisted I do it too. It must be much easier for a toddler than a grownup!

A friend of Eugene gave us free passes for the Brookfield Zoo, so we went after breakfast. By the time we arrived, Alex was already starting to get tired, but he held out long enough to tour the butterfly garden, eat chopped onions (and only chopped onions) for lunch, and visit a "play zoo" where he got to play animal doctor and stare at goldfish. (Yes, we drove 40 minutes for goldfish. Talk about anti-climatic!) He managed to eat some ice cream, but he fell asleep in his wagon on the way back to the car. We didn't get to see much of the zoo, but maybe it'll be easier once he's older. I don't have any photos because the batteries in my camera died.

After we got home and I made Alex pancakes, he was much happier. He played with his new toys and ate turkey burgers, mixed veggies, and watermelon--with ketchup. He wound up going to bed early since he had a short nap. I hope this doesn't mean an early wake-up call tomorrow!

A Day at the Zoo

Finally, for my non-writing friends, something they can relate to!


We took Alex on his first trip to the zoo today since the weather was fantastic. Alex's sleeping/meal schedule got messed up, but although he had a few fits, overall he did OK. We weren't able to see everything, though, and by the end of the day, he was too tired we skipped the carousel. There's always next time. We took him to the Farm in the Zoo, where he got to see various farm animals. (He's still too young to feed them.) Here are some of the pictures:



The swans with their cygnet.













A deer--I can't remember which one.















A flock of birds in a tree.
















A real tiger....
















and Alex with a stuffed tiger to take home as a souvenir.