HILARIOUS!

Honestly, you just have to read this!

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A Budgie Buddy Pooped on Me

I am sure you're wondering what exactly a "budgie buddy" is. Well, it is a little obnoxious bird that pooped on me. Yes, I know birds have no sphincter muscles and I walked into the building on purpose to see the birds. But I didn't want to get pooped on. Regardless, Bug had several of the birds land on his popsicle stick and he even tried to pet one (it wouldn't let him!). One landed on his arm but it scared Bug and the bird flew away. Now, however, he's a bird feeding champ!

And this is what our little Kiki did at the zoo...nosh on my apple core. But she sure was happy!

This baby giraffe had no qualms about Bug petting him for a while. Do you think he might be a bit too used to humans?

And here are the poopers.... No, not my kids, the birds!

Taylor Reservoir

Honestly, he wanted to go in...on purpose! The kids and I went to the "beach" at the Reservoir and they wanted to swim. Well, Bug still had on his pj's because it was so cold that morning. He just got dressed over his cute football pajamas and then stripped back down to them for a little swim. And little Peanut got down to her skivvies for the swim. Those mountain lakes are deceiving. As you can see, the water was colder than they thought!

The Obligatory 1st Day of Kindergarten Photo

We all look back on those "first day of _(fill in grade here)_ " photos and think we look like dorks. And we did look like dorks. What I didn't know is that our moms, standing there taking these photos thought we were the cutest things alive. They were wondering when it was that we grew up and how easily they lost track of the time. Then they remembered that they were one child short in the house for the day. What kinds of fun things could they go and do?

Honestly, Bug was so excited about school and everything to do with it. He has talked about it all summer and now he is there. Right this minute he is sitting in a classroom like such a grown up kid and he's doing it all without me.

It's the "without me" part that is terrifying. Is he having fun? What is he learning? Is he safe? Do the other children like him? Are they going to tease him? Is he going to tease the other children? Okay, the latter is much more reasonable of a question. He's not timid and has no problem taking the bull by the horns. I might even feel a bit sorry for the poor jerk making fun of my kid if he gets on Bug's nerves too badly.

The good news is that he's in a class with 5 of his best friends, he loves learning and making new friends. I think he's going to make it.

Best Dad and Worst Summer...

It's just that this really has been the worst summer I've ever experienced and hopefully ever will. Imagine yourself standing on a train platform and the engine is reved up to leave. Smoke is billowing everywhere and while you can see vague shapes in the midst and even understand some of what is happening around you, the whole scene is murky and out of focus.

This is where I've been living: in a daze and a funk. I blame part of it on being pregnant and nursing (which I really don't recommend) and the rest on utter exhaustion and bizarre circumstances. In fact, my newest pet peeve is single people (or anyone without kids) saying how tired they are. Honestly, they have no idea what actually constitutes "tired." Trust me, I've been there and now I'm here. It's way worse here.

In walks my Dad on stage left. He sees my normally wonderful house competely trashed and then looks at me sitting on a chair dazed. Then he offers to make a deal with me; he'll clean my house once a week (for 1 1/2 hours or so) until the baby and my mom-in-law come. I'm taking the deal. No ifs, ands, or buts. I didn't even say, "Oh, Dad, you don't need to do that" because I'm dying for help.

As an added bonus, my wonderful husband hears to proposal and feels a bit guilty. He says, "Here your dad is going to help clean the house while I sit on my butt." I didn't agree or dispute him. I just let him complete the thought. Then he offered to take a chore and be in charge of it. Is this my lucky day, or what? His biggest frustration is our kitchen floor so that will be his new job.

I am such a happy camper!

Peanut

Kiki