A little break and a new job
I am officially done with my old job, I have spent one event and chore filled week at home with my little rugrat and I must say that after being home, I think going to work will be a welcome break!
There are so many things that just don't get done when both parents are working full time, and for the past three weeks, I have been the sole cleaner of the house while hubby is at work or doing activities for work. This makes for a very aggravated mommy come cleaning day. The dishes, laundry, cooking and baby related list of "to-do's" just seems never ending, well it truly IS never ending.
While grandma and grandpa are sad to see the end to their daily visits with their first (and favorite!) grandkid they are happy that I am finally going to work somewhere that will be a bit more fulfilling. They recently bought a new house, and with any luck, a space in the new house will be our storage for all things baby until we decide it is time for #2. You don't always realize how much SPACE everything takes up! Because of the babysitting arrangements, we have TWO: swings, excersaucers, bouncy seats, car seat bases and the list goes on! Hubby dearest didn't seem to realize that if we want a second (or a third) that we will need to keep these things somewhere until that times comes around again. While we are lucky enough to have a pretty roomy living area- it is NOT fit for storage of all baby things.
On my short hiatus, we have visited two zoos, one fair and constructed a pirate ship out of his new big boy carseat box! He is so active and happy, I wish that I could be home with him more. Also, while I absolutely LOVE his age now and don't want to wish his life away- I am very excited for the stage when he can play pretend and comprehend things a little more.
At the local zoo, he was enamored with the otters... well mainly the otter tank- the boy loves water. The aquarium part was also a favorite- his little eyes were as big as saucers as he stared at the fishies and tried to catch them through the glass. I was so impressed with the zoo, the animals all looked happy and there wasn't twenty miles of walking to see an empty exhibit. There were ample play areas and even places to sit and eat. When we went to the bigger zoo, I was anything but impressed. Although the ticket price was only $2.50 more than the small zoo, it is about three times the size, with what felt like the same amount of animals!
The big claim to fame is the elephant exhibit- which is very nice and large and we got to see an elephant pretty up close and personal- there was even a (non-functioning) machine where for a quarter you could feed the elephant and watch his eat through the port holes in the rocks. The good qualities ended there.... We walked forever, the signs were not very good and didn't give decent directions to see the animals- what was once a butterfly garden greenhouse is now simply a greenhouse- exactly what I wanted to see when driving an hour to the zoo- HOUSEPLANTS!
Half the shops were closed, the animals were all sleeping or unable to be seen, and while I realize this is something the zoo has no control over- they just didn't even look happy! We trekked up an insane ramp to get to the "cats, monkeys and aquariums"- the aquariums were like something from a dirty PetsMart. Cloudy water with little or no fish. The "cats" were two jaguar looking things that were the size of a large house cat and the monkeys were in tiny enclosures with cement walls and some ropes and out of service fire hose. A long walk for nothing! We took the tram back down.
There are no polar bears (they recently euthanized their last one), the tiger was in an enclosure the size of my living room and looked a bit emaciated and was pacing back and forth as we could hear the electric fence clicking- I felt safe! The grizzlies helped balance out the disappointment as they were playing in their waterfall and chasing sticks. I remember the seal exhibit from when I was younger, and it did not seem to be the same (only 50% is probably legitimately different from my 12 year old memory). There were five seals and sea lions and there little pool exhibit was surrounded at the top by small chain link fence- so you didn't even have a place to get a decent picture if you wanted! There was also very little room to view many of the animals.
Overall the zoo was a fail, and I would like to say that I am surprised, but after the recent news that has surrounded the city; a man holding three women captive for 10 years, two serial killers and a massive exodus of population, I didn't have high hopes to begin with.
So, what else did I learn at the zoo? Grandparents, especially elder ones, should NOT be allowed to take their evil brat grandchildren out in public- especially if animals are to be involved! You could see the grandchildren from across the poo-tossing monkey cages, the loud obnoxious brats that were ten miles ahead of their caretakers. They would climb up enclosures, cut in viewing lines and whine at every site of memorobilia- "but I reeeeaaally NEED an inflatable fan that shoots water and dispenses sugar!" I am sure they did need that, but not near as much as I needed a dumpster to toss them into!
I was also witness to a slew of rude parents that must have been raised by elderly grandparents that don't care about manners or drawing lines in the sand- for example, we were at the owl exhibit- two cute little owls in an outdoor enclosure and Miss Priss and Hubby Isleepwithwaitresses parked themselves in front of the exhibit and sat on the rocks, blocking anyone else from seeing the cute little owls. Every once in a while when they glanced up from their iPhones to see their annoying kids climbing into the turtle exhibit they would glance back and take a picture of said owls to post to their facebook pages with nauseating captions (or so I assume, obviously I was beyond annoyed at this point).
The final little gem we witnessed at the zoo was my favorite part of small children "the stuff that came out of her mouth." As we looked at the eagles in their little tree exhibit, an adorable little girl ran away from her two mommies and peered in at the beautiful creatures. There was a spokesperson for the eagles (something I truly need, I could avoid every person I don't want to talk to) explaining that since their wings are clipped they cannot fly and therefore there is no need for a fully enclosed fence for them, I could only think of how embarrassing that must be at the watering hole, I bet those robins take full advantage of that! Cute little two mommied girl was looking at the giant birdies and exclaimed "Mommy! Those look just like the eagles we make popcorn with!" I have pondered for days and STILL cannot make sense of what she could have been misinterpreting there- but I would like to be invited there for movie night!!
