I suppose I could take each one of the following items and make them into a separate blog, but I decided to put them all in one. Short blurbs, of course.
Daily Dad
One of the hardest jobs I have ever been handed is that of being “dad.” I cannot remember who suggested this book, but I had it in my Amazon cart for a few weeks before finally ordering it.
I have only had it a couple days and the introduction in this book would make a fantastic blog in itself. It is very powerful.
Like a daily devotional, it is organized to feature a thought every day. I am glad that I bought this and look forward to making it a part of my day. I want to be the best dad I can be and teach my children life lessons. I want to raise them right. I hope to use what I learn with my older children, too.
Daily Devotional
I have been a lot better as of late in reading my Bible every day, or at least watching a Bible lesson from pastors I know. I stumbled on this daily devotional quite by accident. A fellow believer had a small picture of it on her Facebook page and I was able to nab a copy of it.
This isn’t set up by date, however it does have 366 devotionals so you can read it in a year. Again, I’ve only had it a couple days and I have really enjoyed this. The pieces are not too long, but loaded with solid information.
Other Reading
My wife has been telling me about a book for some time. I kept putting it off because of the other books I had from the library. I have started it and am progressing slowly, as my time to read physical books isn’t what it had been.
My oldest son has Asperger’s Syndrome, and so does the main character of this book. It is described as a crime thriller, a lesson in motherly love, a primer on Asperger’s syndrome, and a heart stopping trip through the legal system. So far, it is very good.
In the car, I am listening to a very unique story. It has quite an interesting premise.
In a nutshell, Evelyn Hardcastle will be murdered at 11:00 p.m. There are eight days, and eight witnesses for you to inhabit (yes, you become each witness). We will only let you escape once you tell us the name of the killer.
The main character wakes up each day as a different person, reliving the same day and it is his job to find out who murders Evelyn Hardcastle. So far, it is really good. The audio book is like 17 hours long!! I am about 4-5 hours in. I’m hoping it doesn’t disappoint.
At home, I read a chapter about one of my favorite characters of all time and a different case.
Great book by a fellow Columbophile!
The Biggest News of the Weekend
I’m not sure who is responsible – my wife or my daughter – but come this weekend, we’ll have a new addition to the family.
I’m not sure if that puppy is spitting her tongue out at me or is looking at a bone. I am sure that she is coming to our house on Friday.
It started with a text from my wife. “I want a puppy.” That was followed by a video call from my daughter telling me why we needed a puppy. Then my son chimed in, too.
We housed a dog for a while, but she bit one of the kids, so she went to live with my sister-in-law. Because of this, I was apprehensive about even entertaining the thought of getting another dog, let alone a puppy.
Sam decided to send me pictures of the available pups. Then they picked a couple (of the 9 pups) that they liked. Then the owner allowed us to go look at them.
It became very obvious which one liked Ella and which one Ella liked. So, she will be ready for us to pick up this weekend. Many names were thrown out by Sam and me, and Ella shot most of them down. We did talk her out of naming the puppy after her pediatrician!! Anyway, it looks like “Daisy” will be very welcomed in out home.
Puppy Project
When we had the previous dog, it didn’t go far and stayed in the yard. However, I know puppies. I don’t want to be chasing it through the neighborhood. So my father-in-law (my project manager) and I worked this weekend setting posts for a temporary fence. Pardon my amateur art skills….
Our backyard is huge. So my father-in-law and I mapped out how we were going to give the pup it’s own area. There is an area up near the back of our house where we can run fencing from the back of the garage to the chain-link fence of our neighbor. Then we can run some fencing from the house to the garage and add a gate. This will give the pup a nice little area to play (and poop) in for the next couple months.
Once the snow melts in the spring, my father-in-law and I are going to buy chain link fence and run 100 feet at a time and finish fencing the entire yard. For now, this will work.
Be ready for plenty of puppy pictures (probably of stuff it chewed up!).
