Elfant Gedda Pehcure

Another busy month in our humble home, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Currently "Kami" and "Gigi" (Michael and Vicki) are visiting. Haley is having a great time with them. Finally more guests for the Tea Parties! They took Haley to the mall Friday for her first Build-A-Bear experience with somewhat mixed results. Haley was very excited at first and picked out the empty form of a black bear from one of the bins. She loved this limp... uh... teddy bear "carcass" (well, how would YOU describe it!?) and hugged and caressed it as she carried it through the store. Then, as Haley watched on in horror, the bear was stuffed. Those of you that have seen this process can understand why this might be a frightening experience for a child. Nothing like watching a teddy bear repeatedly violated by a silver stuffing-spewing phallus to freak out your two-year-old. Haley was wary of the bear after this, but her interest was renewed when they began shopping for clothes for her new bear. The house-shaped box they give you to take the bear home in sealed the deal. Haley refused to let anyone help her carry the box and struggled with it all the way back to the car. She showed off her bear proudly to me when I got home from work, and has slept with it every night since.

Saturday was obscenely hot. What better day to go to the County Fair? Despite the weather, we all had a great time. Haley enjoyed a number of rides, including several cars and boats that go around on a track, a jumpy castle, and a live pony ride. (She was quite the cute cowgirl.) Michael also won her a purple Care Bear on the midway (which we've dubbed "Fair Bear"), and she got to feed a few baby animals in the petting zoo.

Sunday was yet another adventure, as we headed out to the zoo. As an added bonus, we were lucky enough to catch the elephant show. Whenever the elephant would pick up dirt with his trunk and throw it on his back, Haley would get very upset. "No, el-fant! No throw dirt!" I asked her if I should put the elephant on "timeout" for throwing dirt and she agreed with a nod. Many of the other zoo guests around us thought this was pretty funny. Earlier in the weekend, Vicki had played "pedicure" with Haley by coloring her toes with sidewalk chalk. When the elephant raised its feet onto a large tree stump as part of the show, Haley turned to me and said knowingly, "El-fant get a peh-cure!" We ended our adventure with a ride on the zoo's merry-go-round and some well-deserved ice cream. The day was capped off with a pleasant evening BBQ with the Szott family.

Michael and Vicki will be staying with us for two more days. Next weekend is Logan's birthday, and consequently, Haley's first Chuck-E-Cheese birthday party. The weekend after that we are expecting Uncle Scott, Aunt Pamela, and 6-month-old cousin Tyler for a visit. I'll have blogs of all of this, and hopefully a few more pictures in the near future.