August highlights, Part 1 {zoo, around home, Idlewild, birthday bash, aviary}
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1) Zoo. we picked a scorcher of a day to go to the zoo with friends! I can't actually remember if we went to the zoo at all last year (when Victoria was a newborn). in any case, Elizabeth was definitely far more interested in pointing out the animals than she had been the last time.
striking their best explorer pose
Greta is as tall as an adult female black rhino!
she was obsessed with the anteater
our friends headed home and we decided to circle back to see a few animals we'd missed the first time around. we ended up getting caught in torrential downpours and had to seek shelter by the cheetah enclosure for a while. but I'm glad we came back because we got to see the funniest shenanigans between the baby gorilla and his dad playing chase!
another good place to wait out the rain -- hanging out with the sea lions.
2) Around home. Victoria and Elizabeth are having so much fun playing together (well, at some point it devolves into fighting and scratching, but still! they can actually play, which is sweet to see).
playing with pots and pans is much more fun with cereal added to the mix
if only I could go back in time and take these glasses off of Elizabeth's face and put them somewhere safe. we lost them! Greta had to wear her old pair with the weaker prescription for a few weeks until I finally gave up hope on finding these ones and ordered a replacement. thank goodness for Zenni (her frames are about $30 total, including shipping and the break-resistant lenses). we still haven't found this pair!
Dr. Victoria, at your service
I came down one morning to find that Greta had been up already, made herself peanut butter toast and a berry smoothie, then fell back asleep under the blanket Kelli crocheted for her
had to document our Scrabble board from a date night in. I was very pleased with my triple-letter scoring word QAID, one of the few words in the Scrabble dictionary that uses a /q/ without a /u/. this particular Scrabble board used to belong to my grandfather and we still have his scoring sheet (pictured -- see his signature smiley face with tufts of hair in the top right corner?). he taught me all his Scrabble-playing tricks!
we got a few good stroller runs in on the trail. I promised Elizabeth we'd be able to see frogs in the quarry pond -- years ago, there used to be huge bullfrogs and tiny little tadpoles swimming all around. sadly, they were nowhere to be seen. "the froggies are sleeping," she explained to me. "we have to be quiet." then Cece decided she wanted to come with me on a run around the neighborhood. she made it two miles, which is further than she had ever run at one time. she was embarrassed nearly to the point of death by the fact that I was playing music out loud on my phone to keep us going -- we passed some of the neighborhood kids and she was about ready to melt into the ground. somehow she survived!
before...
...and after!
I redeemed myself from Pizzapocalypse, when I made homemade deep dish pizzas for Nick's birthday last year and burned the crust beyond saving. this time I made sure to liberally oil the pizza pans. I used to have a jar of semolina that worked perfectly for this and then never replaced it since I don't make homemade pizza that often anymore (it was a staple when we lived in Rome and I had more free time!).
definitely not a highlight but documenting for the sake of transparency... I had the world's mildest case of shingles. I kept feeling this strange crawling, tingly, warm sensation on the right side of my back and thought maybe I had pulled a muscle. then when getting dressed one day I decided to check my back and sure enough, a little cluster of a rash had broken out. it never progressed to fullblown blisters but I had my PCP look at it (conveniently, she's also my coworker!) and we agreed to go ahead and treat with antivirals to reduce the chance of post-herpetic neuralgia, the horrible nerve pain that can result from untreated shingles. I'm really glad I took the medication. even now I sometimes get a little tingly sensation in that spot and I'm sure it would be much worse if it hadn't been treated. and I will definitely be getting my shingles vaccine when I turn 50 -- once you've had shingles, you're three times more likely to get it again.
purposely keeping this photo small so as not to scare anyone, haha. it was very mild but still!
Elizabeth helped herself to margarine from the fridge. "this butter is BERY GOOD," she announced.
3) Idlewild. the older girls spent the night at Nana's and then I met up with them and the babies at Idlewild the next day. we spent a good part of the day in the water park area and then explored a little climbing/free play section near the park entrance that I had never visited before. the kids loved it!
melt my heart!
