Bandanna!

Rita Skeeter reporting for the Daily Prophet

Zach Fuller, teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts, helped bring a victory to the staff Quidditch team at CB West Monday night.

I drink your smoothie!

Just a quick post. Here are Katy and her daddy reading.

And here is the soaker sack that I made. I know several pregnant mamas who use cloth diapers, so I'm knitting several newborn-sized soakers and soaker sacks in different colors to give as baby gifts. This one is in girl colors. Now I'm working on a boy one.

And here is Katy drinking my strawberry-banana smoothie after she finished hers.

Mmmmm..... Watermelon

How to Go Camping with a Toddler

Plan for naptime to coincide with setting up camp.

Expect a wide range of emotions from toddler as she takes in the unusual new circumstances.

Let her explore the campsite.

Explain and demonstrate that the tent is for sleeping. Allow for practice.

Allow as much time as necessary for toddler to become familiar with tent.

Come prepared with a stroller, baby carrier, or wagon, in order to avoid carrying tired toddler on hikes.

Remain patient and calm during temper tantrums on the trail. Do not tell family and friends that it took 25 minutes to get toddler to move from spot.

Take toddler (still hiccupping from tantrum) to get her feet wet in the river.

Encourage toddler to pretend she is Goldilocks sitting on the Little Small Wee Bear's little small wee chair.

Play tent-flap peekaboo.

Join the rest of humankind (present, past, and future) in the universal ecstasy of staring at fire.

Introduce toddler to mandatory camping procedures, such as S'mores.

Try to duplicate regular bedtime routine as much as possible.

Stare at fire unencumbered by toddler after she goes to sleep.

Come prepared with spatula for pancakes. Forks do not work, despite reassurances that "We'll figure something out."

Be prepared for toddler to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed long before other campers.

Expect a little sadness upon leaving the campsite. Assure toddler that the future is full of more camping adventures!

The past few weeks

These are pictures from my (Bethany's) camera in the past few weeks. I know Zach's camera is somewhere around here with other pictures on it, but naptime will be over before too long, so today I'll just post the pics from my camera.

Katy, Daddy, and Moby Dick (the book, not the whale)

Katy and Daddy all clean and ready for tooth-brushing and book-reading.
The blanket I knitted for Ruby.

Petting a 6 month-old llama. Katy and I were pleased to hear that this llama, almost as big as her mama, is still nursing.

See how many llamas and alpacas were in this barn? You'd think it would be noisy with animals sounds, right? But no. You could hear a pin drop - it was like a silent movie. Eerie that they are so quiet.

These alpaca babies were less than a week old.

In the park behind our house.

Zach flying a kite.

Katy holding Maizy's yucky tennis balls. "Go get, Maizy!" she likes to say, even when Maizy is nowhere around.

Blowing bubbles with Gabby.

Blowing out A-A's birthday candles.

Chillin' with a book.

Chillin' with Wolfie.

Her booster seat was by the door, as we were getting ready to have dinner at a friend's house. She sat there for her snack.

An ice-pack for her goose-egg.

Playing with Play-Doh.

Miss Jane got into her room somehow while she was napping.

The Red Boots

If you have ever spent more than 5 minutes with my mother, then you already know the story of me and the red boots. Yes, I loved my red boots. I even wore them in the summertime. In fact, they were often the only thing I wore, I'm told. So you see, Katy comes honestly by her enthusiasm for being naked. The little cutie next to me is my big brother and constant playmate Jarrod, who is politely ignoring my nudity.

On another topic entirely, did you know that becoming a member of the zoo includes such benefits as swimming with the hippos?