I have to thank the mail lady at our local post office who literally saved Christmas today! Let me explain.
Sam took advantage of the Amazon deals and finished up the Christmas shopping this week. One of the things she ordered was a big Barbie Townhouse thing for Ella. She kept asking for a Barbie Dreamhouse, which is like $200 and as big as our living room!
We decided to go a little smaller and got her the Barbie three story townhouse… which has an elevator!
Considerably smaller, but still a place for her Barbies to play!
Anyway, because of all the construction on our street, the Amazon driver called to say that he couldn’t get to the house. He left the package at the local post office. Sam called me while I was out running errands with Ella and asked me to stop and get it – hoping it was in a cardboard box.
I walked into the post office and explained who I was and why I was there. As Ella was wandering around the lobby, I mentioned that it was a Christmas present and that I hoped that it was in a box. The lady looked at me and whispered, “Is it a Barbie house?”
I told her it was and she shook her head. She informed me that it was literally in the box you would see at the store. I obviously was not going to be able to get it with Ella there with me. I told her that I could probably come back later and pick it up on my way to work. She told me to wait a second and she looked under the counter.
She found a garbage bag and said she thought maybe she could fit it in the bag. It just fit, but she said it wouldn’t close at the top of the bag.
She wanted to be sure the secret was not revealed to Ella, so she grabbed a few USPS envelopes and covered the end of the box that was showing so that there was no way Ella could see what it was!
When she handed me the bag, I expressed my thanks. She really went above and beyond for me and I could not appreciate it more. In my mind, she truly saved Christmas!
Had a childhood flashback thanks to my daughter yesterday.
It is that time of year! The commercials are already starting and two things arrived in the mail.
The Amazon and Walmart Wish books arrived in the mail!
Let me say that these are a FAR cry from the HUGE wish books that I went through growing up. And we certainly had a few to go through –
Montgomery Ward ….
Sears …
And JC Penney (which was our favorite)
We’d spend hours looking through these wish books, thinking that these were commissioned by Santa. After all, we were creating our list of toys that HE was going to bring. Our folks told us constantly that they had to pay him for them!
I remember the above page like I was still 5 years old. We actually had that treehouse!
The above page was one that had a huge black circle around that Millennium Falcon! Santa did bring it to me that year, incidentally!
Anyway, back to my daughter. She is at that age now where she wants a say in what she wants for Christmas. So I grabbed a pen and we opened up the Walmart Wish Book (which was more like a cheap magazine). Her finger pointed to toy after toy. “Circle that one for me!” “I think Bubby (her brother, Andrew) wants that. Circle it for him!”
I circled and circled many items. It was insane! I circled doll houses, electric cars, Paw Patrol, Cocomelon, and Gabby’s Dollhouse stuff. There was something on every page. There were even times she would offer special instructions. For example, when we came to this …
…she made sure to say, “I want this Barbie house. With the Barbie car. And all the Barbies, ok?”
She is a hoot and it was a lot of fun going through the books with her. Now we wait to see if she is on the Naughty or Nice List, right!?
This weekend was just wonderful! My Goddaughter and her fiancé got married on Saturday. I was honored to be able to DJ the wedding for them.
Before I tell you more, I want to give a little backstory. Just after we rang in the year 2020, and before Covid closed everything, I blogged about my Goddaughter and her mom. I think in order to fully understand what I was feeling this weekend, it is worth revisiting:
January 1, 2020
Today, we met one of my oldest and dearest friends for lunch. Margaret and I have been friends since junior high. We are both Italian. My folks loved her, and her folks loved me. I think they probably both thought that we would date or something, but that never happened. We both went to a few dances together, but that was about as close to “dating” as it got. We were just really good friends and that made us both happy. We were officers in band together, we dressed up as twins for Twin Day, she and I both took a senior picture together, and spent many hours on the phone. She was/is one of my best friends!