Greta at the top
last ride of the day: Greta and Cece on the Logjammer
4) Blair's birthday bash. we had a lovely weekend celebration, Friday night just the four of us good friends from college, and Saturday night a big party with friends from all different circles. we have known each other for more than half of our lives at this point ... I am so grateful for their friendship. and also, after 2020, I will never take it for granted again that we were able to go out to various restaurants and bars all in the same weekend!
there were eventually four of us ... Amy joined us later!
dinner at Kaya, a fabulous Caribbean restaurant in the Strip district. it's been on my Pittsburgh bucket list forever and it did not disappoint!
love this girl! we had pizza, cupcakes, and lots of libations at Trace Brewing. delicious!
then we went out to a trendy little bar a few blocks away where the shelves were stocked with old books, bottles of wine, and games like this gem from our past.
5) Aviary. our library system has a fantastic program in the summer where you can reserve groups of passes to local attractions (the zoo, Phipps conservatory, the history museum, science center, etc). I snagged a four-pack of passes for the aviary for a certain day, not realizing that it was the twin sloths' 24th birthday! they had all kinds of fun activities throughout the day.
Cece decorated a party hat in honor of the birthday sloths
Patrik liked to hang out in this little alcove with a convenient viewing window
many parts of the aviary are immersive, which is fun and forces you to watch your step (and check above for any birds that might be about to let loose some poops!)
Elizabeth specifically requested to get a picture with this tiny owl. do you see it?
throughout the day, visitors signed inside a large birthday card for the sloths, and then a third sloth (not one of the birthday twins!) "signed" it too with a paintbrush. Greta had been using my phone to take photos and video, but at the crucial moment where the sloth was going to paint, I asked her to hand it to me so I could be sure to get a good video. long story short, she didn't ... she was trying to record it herself via the Messenger Kids app and something malfunctioned. so we have no video! it was a good natural consequence for her, but I was pretty annoyed at the time.
the sloth climbing back into his crate after his big moment. the handlers were so sweet, explaining to the audience that we needed to be quiet and not clap loudly to avoid startling him.
notice the penguin is wearing a party hat!
such beauty!
Cece put on a puppet show for Victoria in the soft play area
comparing her wingspan to the condor
the best photo I managed to get of all of them in the condor's "nest"
and finally, these ugly ducklings of the bird world: vultures!
Your turn: Do you like to go to zoos? Would you go on your own, or just with kids? Do you have any tried-and-true tricks for making homemade pizza? Have you ever had shingles? Have you ever seen a sloth up close?
I'm not a huge zoo fan, but I do love aquariums! I have never had shingles but my sister has (she said it was the most painful thing she had ever experienced) and my husband had them (we think) but it was caught so quickly and he took the meds ASAP and nothing came of it - praise the Lord! I've never seen a sloth up close, but it sounds fun. And no risk of them darting away quickly!
I would probably never go to the zoo if it weren't for my own kids, but I do enjoy it when we're there! The sloth sightings were really fun. They are just so ... slothful! Haha.
Shingles is no joke and I'm very grateful that my case was mild. I'm always terrified of missing it in the office if someone comes in with a weird pain that isn't otherwise easy to explain ... I always tell them to keep an eye out for a rash.
We've been members of the Brookfield Zoo since Lad was about 2 years old. He's 26. I take the kids in my daycare whenever we can work it in around naps and the weather. I love the way you utilized your library to score tickets to see the birds. Great pics and wonderful memories. Actually one of our first (maybe it was our first official date?) dates was to the zoo. I love the sea lions viewing tank area in your pics. So cool. I've not had shingles. I've had the vaccine though.
Aww, I've seen your pictures of zoo expeditions! You are wonder woman to tackle that with a bunch of preschoolers on your own haha.
Libraries are just endless sources of wonder to me. The books themselves would be enough but so many libraries offer much more! (I think I remember you've used your library's cricut or 3d printer or something to make banners!)
So glad your shingles experience wasn't bad. Mine was diagnosed a little late because they told me I had strained my neck muscle and I went a few days dying of pain before I started the meds. I also ended up with the neuralgia. It was the worst month of my life, the first two weeks being horrendous pain and the 2nd two weeks being horrendous itch. I have never wanted to actually die to get out of my body like I did then, it was a scary time. I still get a little itchy on my neck from time to time because of the nerves. Anyway, I am counting down the years to get that vaccine!!!
