Maggie and I went to Lambs Farm last week - it's a children's farmyard near Lake Bluff run by people with disabilities. It's a really good idea, it gets your kid out in a fun environment and teaches them that it is OK if people are a little different from them. Not to mention what it does for the employees that may have had a hard time finding work elsewhere. I had been warned however, don't expect too much.
A little more backround on this place... besides a farmyard, there is a restaurant, thrift shop, gift shop and pet store (yes, with real pets for sale, ugh). The farmyard also includes mini-golf, a choo-choo ride and a carousel. All the buildings are built like barns or farm buildings, and the animals are definitely the main draw.
There were only a handful of other cars in the parking lot when we pulled up and as we walked through the farmyard I couldn't help but wonder if this is where all the zoo's send their geriatric and not-so-pretty animals when they don't want them messing up the astetic of their zoo. I was wondering, am I on the island of misfit toys? A goat with a misaligned jaw, a goose with a growth on it's beak, a pig loosing it's hair, etc., etc. I wouldn't have been at all surprised if one of the goats walked around the corner with a wooden leg.
But as I mentioned, I was warned to keep my expectations low and because I had I was able to spend my time looking at this place through my daughters eyes instead of focusing on that weird duck in the corner with the shifty eyes. To her, she was meeting new friends at each enclosure. She greeted each animal with an enthusiastic "Hi!" and gave a couple goats a hug before she left. She learned how to say "Gooooose!" and got to share a grilled cheese sandwich with her friend D. She got to hear a parrot talk and had her first choo-choo ride. She was happy and sunny all day. So thank you Lambs Farm with your geriatric goats, our trip to your island was very nice after all.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
A Day For Milestones
Today was Maggie's 18 month wellness appointment. Doctor kicked the tires and looked under the hood and she's a beaut! Three shots this time - Diphtheria/Tetanus/Pertussis, the flu shot, and Hepatitis A. Here are her growth details:
Weight: 20 lbs 3.5 oz. (3-5%)
Height: 30.5 inches (10-25%)
Head: 46 cm (50%)
All are normal.
The highlight of the day came later... when she said "I love you" for the very first time!! I was saying it to her, and asked her if she could say it. What a big girl.
Another first today, Miss Maggie became a mommy! We were at the store and she picked out her very first plastic-headed baby doll, without any prompting from me (because quite frankly, those things kinda creep me out). She found it on the shelf, pointed and said "Baby!" and hasn't put it down since we got it home. She gave it her water cup, gave it her binky and lovey, and took it for a stroll in the doll stroller. She showed daddy her new baby, and has given it lots of hugs. I think she's really happy to be a single mommy.
And last but not least... she ate chicken tikka marsala for dinner tonight and LOVED it! I think it's so interesting that I can't get her to eat mashed potatoes, but she loves Chinese food and seems equally impressed by Indian food. Apparently she has a very diverse palate.
Weight: 20 lbs 3.5 oz. (3-5%)
Height: 30.5 inches (10-25%)
Head: 46 cm (50%)
All are normal.
The highlight of the day came later... when she said "I love you" for the very first time!! I was saying it to her, and asked her if she could say it. What a big girl.
Another first today, Miss Maggie became a mommy! We were at the store and she picked out her very first plastic-headed baby doll, without any prompting from me (because quite frankly, those things kinda creep me out). She found it on the shelf, pointed and said "Baby!" and hasn't put it down since we got it home. She gave it her water cup, gave it her binky and lovey, and took it for a stroll in the doll stroller. She showed daddy her new baby, and has given it lots of hugs. I think she's really happy to be a single mommy.
And last but not least... she ate chicken tikka marsala for dinner tonight and LOVED it! I think it's so interesting that I can't get her to eat mashed potatoes, but she loves Chinese food and seems equally impressed by Indian food. Apparently she has a very diverse palate.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Last of the Summer Photos...
It was 65 degrees outside today. Yeah, it's August. I guess summer is over. Here are a few last summer pictures.
Mayberry
I have ex-city slicker friends that tease that their new suburban hamlet is a lot like Mayberry. We tend to tease the same thing about our particular hamlet. But all kidding aside - that's exactly what we were looking for when we decided to ditch big city.
The other day I saw a billboard for a new suburban subdivision that touts "Small town living at it's best" (or something along those lines) and it made me realize what a trendy little family we are. Apparently we're not the only ones searching for that Mayberry experience.
I really like the idea that Maggie will go to kindergarten and first grade with every single five year old in the community. And I love that while we were taking an evening walk around the neighborhood today, a police officer waved at us with a smile on her face. WAVED at us... SMILING! (meanwhile my first instinct is still to assume that I must be doing something worthy of jail time - what is wrong with me?)