When her daughter, Marissa, was born she asked me to be her Godfather. I was honored to do it. A Godfather is a very important role for an Italian. When I got married the first time, sadly, I saw less and less of Margaret and my Goddaughter. Whenever I was supposed to get together with them, I was always informed that we couldn’t go or we had something to do with my ex’s family. (If you have followed this blog for any length of time, you are well aware of the narcissism that I dealt with and how miserable my life had become.)
After the divorce, Margaret was one of the first to reach out to me. She completely understood what was going on. Her forgiveness meant everything to me. I hurt her. I was hurt, too. I lost many years of our friendship, and I lost so many moments with my Goddaughter. After all of that, Margaret (and many other friends) had every right to just stop talking to me, but our friendship meant so much, that we have picked up where we left off.
When I attended my Goddaughter’s 21st birthday party, I pulled her aside and apologized for missing so many important things in her life. How do you explain that to someone? As I looked back on the past, my stomach was in knots. I was sickened to think of how I must have made so many people feel. She didn’t bat an eye, however, and told me she loved me and we all enjoyed a great evening! I remember driving home from her party crying my eyes out. It wasn’t fair to her that I missed so many things. It makes me angry to know that I missed so much, but I am also happy that I can try to make up for lost time with her!
Sam and I were going to see what Margaret and her husband, Walt, were doing on New Year’s Eve and found out she was working that night. So they met us at one of the nearby bars for lunch on New Year’s Day. We enjoyed some amazing burgers, and enjoyed good conversation. There is always a lot of laughter when we get together, story telling with wild hand gestures (it is the Italian in us!) and usually some profanity! It was truly a wonderful afternoon. We hope to be able to do it more often!
During lunch, Margaret said something that struck a chord. It was something that made me sad, and happy at the same time. She said, “I have seen you more and talked to you more in the past two years, that the entire time you were married.” This made me sad, because of what I touched on early – a great friendship almost destroyed as well as the relationship between my Goddaughter and me, all because of the stupidity of someone else. It made me happy to know that our friendship remains and will grow even stronger in the years ahead.
Shortly After That
My daughter Ella was born just over a month later. Margaret and Walt made the drive up to the hospital that night with Olive Garden dinners for Sam and me, and also a ton of soup and breadsticks for the hospital staff on our floor!
Ella loves her Aunt Margaret. Margaret has shown so much love to her and Andrew. Ella thanks God for her every night when she prays. Margaret refers to them as “my babies!” Thanks to technology, they love being able to video chat with her anytime!
Last week, Margaret and I got into one of those deep conversations. The years I missed came up. The deep regret that I hate thinking about . The “What Ifs” and such. We had been talking about my kids. She told me that she had always wanted to do that for my older boys, too! Thanks to my ex, that was never to be. All the hurt I felt about missing time with Marissa and I never really realized just how much hurt Margaret felt about missing time with my boys.
Sigh. On to happier stuff….
September 23, 2023
Saturday, I arrived at the breathtaking tree farm where the wedding was to be held. The first person I saw was the groom to be, Connor. He’s a great guy and I know that he is going to be a great husband. I asked him if he was nervous, and he said he was. Marissa and Connor have been together for 7 years. They are perfect together. I don’t remember what I told him, but I assured him all would go well.
When Marissa arrived, they shuffled Connor into the lodge area so he couldn’t see her. She came over and embraced me for a hug. She didn’t even have her dress on yet, and she was just stunning. We talked a briefly and then she was off to get ready.
I saw Margaret out in front of the lodge as I parked my father-in-law’s truck (which he let me borrow so I could fit everything in it!). She was busy putting out fires on the cell phone and with people at the venue.
It didn’t take me too long to get set up. It was hot, so I was glad I hadn’t arrived in my suit. I went to change and by then, we were about an hour and a half away from the ceremony. The families all came out and the photographers got pictures done before the ceremony, which you don’t see too often. But I get it, the sun was perfect and I know that they got some amazing pictures. I, however, only got two. One of Margaret and me, and the other with Marissa.
