Carousel, Como, Careening Butterflies and Big 80's Hair

This morning I knew that I just had to get out of the house when I saw how lovely of a day it was going to be! The sun was shining brightly and the weather was looking to be just perfect for an outing, so Kristi and I made our way to our wonderful little Como Zoo. We have been there a few other times in the last couple of months, and every time we go it is a lot of fun. Kristi seems to notice different things each time and absolutely loves to take in not just the animals but all the different people! I think that the zoo and the state fair offer some of the best people watching experiences in town. :)

One of the coolest things about today at the zoo was that there is a new exhibit on butterflies and we were able to go through it! There were butterflies zooming around us and occasionally they would land on me. Strict instructions from the zoo people were to not touch the butterflies, so I just got to enjoy their tickling on my toes and neck when they would land there. In the exhibit were many beautiful flowers and butterflies of many varieties, some of which I had never seen...giant blue butterflies, red, orange, yellow, black, brown, white, and of course the traditional Monarch butterflies that we see a lot of here in Minnesota. If you are in the area this summer, I would HIGHLY recommend going to the butterfly exhibit. I imagine it will be a much visited exhibit during its time, so perhaps it would be best to arrive earlier in the day to avoid the daycamp and daycare crowds. We were there around 10:15 am, and it wasn't too crowded yet.

The lions were crazy today! I think that they might be mating or something, because the female lion was hiding behind a tree and then creeping up on the male and pouncing on him! It was the funniest thing I think I've ever seen those lions do. They were tackling each other and roaring quite a bit. Many children were scared by the loud roars of the lions, including my little one! But it was nonetheless a very fun experience to witness. Usually when I have seen the lions they are just sleeping.

As we were leaving the zoo, I decided that we should go ahead and ride the old fashioned carousel. Kristi was thrilled with that choice, and we had a ton of fun. Perhaps it wasn't the smartest option for a 37 week preggie lady to do, but at this point I'm all about helping this child to come out! A nice volunteer at the carousel ride helped to hoist Kristi up to the horse so that we could ride the horse together. He stood nearby during the ride as if trying to help protect me in case something should happen! It was so sweet.

We walked up to the park tonight. It has been so neat to have Kristi walk by herself instead of pushing her in the stroller. She is loving the freedom! While we were at the park, there was a lady there who couldn't have been all that much older than me and she was sporting this really huge puffy hairdo that reminded me so much of an 80's girl rock band look! I got a good giggle out of that. It just isn't that often that I see hair like that anymore, unless I'm down in Texas visiting. It seems that a lot of women in Texas still like big hair. No offense ya'all! I love you dearly! :) Everything in Texas is bigger, right?

Must go help put the kiddo to bed...and I'm kind of giggling at myself for saying that I wouldn't be writing much since our computer is sick. I've been more diligent about writing this week than I have been for awhile! I'm just enjoying it I guess.

Blessings.

Tubes & Tummies!!!

So, I've learned something...NEVER go down a long, claustrophobic, winding tube tunnel slide with your almost two year old when you're UBER pregnant! (I'm now 31 weeks - I can't believe how quickly it is going!) Last night Kristi Bug and I had an adventure to our nearby park, and yes, I took her to the tallest slide and had her on my lap while I tried to lay down and go down that silly thing. When we got to the bottom, it was VERY hard to get up and out of the slide, and I had to sort of shimmy Kristi out of the slide and use my legs to get her down from the drop of a few feet so that she wouldn't crash. I was laughing as I tried to get up and knew that I'd have a good story to tell later on. Erik cracked up when I told him, and I guess he had the joy of sharing the slide story with his coworkers today, who got a chuckle out of it as well. After going down with Kristi, then she proceeded to (and I guess I let her) go up the playground equipment all by herself to the TOP slide again, two more times, and come down by herself. She had this kind of devious little grin on her face and kept checking with me, almost like she was thinking, "Mommy? I can't believe you're letting me do this!" The first time down was fine, and she laughed and laughed...but the second time down by herself, she must have gotten her footing off, and she kind of tumbled down the slide. Oops! I felt like a real dufus of a mama at that point, as my Bug seemed a little discombobulated from tumbling down the slide. Needless to say, that was the end of our night at the park, but Bug handled it very well and there were no tears shed. I now call her, "my independent one."

Must go get some sleep...blessings to all...