A week with Gramma

In pictures....

Eagerly awaiting Gramma's arrival at the airport and occasionally yelling

Gramma! Where are you??

Exploring Findlay Market on Sunday morning. Tasting every free sample,

smelling every flower and having a lovely start to the day.

Addie and Gramma work on planting Addie's very own strawberry plant.

We now get to check the progress of the strawberries and the sunflowers

they planted about 47 times a day.

No visit is complete without a trip to the zoo. We fed the giraffes, rode the train, said hi to the gorillas and visited the Keas, which tried to eat Gramma's scarf, earrings and shoes. Sadly, we did not see the silly old orangutans.

We were very fancy 'ladies who lunched' at Mrs. Teapots. Not only did we have a scrumptious lunch and some tasty teas, but we were able to get all decked out in boas and hats. Addie even got her own itty bitty china teacup to sip out of. Faaaaancy.

We took a trip to the butterfly exhibit at Krohn's Conservatory. The butterflies floated and flitted and were very beautiful. The greenhouse got a bit hot and on the way out we saw a huge butterfly sitting on the floor. Hot, little cranky pants looked up at me and said

Mama. I wanna step on it.

With the arrival of beautiful weather at the week's end, we decided to grill out and top off our

dinner with toasted marshmallows. Addie went to bed sticky and happy.

We also took a trip to the museum, munched at Zips, shopped and played. Gramma

bought a new glider for our front porch, helped me dig up over a half dozen bushes,

transplanted hostas and played in the backyard.

Gramma and Addie had tea parties and played princess. Every night they snuggled and read stories. There were picnics on the patio and cuddles on the couch. The weeks was busy, but not packed. We did a lot of laughing and gallivanting ~ and now the house seems just a little bit too quiet and empty.

Zoo Zoo ca Choo

Pretty much every morning, and after just about every nap, Addison will tell you that she dreamed of the zoo. She'll tell you about elephants, giraffes, gibbons, lions, choo choo trains and of course gorillas.

The girl LOVES gorillas. She pounds her chest, my chest, Andy's chest imitating gorillas. Heck, she's pounded the cat's chest and will pound yours if you stop by to visit. She LOVES gorillas - and the baby gorilla? AWESOME.

Today I indulged her and we went to the zoo. We haven't been there in a few weeks, and today was the perfect overcast day to go. All the animals were awake and active. We saw the lions stretch, the rhino walk around it's habitat. We watched the manatees have lunch and saw a crocodile sun itself. But, as always, it was the gorillas she loved the most.

Looking across the moat at them chewing on leaves was probably the highlight of her day. But, like dogs, she loves them from the distance. When we tried to ride the gorilla on the merry-go-round she all but melted down. When we visited the bronze statue she wrapped herself around Genna's leg and said NO.

With a bit of coaxing, she sat with Elise on the statue - as long as Genna didn't walk away. With a bit more coaxing she touched the nose of the statue, and then oh-so quickly ran toward me.

Gorillas from afar = awesome. Gorillas up close = scary.

Yet, when Andy asked her what she did today, the first thing she did was pound her chest.

Gorilla love, it's hard to understand.

Zoo and the endless class search

I have been spending the morning desperately looking for interesting "Mommy & Me" classes. Where Chicago seemed almost to have an over abundance of them, Cincinnati has a bit of a shortage.
The closest Kindermusik class that fits in our schedule or is age appropriate, is 15 miles away, and all the classes that are appropriate for her at the Children's' Museum are on the same days as StrollerFit. So I have decided that today priority number one is to go the local library and see if they have anything to offer...I really want to get Addison involved in some kind of music or story class weekly. A)It will give us one more thing to do to keep busy, B) Hopefully it will allow her to burn off some of her endless energy, C) It will help keep me a bit more sane.

Last week, enjoying the so called fall weather of Cincinnati (seriously, it was 85 and gorgeous) we took a family outing to the zoo.
By now, Addison and I have gotten pretty good use of our zoo pass and she is definitely showing real interest in all the animals we see. At various exhibits she will point and clap and giggle and say her obligatory, excited "DA?!".
I love walking through the zoo on uncrowded weekdays ~ we can see the animals from the best vantage points, I can let Addison out of the stroller to explore and, at the same time, get a decent workout walking all those darn hills.
On this past visit she stood pressed up against the glass staring the Polar Bear playing in the water; excitedly pointed to the Gibbons; waited for the Lions to roar; stared happily at the giraffes; and wandered throughout the manatee exhibit like a big, independent girl.
Here's just a small glimpse into our "family field trip":

Giraffes with Aunt Nikki

Trying to figure out how to get in with the turtles & manatees