The ceremony was just wonderful. I was sitting next to Chris, a mutual friend of Margaret and me. She asked if I was going to need a tissue. I told her probably, but I passed her back the tissue pack. Once Marissa and her dad began walking down the aisle, I could feel those tears well up.
Their officiant knew both of them very well and shared some very funny stories. At the same time, he was very professional. Marissa and Connor each wrote their own vows. They read like a love story. Wow, the looks that they gave each other throughout the ceremony and the sharing of their vows….. It was a powerful example of true love. Again, I held back tears.
I’ve DJ’s many weddings, but this was the first where a grand entrance was timed down to the second! They entered to Natalie Cole’s This Will Be (An Everlasting Love). I had a cue sheet with the time and the lyrics along with the couples that were entering at that time. They had it timed perfectly.
After the grand entrance, Marissa and Connor had put together a dance for their first song. It was such a joy to watch these two execute their moves to perfection. I was glad that a little hiccup that could have meant me not having their song was an easy fix. In all my years doing weddings, this was only the third time the bride and groom had choreographed their first dance. It was beautiful.
It was after this that I saw Margaret become “that Italian mom.” Let me explain. No one had filled the glasses of the head table and when we went to do toasts, there was nothing to toast! They decided to let people eat and they would toast during dinner while someone filled glasses. That someone – was Margaret. She came busting out of the lodge with bottle of wine in each hand. She walked to every person with an empty glass and asked, “White or red?”
She was the first table called to eat after the head table. Yet, she was like the last in line to eat! I had to tell her to get a plate. She naturally swore at me and moved through the buffet line.
Toasts from the Best Man, Maid of Honor, and the fathers of both the Bride and Groom followed. The Best Man impressed me with a perfect line. He stated that he and Connor had been best friends forever. He stated that he was happy to give up that title, because Marissa would now forever be his best friend. Good stuff!
After dinner, Marissa danced with her dad and Connor danced with his mom. Then the dance floor opened for the night. Music was not an issue, as they had given me plenty of songs to choose from. There is never enough time to get through the entire list. There were plenty of requests and the crowd seemed to be having a good time.
I naturally brought out the groom and the groomsmen, who had no idea why I called them out to the floor. I passed out a cowboy hat, and Indian head dress, a policeman’s hat, a sailor hat, and a biker hat. I led them through some silly moves and we did the YMCA together. This is always silly and they guys had fun. I even got to embarrass myself as I walked through the crown lip synching “Can’t Help Falling In Love” by Elvis with my terrible Elvis wig.
There were so many things from the evening that I will remember, but the one thing that will stick with me forever is just how beautiful Marissa looked.
I am so happy for her. I am excited to hear about all the things that are ahead for her and Connor. Random thought: Is he now my Godson-in-law? I’d be ok with that.
On my hour drive home, there was a lot of time to think about the day. I smiled again as I recalled the vows, the first dance, the last dance, and more. I had to pull over when the sadness crept in with the memory of the lost time with her. I had to remind myself that that is all in the past, and there will be more happy days ahead. Plenty of happy days, I am sure of it!
Congratulations to Marissa and Connor. Your love for each other will carry you through the tough storms … and God will get you through the rest!
The kids and I had a neat experience the other morning. I went to take the garbage out to the road. When I went to grab the last can, I saw this amazing caterpillar on the rim. It was huge!
I rushed back into the house and had the kids come outside to see. They were captivated. I went and grabbed a stick so the caterpillar could climb onto it.
It was so cool to see their reactions! Andrew really loved it!
Ella said, “He’s got to find a tree so he can make a chrysalis and turn into a butterfly!”
She went with Andrew on a field trip to a local nature preserve and she remembered that caterpillars go into the chrysalis before turning into a butterfly. She is so smart!
Since we already had it on a stick, we walked over to our neighbors tree and it moved to the branch. Ella and Andrew were in awe watching it move from the stick to the tree.