There are so many things that just don't get done when both parents are working full time, and for the past three weeks, I have been the sole cleaner of the house while hubby is at work or doing activities for work. This makes for a very aggravated mommy come cleaning day. The dishes, laundry, cooking and baby related list of "to-do's" just seems never ending, well it truly IS never ending.
While grandma and grandpa are sad to see the end to their daily visits with their first (and favorite!) grandkid they are happy that I am finally going to work somewhere that will be a bit more fulfilling. They recently bought a new house, and with any luck, a space in the new house will be our storage for all things baby until we decide it is time for #2. You don't always realize how much SPACE everything takes up! Because of the babysitting arrangements, we have TWO: swings, excersaucers, bouncy seats, car seat bases and the list goes on! Hubby dearest didn't seem to realize that if we want a second (or a third) that we will need to keep these things somewhere until that times comes around again. While we are lucky enough to have a pretty roomy living area- it is NOT fit for storage of all baby things.
On my short hiatus, we have visited two zoos, one fair and constructed a pirate ship out of his new big boy carseat box! He is so active and happy, I wish that I could be home with him more. Also, while I absolutely LOVE his age now and don't want to wish his life away- I am very excited for the stage when he can play pretend and comprehend things a little more.
At the local zoo, he was enamored with the otters... well mainly the otter tank- the boy loves water. The aquarium part was also a favorite- his little eyes were as big as saucers as he stared at the fishies and tried to catch them through the glass. I was so impressed with the zoo, the animals all looked happy and there wasn't twenty miles of walking to see an empty exhibit. There were ample play areas and even places to sit and eat. When we went to the bigger zoo, I was anything but impressed. Although the ticket price was only $2.50 more than the small zoo, it is about three times the size, with what felt like the same amount of animals!The big claim to fame is the elephant exhibit- which is very nice and large and we got to see an elephant pretty up close and personal- there was even a (non-functioning) machine where for a quarter you could feed the elephant and watch his eat through the port holes in the rocks. The good qualities ended there.... We walked forever, the signs were not very good and didn't give decent directions to see the animals- what was once a butterfly garden greenhouse is now simply a greenhouse- exactly what I wanted to see when driving an hour to the zoo- HOUSEPLANTS!
Half the shops were closed, the animals were all sleeping or unable to be seen, and while I realize this is something the zoo has no control over- they just didn't even look happy! We trekked up an insane ramp to get to the "cats, monkeys and aquariums"- the aquariums were like something from a dirty PetsMart. Cloudy water with little or no fish. The "cats" were two jaguar looking things that were the size of a large house cat and the monkeys were in tiny enclosures with cement walls and some ropes and out of service fire hose. A long walk for nothing! We took the tram back down.
There are no polar bears (they recently euthanized their last one), the tiger was in an enclosure the size of my living room and looked a bit emaciated and was pacing back and forth as we could hear the electric fence clicking- I felt safe! The grizzlies helped balance out the disappointment as they were playing in their waterfall and chasing sticks. I remember the seal exhibit from when I was younger, and it did not seem to be the same (only 50% is probably legitimately different from my 12 year old memory). There were five seals and sea lions and there little pool exhibit was surrounded at the top by small chain link fence- so you didn't even have a place to get a decent picture if you wanted! There was also very little room to view many of the animals.
Overall the zoo was a fail, and I would like to say that I am surprised, but after the recent news that has surrounded the city; a man holding three women captive for 10 years, two serial killers and a massive exodus of population, I didn't have high hopes to begin with.
So, what else did I learn at the zoo? Grandparents, especially elder ones, should NOT be allowed to take their evil brat grandchildren out in public- especially if animals are to be involved! You could see the grandchildren from across the poo-tossing monkey cages, the loud obnoxious brats that were ten miles ahead of their caretakers. They would climb up enclosures, cut in viewing lines and whine at every site of memorobilia- "but I reeeeaaally NEED an inflatable fan that shoots water and dispenses sugar!" I am sure they did need that, but not near as much as I needed a dumpster to toss them into!
I was also witness to a slew of rude parents that must have been raised by elderly grandparents that don't care about manners or drawing lines in the sand- for example, we were at the owl exhibit- two cute little owls in an outdoor enclosure and Miss Priss and Hubby Isleepwithwaitresses parked themselves in front of the exhibit and sat on the rocks, blocking anyone else from seeing the cute little owls. Every once in a while when they glanced up from their iPhones to see their annoying kids climbing into the turtle exhibit they would glance back and take a picture of said owls to post to their facebook pages with nauseating captions (or so I assume, obviously I was beyond annoyed at this point). 
The final little gem we witnessed at the zoo was my favorite part of small children "the stuff that came out of her mouth." As we looked at the eagles in their little tree exhibit, an adorable little girl ran away from her two mommies and peered in at the beautiful creatures. There was a spokesperson for the eagles (something I truly need, I could avoid every person I don't want to talk to) explaining that since their wings are clipped they cannot fly and therefore there is no need for a fully enclosed fence for them, I could only think of how embarrassing that must be at the watering hole, I bet those robins take full advantage of that! Cute little two mommied girl was looking at the giant birdies and exclaimed "Mommy! Those look just like the eagles we make popcorn with!" I have pondered for days and STILL cannot make sense of what she could have been misinterpreting there- but I would like to be invited there for movie night!!
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