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April 29, 2007

It's Just A Bus...(Or) It's Just A Tram...

Picture it...Sunday in North Carolina...Temps in the high 70's, low 80's...Slight breeze, extremely sunny skies...What would you do on such a perfect day? Stay in? Sleep off a hangover? Clean the house? None of these were options for us. We can't stay in with a two year old. Hangover? Forget it. You can't drink with a two year old. (For so many reasons!) Clean the house? Not with a two year old following right behind you to mess it up...

So we did the next best thing! We went to the North Carolina Zoo!

I have never been to the Zoo, nor has Megan, so it seemed like a perfect time to take the Boys, get them some fresh air, see some animals, and do a lot of walking. (All of which we accomplished!)

To be honest, Megan and I feel that zoos just aren't the best places for animals. They seem fat and lazy, unable to do the things they instinctually need to do to survive. Zoos are great places for education, but sometimes, we feel, we are doing a disservice to animals who just need to be out in the wild, not penned in and stared at like some circus side show freaks. And don't get us started on circuses, either, because we certainly don't think animals are treated well there. I'm done now. I'm off my soapbox. Keep reading. It gets better. At least the pictures do!

Jonah does a fantastic "impression" of lots of animals, but his elephant is one of his best. We would put it here, but we don't know how to get video clips on here, so you'll just have to use your imagination. When we ask him what an elephant "says", he puts up his left arm, pushes air through his tightly closed lips, and makes an elephant sound. Cute huh? So it seemed fitting that some of the first animals we saw were elephants!

Here's an ostrich moving just quick enough to be blurry...

You know they say that you learn something new everyday. Well, that's true, and to prove it, here's something I learned today! I learned that the baboons with the bright red rumps? You know the ones I'm talking about, right? We laugh at them all the time on America's Funniest Home Videos (when we're not laughing at some poor slob who just got his private parts smashed by a two year old with a bat...) Well, turns out those are like cushions, as the baboons sit on their heinies all day long, on hard surfaces like rocks! Neat!

Speaking of baboons, here are two of them, one in the process of grooming the other....

Here's a gorilla, quietly enjoying his day...

And here is Megan with our Monkey!

Pretty flower...

Flamingo, anyone?

We really wanted to see lions and tigers and bears (oh my!) but we couldn't leave without visiting our shell carrying friends, the turtles!

Here, Jonah tries to get really close with them...

Such a nice day to take pictures of your family...

A sleepy bear warms in the midday sun...

Buffalo! Go Bills!

And now on to the explanation of the title of this post, "It's Just A Bus...(Or) It's Just A Tram..."...

The North Carolina Zoo is split up into two "zones", North America, and Africa. On each of these continents, you can view different species of animal. We decided to start in Africa, thinking that Jonah would love to see elephants and rhinos and hippos, so in case he had a case of the two's and melted down, we thought, he would have at least seen the elephants, and then we would leave Africa, and go home. (Jonah, by the way, was fantastic! No meltdowns, no tantrums, no screaming...) Except for when we decided to leave Africa, and go to North America, to see some Buffalo, some fish, polar bears, and some others. To get from one continent to another, you could walk, but it's a challenge, so we decided to catch a tram. They have two types, an open-air tram...

Or a short bus painted like a Zebra...

On line to catch the tram, Megan and I didn't feel like waiting, so we decided to catch the short Zebra tram. Fine by us, but not by Jonah. After Megan carried Josh, I folded up the double stroller, slung the diaper bag and the camera bag on my shoulder, and picked Jonah up to enter the tramZebrabus. That's when the Boy FREAKED. Nope. No sir, not a chance, wasn't having any of it. Didn't want to ride on the Zebra short tram, and he was going to let us all know about it, including the other poor souls on the short tram dressed as a Zebra. I apologized to the dozen or so folks on our chose mode of transportation, and in return, got support and understanding from my fellow riders. As the Zebra lurched forward, (okay it didn't lurch a t all; but I thought I might spice up the story a bit) Jonah instantly calmed down, after Megan told him, "It's just a bus!" At which point he would put his arms out to the side, and say, "It's just a bus!" And that broke the tension and relieved the stress for us and the other riders of the short Zebra.

At the end of our tour of North America, we had to take the tram back to Africa, but decided this time to wait on the open-air tram. What fun was awaiting us this time? A major meltdown from a two year old who hasn't napped? Well, a small one brewed, but we quashed it by telling Jonah, "It's just a tram", at which point he put his arms out to the side, and said, "It's just a tram!" And everything was alright with Jonah.

The trip back home was uneventful. Both boys slept until Josh screamed letting us know that he was hungry. I don't have nay pictures of that, but here's a super cute pic of the Rookie anyway...

Posted by Jon at 08:46 PM | Comments (0)

April 25, 2007

Check This Out Ye Scalawags!