We found out later after searching the net that this will turn into a Cecropia Moth. A friend even posted a photo on Facebook for us.
This was such a cool experience for me and the kids. I don’t think I’d ever seen a caterpillar that big outside of a zoo. Who knows, maybe it will come back to say hello when it makes it change…
If you have followed this blog, you know that the majority of the home projects I do are done with my father-in-law. He is always there to help me with things and I am so grateful for him.
Recently, you may recall, we got a second hand playscape. We knew it would probably need a bit of patch work. The other day, when Ella was climbing the rock wall, one of the rocks just fell off.
Most of the wood on it was starting to dry rot. So I went into my garage and took a look at the wood I had left from the deck/porch project. I had plenty of boards and a couple 2×4’s. That was really all I needed. I knew that Menard’s had the little “rocks” that were mounted to the boards, so I could pick those up after I put the new wall together.
It didn’t take long to measure everything out. The speed square I bought got a lot of use that day. Once the wall was finished, I packed the kids in the car and drove to Menard’s. The problem was, that they were out of the “rocks.”
I began to wonder how I could get around this problem. We looked at some of the other “swing set/playscape” accessories and there it was. It was a big plastic thing with holes in it. Basically, you build a square frame and mount this inside the frame. I, of course, thought “Why can’t I mount this thing right onto the wall I built?”
I ran to the tape measure aisle. Measured the plastic piece and saw that it would fit! So 8-12 screws later – it was mounted and guess what? The kids love it!!
An entire project finished without having to call my father-in-law for help!! Woo hoo!!
It’s Monday and there is finally a bit of normalcy back in our life. It was a crazy weekend for us.
Thursday, Andrew had his surgery. It went better than expected and we were grateful that many of the “possible” surgeries were not needed. This time the recovery went a bit better than the last time. When he woke up from his last surgery he had what they called post op “delirium” and he began pulling the IV out and was just a bear! This time, they gave him something that let him sleep a bit more and he woke up much more calm.
On Friday we were home. He seemed to be doing well. He was eating a lot of soft foods and popsicles. He seemed a bit more like himself, but we knew he wasn’t 100%. On Saturday, we had a scare as he just didn’t want to eat or drink. We even took him out for ice cream in hopes that would work. Naturally, a trip back to the ER and what does he do? Drinks and eats.
Not sure why he felt the need to grab a winter hat for ice cream, but he did.
That night my wife caught a very cool picture. Let me set this up for you. When I put him to bed, I will lay him in his bed and turn out the lights. I will say prayers with him, cover him up, and turn on his sound machine/night light. Then I’ll put on my reading glasses, grab my mini-flashlight and read my book where he can see me. He will eventually close his eye, knowing that dad is right by him, and go to sleep.
While in our bed that night, he grabbed his sunglasses and put them on. He grabbed his Paw Patrol flashlight and one of the books my wife and I plan on reading. He said, “Wook, Mommy! I Daddy!!”
Little by little – he is acting like himself.
We were home just in time to watch the sunset yesterday. Before the rain, the kids saw fire flies lighting up the back yard. So they ran around trying to catch them. Both were successful!
It’s been years since I’ve chased fireflies, but I have vivid memories of doing so. I hope they will never forget doing it.
The past week has been one of change and challenges for me. I am usually not lacking things I want to write about, but the past few days have been … well, busy. I’ve jotted little random thoughts in my “possible blog” notebook but none of them really warrants a full blown blog. So I decided to throw many of them all together for you. Consider it a Blogging Smorgasbord.
(Mental note: Use Smorgasbord in a sentence today. Check!)
Afternoon Adjustment
One of the biggest changes for me has been the switch from midnights to afternoons. Things have been very busy at work and I know that there are a lot of things that I still need to learn. However, I’ve sort of settled in and have taken care of reviewing patient charts, scoring records, helping techs with hook ups and whatever else is needed.
