Too Much Grog

Don't ask me why, but Portland has a thing for pirates. It may be due to the high amount of creative (and eccentric) people who live here, but then again it may just be due to the high popularity of the Disney movie from a few years ago.

Whatever the reason, we not only have pirate bands in Portland but an actual Pirate Festival. Gary and I thought it would be fun to take Arlo to it, so after Smacky's and my 3 hour nap, we put on our pirate garb and headed out.
Unfortunately, it started sprinkling as soon as we arrived. When Arlo finished getting his skull and flames tattoo, the rain turned into a downpour and we had to eat our ice cream cones under a tree. (Yes, we Oregonians enjoy ice cream even in cold, wet weather!) We finally decided our efforts were better spent elsewhere so we walked through puddles with the rest of the land lubbers and went to visit a bookstore that one of Gary's friends owns.

Please note the before and after photos of Aurora. Before and after grog, that is.

Woohoo, the Zoo!

Smacky slept for the first part of our visit to the zoo on Friday, enjoying her stroller and cozy fleece outfit. Then the sun came out and so did Smacky.

Here she is with my mom, riding frontwards in the bjorn for the first time. Lucky girl gets to see something other than her mount's chest!







The line to see the new baby elephant was way too long so we went to Africa instead. The meerkats were almost cuter than the baby (certainly fluffier), but I had a hard time getting a good photo of them. The one you see here was the lookout, keeping watch against predators while the other kats rummaged around their cage and dug in their holes.

If you haven't been to the Oregon Zoo lately, I highly recommend you go, especially if you have a child. Lots of the exhibits are interactive and the zoo is very kid friendly. Plus they have elephant ears, in case you missed them at the fair this year. No vomit-inducing rides, though.

So Tie-tie

Naptime hit us hard at dinner Friday night. First smacky conked out, then I did.

Babies are so much cuter when they're sleeping than adults.

Snuggle Up

Cuddling feels so good, doesn't it? Especially when you're supposed to go to the zoo for the first time EVAR and it's overcast and cold.

Why not stay in bed just a little longer. Heck, let's stay in bed until 1pm like yesterday! The animals do it, why can't we?

Slugs

Since Aurora's evening meltdowns seem to be from tiredness, I've been trying to get her to nap more during the day.

Unfortunately, she seems to only like to nap when I'm napping beside her (which is good or bad, depending on how much I have to do and how tired I am).

Today we slept, on and off, until 2pm, waking to hit the bottle but not even to change diapers. I think part of her good sleep was due to being extra-toasty warm in her new fleece hoodie and pants.

She had a little bit of crying around 7 (she was hungry) and then went to sleep around 8:30. Poor baby really needed to catch up!

Home on the Range

Smacky and I went to breakfast with Lorraine on Monday, and Smacky wore her new San Francisco duds, sent by her Auntie Tabitha.

She's all tuckered from ropin' steer.

A History of Biting

There was an incident last night.

In the wee, small hours of the morning, when the whole wide world was fast asleep, including me and Aurora, I had a dream. I was helping a friend adjust his suit, and he was being bitchy. Ungrateful man, I thought, and bit him.

What a tiny hand he has! I thought. It fits completely into my mouth.
And then I heard the baby cry, and awoke to discover that I had fit her whole fist into my mouth and chomped. Apparently it didn't hurt too much since she only gave three little cries and fell back asleep. Thank god! Then I woke her again, shaking the bed as I laughed.

When my brother was about the same age, he and my mom and I were going somewhere. Suddenly Jimmy started crying. (See a trend here?)

"What did you do to him?" my mom demanded, unable to see us as she had to continue driving.

"I bited him!" I declared, defiant.

Old habits die hard. I guess the moral is: don't bite anyone, even in your dreams. Unless you're four, and your mom is too busy driving to punish you.