Sticking with our new country-fied lifestyle, Jason and I decided to take Maggie to an apple orchard today. The particular orchard we chose happen to be closed on Sundays - and our back-up family farm destination wasn't so hot - but we finally made our way to a pick-your-own raspberries farm. And as Maggie ran down the aisles of raspberries, and insisted on holding the basket - and subsequently insisted on helping pick up all the raspberries that tumbled out of the basket - I thought to myself... this is soooo right for us. It is so right that we're spending an afternoon picking raspberries, and that we don't have to drive two hours to do it.
All that time in the city, and I guess I'm just a country girl at heart. Yee haw, ya'll!
The other day I saw a billboard for a new suburban subdivision that touts "Small town living at it's best" (or something along those lines) and it made me realize what a trendy little family we are. Apparently we're not the only ones searching for that Mayberry experience.
I really like the idea that Maggie will go to kindergarten and first grade with every single five year old in the community. And I love that while we were taking an evening walk around the neighborhood today, a police officer waved at us with a smile on her face. WAVED at us... SMILING! (meanwhile my first instinct is still to assume that I must be doing something worthy of jail time - what is wrong with me?)
Sticking with our new country-fied lifestyle, Jason and I decided to take Maggie to an apple orchard today. The particular orchard we chose happen to be closed on Sundays - and our back-up family farm destination wasn't so hot - but we finally made our way to a pick-your-own raspberries farm. And as Maggie ran down the aisles of raspberries, and insisted on holding the basket - and subsequently insisted on helping pick up all the raspberries that tumbled out of the basket - I thought to myself... this is soooo right for us. It is so right that we're spending an afternoon picking raspberries, and that we don't have to drive two hours to do it.
All that time in the city, and I guess I'm just a country girl at heart. Yee haw, ya'll!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Why Do Parents Torture Their Children?
The woman that lives across the street is a flute teacher. On weeknights and weekends she gives private lessons to the local teens and pre-teens. We often get a glimpse of very well rounded young ladies in headbands tromping out of the house to mom's minivan waiting in the driveway. And due to the unseasonably cool weather we also get to listen to flute music drifting out our neighbors open windows - sometimes beautiful, sometimes... err, not so much.
The other day I was cleaning up in the living room and could hear some particularly pathetic flutist attempt god only knows what song, stopping every couple of notes to regroup and try again, limping through the lesson. Ugh. This girl really should take up drums or something because the flute is not her friend.
Finally, the next student arrives signaling the end of nails on a chalkboard, and because I am a nosy neighbor I watch out the window to check out the poor girl who had just spent the last half hour unknowingly turning my fellow neighbors deaf. And out comes a skinny, 13-year-old, BOY... in a button down shirt... with his dad... who was yelling at him for not practicing. Well, not really yelling - you know when you're really ticked off but you're in a public place so you kind of whisper and yell at the same time? That's what the dad was doing. And that poor boy looked so helpless carrying his dainty little flute case and trying to hide in the backseat of the car.
Now before you get on my case about "boys can play flute too" let me just say that I am all for musical equality and if a boy WANTS to play the flute then by all means he should play the flute. However, in this case, that poor boy clearly did NOT want to play the flute. And I'm sorry, but if a boy doesn't want to play the flute then why would his DAD of all people insist on it? What is playing the flute going to do for your boy long term dad? Get him beat up by a football player? Get him a one way ticket to dorkland? Trust me, as a high school flutist myself, it takes a great deal of trickery to convince your peers that just because you're in the band does not make you a nerd - what are your chances if you're a boy with a flute? Nada. Why torture this kid? Get him some drum sticks and be done with it. Drummers are hot.
The other day I was cleaning up in the living room and could hear some particularly pathetic flutist attempt god only knows what song, stopping every couple of notes to regroup and try again, limping through the lesson. Ugh. This girl really should take up drums or something because the flute is not her friend.
Finally, the next student arrives signaling the end of nails on a chalkboard, and because I am a nosy neighbor I watch out the window to check out the poor girl who had just spent the last half hour unknowingly turning my fellow neighbors deaf. And out comes a skinny, 13-year-old, BOY... in a button down shirt... with his dad... who was yelling at him for not practicing. Well, not really yelling - you know when you're really ticked off but you're in a public place so you kind of whisper and yell at the same time? That's what the dad was doing. And that poor boy looked so helpless carrying his dainty little flute case and trying to hide in the backseat of the car.
Now before you get on my case about "boys can play flute too" let me just say that I am all for musical equality and if a boy WANTS to play the flute then by all means he should play the flute. However, in this case, that poor boy clearly did NOT want to play the flute. And I'm sorry, but if a boy doesn't want to play the flute then why would his DAD of all people insist on it? What is playing the flute going to do for your boy long term dad? Get him beat up by a football player? Get him a one way ticket to dorkland? Trust me, as a high school flutist myself, it takes a great deal of trickery to convince your peers that just because you're in the band does not make you a nerd - what are your chances if you're a boy with a flute? Nada. Why torture this kid? Get him some drum sticks and be done with it. Drummers are hot.
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