We went to visit some of our family and friends in Arlington last weekend. Its so wonderful that Hank doesn’t freak out on long car rides anymore. Of course, its been a great thing leaving right after a meal or around one of his nap times… Once again we had a stellar time with everyone, despite some of our best laid plans changing in an instant…
Grandad & Ainsley (Hank and Micah are in the strollers)
Last time we went to the zoo with Micah and Christiane, we had such a great experience, we thought we’d do it again. So we agreed to meet at the zoo on Friday morning, right when it opens. We did that last time and the only people we encountered were some parents pushing strollers (like us, I guess we’re in a new sort of unnamed, yet understood universal club now, kind of like Jeep people). We invited Ainsley and her parents (Geoff and Traci) to join us as well as Grandad (Ty’s father) this time around. Much to our chagrin, when we arrived, the main parking lot was closed to the public and school bus after school bus was parking there and unloading hordes of children in brightly colored t-shirts.
Look, a turtle!
Evidently, the Friday we chose to go happened to be the same day almost every school district in the Metroplex chose to visit the zoo… it was a nightmare, a sea of young (and some rather ill-mannered) humanity ushered by teachers and soccer parents, all of whom were shouting to be heard over the din. Not our idea of a good time at all! So we left and went to the botanical garden instead. Ainsley had an excellent time there as did the adults (many beautiful photo opportunities for Tyler and Geoff). Hank and Micah spent most of our time there taking naps in their strollers, while Christiane and I chatted, just like (most of) their first trip to the zoo! We’ll have to try the zoo again another time.
The botanical gardens were lovely! We had such a good time there that after a break for lunch, Tyler, Walter, Hank and I returned for further exploration. Hank decided to take another nap and Grandad happily volunteered to hold and sit with him while he slept so Tyler and I could visit the Japanese gardens. SO beautiful! They made me want to go straight home and renovate our backyard. Then I realized that planting non-native species there would be a bad idea and best left to professionals (but oh, how I adore the Japanese maple with its burnt umber foliage), so we just bought a bonsai for Hank. What amazed us about the bonsai we purchased is that it not only came with instructions, but also a phone number to contact the person who cultivated it in case we had any questions or needed help caring for our tree. Now that’s pretty cool!
A bee gathering pollen
Hank is a messy eater when he feeds himself
Later that weekend, we had a gathering with some of our family and friends. Happily, everyone enjoyed the Turkish food I prepared! I say everyone, there were 3 children under the age of 5 who preferred chicken nuggets (thanks to Traci for preparing those) to lentil koftas, but they all enjoyed the baklava, of course, who wouldn’t? I find it amusing how it never even occurred to me that the children present might not appreciate lentils or hummus or any of the other food available that night. I guess its because most of my Turkish friends have small children and they love the food. Seeing American children’s culinary preferences has given Tyler and me much to think about in regard to what we offer Hank as he improves his eating skills…
Speaking of that, Hank is *really* enjoying eating! He’s very interested in feeding himself these days, which is fantastic and also incredibly messy. His new current favorite food is mango. He actually kicks his feet with glee with each bite, which is so fun to watch. Hank had a wonderful visit with Granny (Hank’s Great-Grandmother) over the weekend and we enjoyed a lovely lunch with our friends Clint and Dennis on Sunday, then we had to head home. It was a very busy weekend, but loads of fun.
Hank shares his maraca with Granny
Hank loves his Grandma!
We’re so glad so many people were able to make time to visit with us while we were in town! Its always wonderful to see people you care about… Last night we had dinner with my parents at their beautiful new house. Hank was fascinated with Grandpa’s grill and loved watching the flames as Grandpa turned the meat. We didn’t get very close as the grill was pretty warm. Its really fun having Hank eat meals with us now (even though it means I usually alternate between feeding myself and my son). He showed Grandpa and Grandma his recently improved drinking skills. He drank from a glass while sitting in Grandma’s lap and didn’t spill a drop, it was most impressive! On Tuesday morning, Cody gets the stitches taken out of his ear and hopefully that means we can take his cone off. Its been interesting having a 90 pound dog with a cone on trying to navigate a baby friendly house. I’m sure Cody is looking forward to getting it off as well, except, I’ll bet he’s enjoyed not having had a proper bath in weeks. I don’t think he especially enjoys baths, but he’ll be getting a good one soon!
Hank enjoys green beans (notice how tidy he is when an adult helps him)