Zoo
Yesterday, we went to the zoo. There were five families from our neighborhood that went down together. As we were getting ready, Shane asked why we were meeting at Jon-Jon's house. I told him that Jon-Jon's mom had arranged the trip and that all the moms and dads were going to meet there to follow each other down to the zoo. He said, "Dad, there aren't going to be any other dads there." Anyway, the zoo was awesome. It was Olivia's first time where she was able to respond to and attempt to interact with the animals. I tried to take still photos and found myself wishing I had brought the video camera. The stills just couldn't capture her excitement the way video might have. She loved everything; monkeys, peacocks, birds, bears, giraffes. You name it. At each exhibit, she would tense up so tight that you thought she might stop breathing, bend over at the waist, point, and practically yell, "Oouuu, oooouuu."

Shane had a good time too. He found a pair of glasses used in the primate exhibit to show how lemurs are color-blind and have to rely on their keen sense of smell to determine which fruits are ripe enough for eating. All the kids got in on the act. I think they all just lliked wearing the glasses, but hopefully got something out of the lesson.

Focus
I just put Shane down for a nap -- hence my ability to write now. But as we were laying there reading and telling stories, he told me that he didn't have a drink. "That's interesting", I said. "May I please...", he says. So I go off and get it. Since we had been out grocery shopping just before lunch, his cup was still in the car. So it took a while longer to gather the cup than if it had been in the kitchen or elsewhere in the house -- and I did grab myself a cookie. After I had exceeded what he must have thought a reasonable amount of time to produce the juice, he calls to me, "Dad, don't get off your focus!" My own words (slightly altered) used against me!

Our Town
Tonight, we rode into town to hit the library and get a bite for dinner. I rode my mountain bike with the kids in the trailer. Mon rode her bike solo. It was the kind of thing that we thought we would do more of when we had children and moved to this house. We need to do it more often. We ate at Penn's Table, which is a bit of a greasy spoon for me. But it was just good to get out as a family.

Anyone?
Tonight, reading a story about Lars the polar bear. Shane asks, "How do you make polar bears?" I asked, "Do you mean how do you draw polar bears or how does God make polar bears?" "How does God make polar bears." Mon answers, "He puts cells together." Shane interrupts, "What are cells?" Monica and I are both stammering. And Shane goes, "Anyone?" Where does he learn this stuff?

Today, when we walked into the restroom at Wegman's (yes, we have returned there) Shane says, "Wow, this is a nice bathroom, and they have such pretty music."

Olivia has gotten to be so much fun, she was in such a great mood today, except during aforementioned trailer ride. I cannot put a long-sleeved shirt on her without her playing this game where we look for the hand and the other end of the sleeve. She laughs and laughs and laughs. And, oh yeah, she's gotten two of her molars. Both first molars on the top. Her left came through about 3 weeks ago, and the right about 1 week ago. Pretty exact there, huh?