It’s weird to see the “day people.” We see their names in e-mails and on orders, but to actually see them … it’s just weird. There is a small window of time between when the day folks leave and the night folks come in where the building is strangely quiet. It’s almost too quiet. I have had to make sure that I turn some music on in order for me not to get distracted by the silence.
My entire eating schedule is out of whack, too. I’m used to lunch at 11pm and dinner at 3:30am. Now, I am eating on what you would call a “normal” schedule. I also have to deal with the never ending supply of sweets and snacks from the day staff. It seems that there are always some kind of goodies on the break room table.
The best part has been being able to crawl into bed and hold my wife at night (when one of the kids isn’t in our bed!). In just one week, I feel like we have talked more like when we first got married. Both of us are rested, get up and have coffee together, and have breakfast and lunch as a family. It really is wonderful.
Date Night
Sam and I have a date night coming up this weekend. If there is ever any question as to whether I love her or not, this should prove that the answer is a resounding YES. Look, I’ve seen a few episodes of the Golden Girls here and there. Sophia reminds me of my Italian grandma. However, I wouldn’t go out of my way to see a “Golden Girls” stage show – unless my wife wanted to see it. She does and we are.
I don’t know much about the show. The Golden Girls – The Laughs Continue. I heard it is a bit “raunchier” than the actual show. My co-worker saw it tonight and said it was good. He promised to not give away any spoilers. He took his wife.
We were talking about how some people really got into it and were dressing up to go to shows like this. My wife has informed me that she has something for us to wear to the show. If I wind up in a wig and a dress, I will be sure to share pictures.
Did You Ever ….
This doesn’t happen often, but have you ever started a book with the impression that it was going to be good only to find it slow and not what you expected? I am listening to an audiobook that I borrowed based solely on the title. The unabridged audio book is just over 11 hours. I am three hours in and I am just now feeling like it might be starting to get interesting, but I’m not sure. I debated whether or not to just stop listening.
I suppose it is my fault. I usually read the synopsis before deciding on reading a book. I never did for this one. Prior to blogging, I read the synopsis and afterward asked myself, “If I had read this before adding it to my ‘to read’ list, would I have actually wanted to read it?” I’m guessing not. I will probably listen a little longer just to see what, if anything, happens. At some point, though, I need to decide whether I want to finish it or not.
I Don’t Get the Hype
Someone posted the above on Facebook and I had to steal it. I truly don’t know how to take the hype surrounding the Barbie movie. My first thought is that Hollywood’s creativity is at an all time low and this was the result of someone scraping the bottom of the barrel for a movie idea. “Oooooo! I know! Let’s make a movie about Barbie and the various versions of dolls!” How does this idea even make it up the flagpole!?
Sam actually wondered if it would be something that Ella might like. Most people who did see it said it was probably not something to take kids to. It seems that this movie is made for adults who used to play with Barbie dolls or something. Urgh.
This leads to my second thought – adults are actually willing to pay big ticket prices to actually watch this in a theater. THIS is what the general public sees as “entertainment.” At what point do they just throw together two hours of 2 to 3 minute Tik Tok or Snapchat videos and market it as a “major motion picture?!” Sure, you can watch that crap on your phone, but if they did put it in theaters, you can bet that people would flock to see it. Next thing you know, some idiot Tik Tok “star” will get an Academy Award!
It has been a LONG time since there has been a movie that has come out that I would actually want to pay to see. I’ve been fascinated by the story of Hiroshima, so the Oppenheimer movie might be something I’d go see, but the reviews are mixed. I will probably do what I usually do – wait to stream it or rent it.
New Bluey? Yes, I Will Watch!
My wife says to me today: “Have you watched the new Bluey episodes yet?”
I shout back, “What?! Are they one Disney + already? I didn’t think they were airing in the US yet!”
Yes. There are new episodes. Yes. I will watch them by myself.
I learned a long time ago that it is totally ok for an adult to watch cartoons without kids. It keeps me young!
