No Lions, No Tigers.....but Very Possibly a Bear!

Eleven people so far have seen it just south of Zeller. It was quite the talk of the playgroup today among the mommies and daddy.

Mommy is making me play inside today, so I think I'll go destroy something. Any suggestions?

Got the Blues, but it's All Good!

I took Mommy, Daddy and Daddy's friend Dennis out to the 965 for North Liberty's second annual Blues and BBQ's festival. They all had meat and chicken kebabs. I guess it was good, but I wasn't hungry and didn't try any of it.

I got to dance a little, run along the side of a pond, and wear a cute little romper since it was a warm day for a change.

The best part was when I met a boxer puppy! I LOVE DOGS! I don't know if you know this, but every time Mommy goes to Fareway, she goes down the pet food aisle just so I can "visit" the dogs and cats. (If you go there and hear someone screeching in delight, that's me, looking at the pictures!)

I did have a lot of popcorn when we got home, though. Silly adults were too busy watching the movie to notice my "sneak attacks" on the bowl. Heh!

This Boy is Made for Walkin', and That's Just What I'll Do......Sometimes.......

So, we've had some lovely days lately. Mommy and Daddy decided that maybe I should get out in the spring air and enjoy the great outdoors.

Unfortunately for them, they decided that a good place to go would be taking a short walk as a family to a restaurant about a block and a half from our house.

Big mistake, but you probably are smart enough to realize that.

We went the Friday before Mother's Day right after Daddy got home from work. They got me all dressed up in my cool hoodie jacket, and got that monkey on my back. Then we set out for what turned out to be the second longest block they ever walked.

(The longest one was the walk back from the restaurant, in case you were wondering....had to make up for my calm behavior while they were eating, you know.)

Ok, they did carry me across the street without a problem. But I had my own ideas of how to get to wherever it was I wanted to go. I can't remember where it was that I wanted, no, needed to go, but I know one thing.....it sure wasn't that restaurant. And I let them know in no uncertain terms, too.

I stomped my feet, I howled, I tried to run into traffic, I sat down and refused to move, and finally tried flopping to the ground. I would have tried banging my head against the sidewalk, but Mommy decided to pick me up and carry me before I could do that.

(Note to Mommy and Daddy: when I stomp my tiny little feet, stop telling each other how cute I look when I do that. It may be true, but I don't wanna hear it!)

I think I might have pushed too far, though, since Mommy and Daddy went and got me ready for bed almost as soon as we got home. Oops.

Come to think of it, that might be why Mommy strapped me in tight in my stroller when we went with Miss Rachel, Elijah and Eleanor to Beaver Kreek Park. It's about a block from my house. There's a play structure, swings and a rocking ducky that I'm almost big enough to ride. Naturally, I didn't care about any of that. Oh, no.

I decided to run towards Beaver Kreek in the middle of the park and look for....something. Not sure what. But I know it had to be good if it inspired Mommy to sprint after me and drag me back to where everyone else was playing. I think she did that about ten times before she finally just plopped me into a swing for five minutes. Heh!

I'm just glad Mommy and Daddy are patient with me. They took me out today to the farmer's market by the North Liberty recreation center. It was the first time this season that the market was open, and Mommy spent a lot of money there. I think it was eight dollars.

Anyway, we got some spices for Daddy to put on steaks he's planning to grill up on Memorial Day, some kettle corn and a little cherry pie.

Hey, wait a minute.....I didn't get any pie!

Oooh....someone is gonna pay for that.....

Peeking Out The Window

Mommy didn't think I saw what she was doing this morning. Heh!

She put on her funny pants and cleaned up the front yard a little bit. Not sure exactly what she did, but the two boxes of lilies of the valley are gone, the wildflower seed box is half empty, and the rake is dirty.

Mommy thinks that there might be some lilies of the valley on the side of the house, but she's not sure. She said that my grandmother told her that they were incredibly sweet smelling flowers, and she always wanted to grow some. They don't do too well in Arizona or Florida, though, so she thought she'd see if she can get them to sprout here in Iowa. She put the ones she got into two planters on the side of the house.

(Why was I up? Well...when she kept turning on the faucet to fill up the watering can, the noise got me up. It hurts my tender ears right now.)

She still thinks I'm asleep, so don't tell her otherwise, ok?

My Credit is Good at the Library, Baby!!

Yep, got my own library lending account. We went right down the hall after story time and set it all up.

Ok, Mommy did fill out the application....and she did co-sign for me....but I got to check out two books on ducks and a Baby Einstein CD. I'm gonna listen to that in the car.

I had to set some guidelines for Mommy, though. No borrowing cake pans under my name, no way, no how!

Well, maybe for my birthday, but that's the only exception. They don't have any duck pans, unfortunately, so it's a good thing I've got lots of time before I have to pick one out for my second birthday in September.

This Season's Hot Accessory Report

I've been to the North Liberty Community Center's playgroup twice this last week. It's fun to run around a big ol' basketball court, especially if you can push a little toy car.

Sometimes, though, I got tired, so I took a little rest right in the middle of the floor with Quackers. Mommy decided to come over and stand next to me the couple of times I did that. She said something about how the older kids on trikes racing around might not see me and might run over me, but they sure would see her and she could block them if she needed to. Which was a good thing, since I almost got clipped twice. She told me not to worry, it wasn't personal, they were just having too much of a good time and that I'd be riding trikes soon with the rest of them.

Mommy finally figured out one of the words I've been trying to tell her for a long time. (Doesn't everyone know that "beeeee" means "ball"?) I got to chase a couple of balls around, too. When the older kids made some baskets in the little hoop I got the giggles hard. So, they kept shooting hoops, and even tossed Quackers into the hoop to keep me laughing. They let me hang out with them a little. There's some nice people in North Liberty!

I'm happy that we are all getting well, so that we can go more places. Last night, I got to check out the Iowa Childrens Museum. That place is fun, and it's pretty close to our house! The last Friday of the month is free admission night. Even though I was only there about 30 minutes, I got to play with the golf balls (Daddy learned what "beeeee" meant as I tossed them around), "directed" the singers at Little Women: The Musical, and checked out Peter the painted turtle.

Mommy says that when I get older, we can enjoy more things on the monthly free night like the mall carousel and the ice skating rink.

But last night was all about what the cool kids were wearing. Yes, dahlink, all the cool kids have a monkey on their backs. Ok, maybe not all the cool kids, since my buddy back in Florida, Mikey, has a bear. There were three of us incredibly cool toddlers running around with monkeys and we were the best looking boys in the place. What can I say? Monkeys are hip in the Corridor. I like mine, because when I was wearing it Mommy and Daddy let me walk around by myself. They said since I'm not a baby any more I can spare their backs and do my own walkin'. Independence rocks!!!

My parents got me a special treat, at the end of the night. I got a giant plastic blue ball for my very own! I was so happy I kept yelling "beeeee! beeeeee!" I wore myself out and had sweet little boy dreams last night.

Life is good, you know?