Thirty out of forty-eight as two

Don't spend too much time doing the math, I'll just tell you.  This weekend we spent thirty hours out of the weekend as just the two of us.  Nine of those hours were spent sleeping, about eight of them driving, and maybe two eating; another three or so were spent loafing, then five spent at a wedding reception and three spent at a zoo.  Don't bother with that math either, it adds up to thirty (but wouldn't it be funny if it didn't and I was just testing you? After all, not enough people leave us comments). Was it fun to be just two?  Yes.  Saturday morning we headed down into Ohio territory (not Columbus, thankfully, but west and north of Akron) to attend the wedding reception of a dear high school friend of mine.  Even the drive down was fun, being able to talk at random about whatever we wished without having to either censor (don't ask) or explain.  The party was fun, too, and small enough that we got to spend some time with the bride and groom themselves, as well as dance and enjoy some wine, since we partied and slept in the same hotel.  Back in our room, just for the fun of it, we tried to stay up late, but found ourselves nodding off in front of junk TV that, since we gave it up in our home over a year ago, should have felt like a guiltier pleasure than the chocolates and sodas we were sharing between us, but only ended up being a big disappoinment.  Sleeping in, however, was everything we knew it could be, and when we finally rolled out of bed at almost 8:30, we actually felt refreshed and ready for the day (what sarcasm?).  But after an enjoyable breakfast with the bride and groom and their families, we hit the road and high-tailed it to the Cleveland Zoo.  If you've been reading this blog since it's inception over four years ago (that math you might want to check), you'll already know that we have always been zoo goers.  For the rest of you I'll just say that long before we even thought of children we were seeking out zoos to enjoy.  We zooed in New Orleans, in San Diego, in LA, in Orlando, in DC, in, well, everywhere we've been.  What was great about Cleveland is that our Toledo membership got us in free.  Well, that and the fact that the Mexican wolves were amazingly active, one of the rhinos was singing (seriously), the beaver was building something, and we got to feed a sea lion.  This is why we loves zoos–they are always different–and getting another chance to enjoy one again without that short three-year-old attention span was fantastic.  Don't get me wrong–I love going on zoo trips with Calvin, and the teaching and sharing opportunities that such an event presents, but being just two for a while really was refreshing.  I'm sure it would be awful of me to admit that we were so busy trying to get as much enjoyment out of our thirty hours as possible that we didn't really miss our son, but even if that is true, we were happy to see him when we got home.  Though he was so relatively spoiled while we were gone that I'm not sure opposite was true.

And you'll notice that I got way behind on posting and have caught up by shamelessly pre-dating my posts to the days on which I drafted their content.  There are three total new posts, so scroll down to see the other two, and over 50 new photos in the August 2009 photo album.  I'll try to do better in the future.

Package? What package?

We call this a delivery guy fail.

Make new friends, but keep the old

Oh that overused, very annoying cliche from my Girl Scout years!  I had to use it because it has a secondary meaning in this case.  I've mentioned before the joy that is facebook and its ability to reconnect us with our past (okay, sometimes that's not such a joy); In the past year, since I joined that adictive social monstrosity, I have connected, or reconnected, with over 300 of my "closest" friends.  What???  How did that happen?  Before I knew it I was denying friend requests and actually "hiding" certain people from my actions feed so that I would be able to find and keep up with the daily events of those I really care about (and if you're reading this, you're one of them, I promise).  But in that process, called social networking by those who actually know how to use it to their best advantage, I was able to find some of those people who really, truly, are good old friends, and those reconnections have been delightful. 

This week Calvin and I spent two separate days with two of my friends from my elementary school/Girl Scout years and their children.  The first day we drove over to Battle Creek to meet my friend and her son, only a few months younger than Calvin, at Binder Park Zoo.  We love Binder Park Zoo.  I can't say that the boys did too much interacting, although they were both equally intrigued with running in circles around the gazebo and waving to the train and engineer as it went by, but I had a great time catching up with my friend and meeting her children.  Also, we got to feed the giraffes, and that always makes for a great Binder Park visit.  Then today we drove to Plymouth to spend the better part of the morning and afternoon with another close friend and her daughter, only two days older than Calvin.  Those two, for whatever reason, are pretty wonderful together.  They actually play together, sometimes converse, and usually even take turns.  It's a match made in heaven, and I don't mean for them–I'm talking about us moms being able to sit and chat while the two kids play well together all on their own.  Really.  Heaven.  So whoever said you can't go back?  They were right.  But then again, who really wants to?  Especially when going forward is so darn much fun.

Highlights

In the absence of enough time to sufficiently and artfully update the blog, I'll let you in a few highlights from the past couple of weeks.  First, on July 25, we attended Jon's 10 year reunion, to which we might have ascribed the adjective pedestrian, had it not been for a really fun life preserver of a conversation that carried us through.  Then, on July 26, we celebrated 6 wonderful years of marriage; would it be considered a sign of comfort and bliss that we almost forgot our own anniversary?  Thanks to our parents we were showered with love at an impromptu dinner party.  Did I forget to mention that over that same weekend we scored some pretty fun diversions for the pint sized member of our family at our neighborhood wide garage sale, including an outdoor fort and a pretty awesome dollhouse style tree house?  Because we did.  And the final highlight of the past few weeks was a long weekend trip to visit family and attempt some moments of relaxation, a trip that included miniature golf, deer feeding, bird watching, and a few hours of beach enjoyment.  Those are the highlights of our past two weeks, and my excuses for not having brought them to your attention earlier.  Did you know that tree houses, even of the miniature variety, are very, very fun?

Watching airplanes...

...while waiting to pick Gram and Grandpa up from the airport.  Exciting stuff, really.