A Day at the Zoo

Well, a half a day at the zoo, because my daughter is only four, and didn't quite make it to lunch.

We had a good morning, though. We started at the aviary and butterfly garden, which were close to the main entrance. My big girl loves butterflies, and, as I thought she would, she loved the butterfly garden. Her eyes lit up when we went in and she saw what was there: dozens of colorful butterflies, flitting around bright tropical flowers.

I had to tell her not to chase them, or to try to catch them. She's only 4, and rather exuberant at times. Still, once she managed to slow down, she was very well behaved. I took her to watch a particularly large butterfly eating from a flower, and explained how it drinks nectar. She leaned over to watch, and was careful not to get too close.

And when a butterfly landed on her, she stood very still until a docent waved it off.

The aviary was less exciting, actually. Most of the birds stayed up high, in the dome, and were hard to see. A small duck did walk right across her feet, though.

Later, we went to the penguin house. She loves penguins almost as much as she loves butterflies, and pressed herself up to the glass to watch them swim. I think one penguin was watching her, in return.

After the penguins, we saw the seals. She loved them, especially when they went into the water and started spinning over and over. We had a special treat: it was feeding time, and we got to watch them go after the fish. Some of the seals were content to eat in the water, but one of them flopped out of the pool and started chasing the zookeeper who had the bucket of fish. My daughter liked that one the best.

When we got home, she took a nap. She doesn't do that too often, so I guess all the fun wore her out. She's a good kid.

The Second Poker Night - Poker night, revisted

We did it again. Us guys got together for another poker night. Well, euchre night, anyway, since we didn't want Wade to win again, and there were only four of us this time, but you get the idea.

Anyway, the card game didn't go to well; no one really wanted to play. So we put Rambo on the DVD and turned on Wade's flat screen LCD TV. I tell you, that guy's got too much money. Maybe I'll get a sex change, marry him, and divorce him, just to finish paying off my house...

Well, not really.

Anyway, about halfway through the movie, we got bored with it, so we went out to the yard, beers in hand, and got some baseballs and gloves out of the shed. Honestly, I don't remember the last time I played pickle. I just feel glad that I still remember how to field and throw. So while we're out there in the backyard, tossing the ball around, Erik says that some guys from his work are looking to put together a softball team and enter the city league, and did we want to join, 'cause there weren't enough players in his department.

It didn't take long for us all to agree. I had a voice mail from him this morning, that the first practice game is next Sunday, and the first regular game is next Tuesday night, at the Civic Center. Apparently, there's only 9 guys on the team, so no one is allowed to miss a game.

And for the next few months, we'll have baseball night instead of poker night.

Fixing the Yard

I spent last weekend in the front yard, cleaning it up for the spring and summer.

I'll be blunt: this is not my usual definition of fun. It's definitely not something I'd have chosen to do on my own. But... my wife wanted the yard cleaned, and she wanted a tea-garden on the side of the house, and a landscaper just wasn't in the budget.

So I was out there, raking leaves and twigs, bagging them, and mowing the lawn. And then the fun began: I got to play with the pick-ax.

There was an old flower bed on the side of the house that my wife wanted to have cleared, so that she could plant a tea garden. While she went to Home Depot (or whereever; it might have been English Gardens, it doesn't really matter) to buy topsoil, mulch, and plants, I had the priviledge of wreaking destruction on the overgrown weeds that had taken over this old bed.

Not only did it turn out to be sort of fun, but I got a good workout and a bit of a tan, too. By the time my wife got home, I had the bed cleared, and the old border-stones set back in place. We worked together to put in the topsoil and spread the mulch, and then we got the various herbs (18 plants! what kind of tea does she want?) out of the car and into the ground. By evening, we were watering the new tea garden.

Married couple spring project number X, completed!