Slip n' Slide

We had long planned to spend the afternoon with our friends John and Ashley at their nearby splash zone, but the weather was so questionable all day that we opted to spend it splashing around at their house instead. Lo and behold, did you know that the Slip n' Slide isn't just for kids anymore? Or at least it isn't after a couple of mint juleps.

This one is Jon, in case you couldn't tell.

The only problem is that there wasn't enough slide for adult momentum, as shown here by John. Easily remedied with a second slide, of course. We'll try that next time.

Here, there, everywhere.

That, in a brief statement, is the sum of our Saturday.  From home to Toledo, then to the other side of Toledo, then to White Lake, then home again.  If, however, we're to take that brief statement and make it more in depth we would say: to the Toledo Zoo in the morning, then to a first birthday party on the other side of that same city, then to dinner with friends in White Lake, then home again well after dark.  And if we were to make that statement even more descriptive we would say: After a hurried morning at home, to the Toledo Zoo, where the seals were being fed, the wolves were active, and the sloth bear was snorty; after a quick lunch at the zoo, to the first birthday party of an adorable little girl who belongs to a close high school friend of mine whom I haven't seen in, well, probably fourteen years; after snacks and cake at the party, straight up to White Lake, Michigan, with a short nap in the car (for one out of three of us), for dinner, drinks, and playtime with our good college friends and their two sons. And that about tells the whole story, but to give it color I'd have to add to it: that the wolves are my favorite animal and seeing them up and about was a true joy; that seeing a close friend after fourteen years, being able to talk with him as though that day fourteen years ago was yesterday, and having Jon enjoy that visit as much as I did, was also pure joy; that having some quiet time in the car on the way up to White Lake, sharing a book out loud and talking, just the two of us, was actually enjoyable as well; that a dinner party with good friends when our kids can play together, cooperatively and happily, for extended periods of time–in an entirely different room–is incredibly relaxing and added yet more true joy to the day; that being able to leave for home well past bedtime and have our son, who has been almost impeccably well mannered all day, fall asleep in the car and still go to bed without trouble at home, is the perfect cap to the end of a truly enjoyable day.  And now, that's the whole story.

More pictures from the day in the August 2009, too album.

Friendship at three

We hit the Detroit Zoo today with Calvin's friend, Noah, and the two of them interacting together was a large percentage of the animal behavior I enjoyed while there.  It was amazing to watch them participate in actual conversation, sharing, and cooperation.  They discussed (seriously) the difference between a camel, as Noah called it, and a Bactrian Camel, as Calvin called it; They shared food at lunch; they helped each other get drinks from the drinking fountain; and they did all of this without prompting or help.  I was incredibly proud of both of them.  Watching them grow up, Calvin and all of his friends, is such a bittersweet thing.

There are several more pictures of their wonderful fun at the zoo (remember when I used to take pictures of the four legged animals at the zoo?), and since my mom hates scrolling through the plethera of monthly pictures to get to the most recent ones, you can click here to go straight to the first picture in the series and scroll through from there.

Adult entertainment

And no, it's not what you think, but when the kids get to the age where they can play happily by themselves, dinner parites again assume that purpse that is a relaxing and enjoyable part of adult social life. We enjoyed just such an evening with good friends tonight.  Just don't ask my parents about their first escapade into that arena, around thirty years ago, while my cousin and I were off playing happily together...at painting the bathroom with toothpaste. 

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.