I love that your daughter ran with you and the zoo pics - you guys have fun!!
dear Victoria, sometimes I scoop you up and can't stop myself from squishing your little body right into my chest, and nuzzling my face into your neck until you squeal with giggles. you are just so darn cute! you can spend up to an hour scooting around the family room playing with various toys -- recently you've started to be interested in baby dolls and the Fisher Price doll house. you mostly army crawl, but sometimes you pull yourself forward when you're sitting, too, and a few times you've been able to launch forward an inch or so from a bona fide crawling position. you can stand supported for a little while, but you're not close to pulling up by yourself yet. we had another wonderful report from the orthopedic surgeon this month. both hips remain in place. your left hip has what they call a "delayed ossification center", meaning that it's still primarily cartilage since the hip socket didn't form properly to begin with, but the doctor said tha
sitting outside the new independent coffee shop that opened in the neighborhood this summer as a physician assistant with an undergraduate minor in psychology, I've always been fascinated by the connection between the mind and the body. that interest serves me well in my chosen specialty of primary care/internal medicine, as mental health comes to bear so frequently on physical, or somatic, complaints like fatigue, upset stomach, and dizziness. in any given day, I'll typically have one or two appointments that are scheduled specifically so someone can address their anxiety or depression, and it often comes up as a subject of conversation during routine physicals. I have probably recommended therapy to my patients literally thousands of times, whether it's to deal with an isolated situational stress or grief, or more pervasive issues like OCD, chronic insomnia, bipolar disorder, depression, or borderline personality disorder. when we're discussing starting antidepressant
you love sitting in the Boppy! (your little toes are just too cute) dear Victoria, you are well and truly into babyhood now -- I feel like every day your face changes a little, new rolls of chub appear on your arms and thighs, and you figure out a new way to express yourself, mostly through your constantly expanding "vocabulary". obviously, you're a ways off from speaking words, but you squawk, squeak, trill, chortle, grunt, snort, and make just about every other sound imaginable. you get especially loud and exuberant at night when it's time for bed! you continue to be the happiest little babe, belly-laughing at your sisters and grinning up at Daddy and me whenever we look at you. Greta says you look like a raspberry pie with your round, rosy cheeks! she also calls you her little chicken nugget, and Cece calls you "Vicky Micky". you are finally rolling front-to-back, and are just a hair away from rolling back-to-front (you'll get 3/4 of the way there a
I'm not a huge zoo fan, but I do love aquariums! I have never had shingles but my sister has (she said it was the most painful thing she had ever experienced) and my husband had them (we think) but it was caught so quickly and he took the meds ASAP and nothing came of it - praise the Lord!
ReplyDeleteI've never seen a sloth up close, but it sounds fun. And no risk of them darting away quickly!
I would probably never go to the zoo if it weren't for my own kids, but I do enjoy it when we're there! The sloth sightings were really fun. They are just so ... slothful! Haha.
DeleteShingles is no joke and I'm very grateful that my case was mild. I'm always terrified of missing it in the office if someone comes in with a weird pain that isn't otherwise easy to explain ... I always tell them to keep an eye out for a rash.
We've been members of the Brookfield Zoo since Lad was about 2 years old. He's 26. I take the kids in my daycare whenever we can work it in around naps and the weather. I love the way you utilized your library to score tickets to see the birds. Great pics and wonderful memories. Actually one of our first (maybe it was our first official date?) dates was to the zoo. I love the sea lions viewing tank area in your pics. So cool. I've not had shingles. I've had the vaccine though.
ReplyDeleteAww, I've seen your pictures of zoo expeditions! You are wonder woman to tackle that with a bunch of preschoolers on your own haha.
DeleteLibraries are just endless sources of wonder to me. The books themselves would be enough but so many libraries offer much more! (I think I remember you've used your library's cricut or 3d printer or something to make banners!)
So glad your shingles experience wasn't bad. Mine was diagnosed a little late because they told me I had strained my neck muscle and I went a few days dying of pain before I started the meds. I also ended up with the neuralgia. It was the worst month of my life, the first two weeks being horrendous pain and the 2nd two weeks being horrendous itch. I have never wanted to actually die to get out of my body like I did then, it was a scary time. I still get a little itchy on my neck from time to time because of the nerves. Anyway, I am counting down the years to get that vaccine!!!
ReplyDeleteI love that your daughter ran with you and the zoo pics - you guys have fun!!