So Megan said that after I post cute pics of the Boy and the Rookie, I could post this. So here it is.

Enjoy ye' landlubbers, or we'll be keel haulin' ya'!

Posted by Jon at 08:37 AM | Comments (0)

April 18, 2007

Random Cute Pictures And Wind Damage!

"That's a strange title for a post", someone said after reading the title of this post, "Random Cute Pictures And Wind Damage!" Actually, no one said it, but I really couldn't think of a clever way to start the post, so this is the best I have. Sorry.

We begin with Jonah enjoying a fruit slice on one of the Passover nights...

Then, Josh enjoys one of my fingers...

The boys sit down with Mommy (Mommie) to read a book...

It's never too early to learn to read...

Shhhh...

So cute! (For those of you who don't know, Jonah is holding Bear and Binky. Never are they separated for very long.)

Living in a town home has its advantages. One of the big ones for Megan and I, is that we don't have to do any yard work. It is a chore that Megan and I both detest, and living here affords us the very great opportunity to not have to do it. That being said, we still like a nice looking .11 acres (which is all we own) in which a single tree stands. Sometime last year, we notice that the tree that was there, was dead, from about halfway up, to the top of the tree. So, our bloodsucker's association, excuse me, our homeowners association replaced it. Then, on Monday, April 16th, 2007, Mother Nature moved it. Well, she tried to move it, but all she could manage was to tilt it.

Thanks to a windy day, and a rainy night the night before, we awoke to find our tree somewhat askew. When I went to work that Monday, we spent the ENTIRE day cutting down trees. 14 calls, to be exact, one after the other. Thankfully, no chainsaws were needed here...

Sure it's a small tree. Sure it probably has a weak root system, but it just goes to prove that Mother Nature can be nasty when she wants to be.

And here's the best part: Later that day, the bloodsucker, ahem, homeowner's association came and righted our tree, and staked it down! Try again Mother Nature!

Posted by Jon at 08:12 PM | Comments (0)

April 02, 2007

Happy New Year!

Well, Happy Chinese New Year, anyway!

Here in the Old North State, we went to the Fairgrounds to take part in the Chinese New Year!

Here is a Dragon that we missed...

Then we decided to see if Jonah would stand to have his face painted...

And he did! He actually loved it!

Happy New Year!

Posted by Jon at 08:58 PM | Comments (0)

What's The Problem?

If you've read the title of this posting, "What's The Problem?", (go ahead, read it...I'll wait...) then you know this is the question I get asked, ALOT. "Why haven't you posted more pictures?" "When are we going to see those adorable boys?" And the like. And so on and so on. Does it sound like I am complaining? NEVER! It's just hard to keep up with all the pics we take, and then finding the time to put the pics on the web. I will make no promises, as I have failed on delivering promises before, but for now, here are a bunch of cute, recent pics. Enjoy!

Isn't this sweet?

Do not adjust your computer screen, BlackBerry, or any other media you are viewing this on. Josh is that big. In fact, Jonah weighs around 25 pounds, but Josh is about half his brother's weight, at around 13 pounds. Yow.

Then I get into the act, holding my newest little chunk. Uh, son. I meant son...

Awww...

Jonah LOVES hats. So does his daddy.

A few months ago, Jonah and I went to a model train show here in town. He LOVED it. I was always (and still am) a fan of trains, so it tickled me when Jonah was tickled by the trains. (Well, the train didn't tickle him, but you get the idea...) At this train show, I decided to invest in two Engineer's hats, because you never know. Maybe one day I'll be an engineer. (The one that drives the train. There is no way I could be the other kind of engineer.)

The British invasion?

Here's the Big Guy with his Little Guys...

This years Superbowl wasn't really that Super. We had great friends, great food, and so-so commercials, but the Bears lost. Boo! But we got cut pics of Jonah (in another hat), Samantha and Emily...

Couldn't you just eat him up? Not you, Hannibal.

Da' Boys...

Up next are two of the greatest pictures I have ever taken. Ever. See for yourself.

Cute nearly naked baby!

Not long ago, maybe a few weeks, Jonah felt warm. What could that mean? Obviously, ear infections with this one, but surprisingly, it was just a fever. I can prove this to you, right here and right now in pictures, because Jonah NEVER, EVER climbs into bed, or into a chair, and stays there long enough to be photographed. Go ahead. Ask him...I'll wait...

Thankfully, he is feeling much better, and acting every bit of two years old. He's a champ at that now.

Posted by Jon at 08:41 PM | Comments (0)

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2007!

It was, to say the least, to use a Southern term, going to be a large day for us. Saturday, March 17th, St. Patty's Day. We were planning on going to a St. Patty's Day annual party given by Seth and Janice, which we did, but that wasn't until late in the day, so you'll have to read on later in this story for those details. To start the day, we planned on going to the North Carolina Museum Of Natural Sciences, for Reptile and Amphibian Day! So we bundled up the boys, met our neighbor Scott and his daughter Caroline, and off we went to learn about Reptiles and Amphibians!