There is nothing that makes time move faster than watching your children grow. In 6 months, Ella will be 4 years old. It seems like just yesterday that I was blogging about getting her room and crib put together!
Moving from the crib to a toddler bed was the next big step. This is a step that Andrew is getting closer to every day. How in the world has her “big girl bed” lost that status? It is a sad reality, but true. Ella is movin’ on up from her toddler bed to a “real” big girl bed!
Sam and I looked for twin beds on Amazon and we found one that looked cute and will serve a dual purpose.
We opted to get a trundle bed, which Andrew (or a friend/cousin) can use in the future.
The mattress came Monday and It was all rolled up in a box and shrink wrapped. I opened it up and it had to sit flat for 72 hours before you could use it. Thankfully, the bed itself didn’t arrive until yesterday.
Ella was very excited to be sleeping in her new bed ASAP! When I got home from work this morning, she was asking when I was going to build it. Sam had a doctor appointment today and she took the kids with her, so I built it while they were gone. It wasn’t the easiest thing to build in her room, which still had things on the floor, but I got it done.
With her graduation to a twin bed, that meant we needed to get some new sheets and a new bedding set. Sam bought her a Disney Princess set, which she liked, but those are not the sheets on her bed.
Sam’s mom, knowing that Ella was moving to a twin bed soon, saved the butterfly sheet set that used to be on her sister Grace’s bed. You may remember that Grace passed away late last year. Ella was very close to her.
When Sam asked if she wanted her new princess bedding or the butterfly bedding. She instantly said the butterfly one! The conversation went like this:
Ella: Mommy if I use Gracie’s bed sheets then she will come visit me. I miss her so much! I need her to come visit, she has been a good girl for Jesus long enough.
Sam: When you have Gracie’s blankets they will let her come visit you every night in your dreams.
The Sam walked away crying.
May your new bed bring you many visits from Gracie and plenty of sweet dreams, my princess!
America celebrated her 247th birthday this week. It was a busy and wonderful weekend for us, as we had an out of town visit from my brother. He and Stacey drove up from Ohio on Sunday. They spent all day with us on Monday. We ordered Pizza for lunch, Barbequed chicken for dinner, and went for ice cream before they headed back to their hotel.
On the fourth, they met us at this little zoo nearby and we spent the first part of the day there. It’s been years since I have been there and forgot that they actually have some pretty cool animals. They have brown and black bears, a white Siberian Tiger, Kangaroos, Lions, and a plenty of birds (more on that in a minute).
The zoo has many places where you can buy feed to give to the animals. They kids loved feeding the goats.
The look on this goat’s face in the picture cracks me up!
The animals are so close to you and there are many you can pet.
Sam does not like birds. I’m not saying I do, but the kids wanted to go into this parakeet experience. When you walk in, they give you a stick with bird seed on it. The birds will fly over to your stick and eat the seeds. I made a friend quickly, and didn’t even need birdseed.
This bird flew to the top of my head and STAYED there pecking at it until we were done. I swear we were in there for at least 10 minutes. This bird would not leave my head. Finally, when the kids were ready to go, we walked to the door of the exhibit and the door guy had to shoo the bird off my head so I could walk out. It was freaking me out!
We went back to our house to wait for our local fire works show. Sam’s folks and a friend from college (who just moved to our neighborhood) joined us in our backyard to watch the show.
Every year, since Ella could walk, we’ve taken pictures of them walking down down the sidewalk with a flag. It was fun to put them all together in a collage and see how much they have grown.
For such a small town, they really do a fine job with their fireworks show. I wish cell phone photos could do it justice.
Ella said it was too loud and Nana and her went inside. The rest of us stayed outside and enjoyed a nice show. I wish that the tree in my neighbor’s yard wasn’t there.
As I scrolled through the photos I took on the fourth, there was one that struck me for the weirdest reason – the shadow.
I thought this was just such an amazing picture. I love the way the shadow is.
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 