There was one hitch though: it was St. Patrick's Day, and the 25th Annual Parade was happening right on the street where we parked the car! What happened? Did we get trapped? Did we leave? Read on for exciting details!

So here is Jonah and Caroline at the museum. Well, okay...Here is the back of Jonah's head, and, well, the front of Caroline...

Show no fear!

I forgot the name of this lizard, but it was big and bumpy. Jonah liked it.

Joshua in stroller

Look! Up in the sky! Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

No! It's a pterodactyl!

Neat! Dinosaurs!

And so, after a morning of looking at Reptiles, Amphibians and Dinosaurs, it was time to head home, get some lunch, get a nap, and gear up for the big party later that night.

But wait! No good story can be without it's antagonists, and in this story, the antagonist is the Parade, which wound its way right up the street where we were parked, confound it!

When we got to the car, however, we had just enough time to drive away, before the parade started. But spontaneity kicked in, and we decided to stay and watch the parade. We had a fantastic view, we could keep warm inside the car, and neither of our boys had ever seen a parade, so we stayed!

This is the view of Fayetteville Street looking south...

And this is Fayetteville Street looking north. The old State Legislature building in the background...

Typical for March, it was cold and windy, so Jonah, Joshua and Megan stayed in the car, while I took pictures. We think that this one worked out really well....

This is our Mayor, Charles Meeker. Yes, that's his real name.

And this is Engine 13. Nothing unlucky about this one!

Two thirds of my family!

Jimmy's back! (He's the one in the FDNY job shirt. He was marching with the Capital Area Fools.)

Here are a couple of shots of Jonah enjoying the parade from his viewing stand! (every good parade should have one!)

Notice Jonah getting into the spirit by wearing his beads that a newly married groom tossed at him! (Okay, I got them, but gave them to my son, in a fit of unbridled unselfishness, thank you very much.)

I'm on the fence about this one...Is this animal cruelty? Yes, it's an Irish Setter...Yes, it's St. Patrick's Day...But the dog is green for love of Mike, and it just isn't natural!!!

Another two thirds of my family! (Would somebody check my math on that? I don't think that's right, but you get the idea...)

And I took a second picture, since Megan blinked, but the new boy was smiling. Then, when Megan didn't blink, the new boy didn't smile. Kids...

So after the parade and museum, we went back home, just to catch a few cute pics of the Boy and his dog...

After resting up, we headed out to Seth and Janice's, for their now annual St. Patrick's Day party. The party got started quickly, with Mackenzie doin' an Irish jig!

Here is a cute, but blurry pic of Samantha and her dad, Jason...

Here's Noah...

Josh was there too, with Sara...

Jonah gets into the mood by having a little cake...

And a hug from Noah...

And so the large day came to a close.

As for the rest of these pictures, I have no idea when they were taken, but it really doesn't matter, when they are this cute!

And if you look closely, you can see Zoe giving the Rookie a kiss...

Words fail me, courtesy of the utter cuteness here...

What a little sweetie!

Posted by Jon at 07:33 PM | Comments (0)

April 01, 2007

Cuteness To Tide You Over!

Hello dear friends and family!

Yes, it has been a long time since I have posted anything here. Two kids, a job, a three month EMT class will do that to you. (Take all of your time, that is.) Yes. That is an excuse. But that is what makes the world go round; excuses. Okay, so it's not really an excuse, it's more like a story, a "pity me" sort of tale, because of which I really don't expect any pity out of any one.

So, on with the pics!

Here are some recent pics we took of the Rookie and the Boy to tide you over. Over the next few days, I will be posting other photos as well, so check back often!

You just can't get any cuter, can you?

The Boy, his dog, his Binky, his Bear and his pacifier, watching "Finding Nemo" for the umpteenth time...

Well, I guess that I have learned a lot as a parent. One of the most recent and most important lessons I have learned is that if your two year old isn't making any noise, he is fixing to break something, attempting to do some harm to himself or others (pets and furniture included) or is about to engage in some sort of two year old mischief. Well, this is today's mischief...Since he quit watching "Finding Nemo" for the umpteenth time, he disapeared behind the couch where Megan set up a small coloring easel for Jonah. The easel, this time, was human flesh...The little blue disc on his left hand is a magnet that holds paper up on the easel. He found it fun to stick it to his hand, and noticed that for one reason or another, it was sticking to him. Curious...

If you think you've seen this picture somewhere before on this weblog, you aren't mistaken...The first one is from today, April 1st, 2007. The second is from September 2005! Different window, same dog, same Boy.

Posted by Jon at 07:36 PM | Comments (0)