Welcome to the Zoo

So much has happened in the last two weeks, and in some ways nothing at all has happened.  There are some things that are going on that I’m not going to talk about, or if I do it will only be in passing as it verges on the whole “dirty laundry” thing.

Anyhow, the last half of September has been fun and annoying at the same time in many ways.

I’ve finished up my initial training for being a Girl Scout leader.  We’re still working on getting Kat through the training and then, finally, we’ll be able to get our troop going.  I’ve been chomping at the bit about this since the end of August, but I think we’re finally getting under way.  I am so ready and feeling so overwhelmed at the same time.  Yep, it should be a grand adventure. 

I do know it’ll be fun trying to balance all the various meetings this involves (leader meetings for the service unit, not just regular troop meetings) with all of our schedules.  Rachel and Katie have been a huge help in coming over and playing with Boo for an hour or so between when I need to leave for a meeting and when Gak gets home from work.  Boo loves them both, but I really don’t want to become a pain and ask them every week.  I know they love playing with him, but I remember what it was like to have a family who demanded my entire weekend just about every weekend.  (Of course, those two boys were not as fun and easy as Boo… ages 2 and 10… the two-year-old wasn’t too bad by himself, but the older boy… ugh!)  So, I try and schedule things where I won’t need to depend on the girls all the time.  (Of course, Rachel is actually quite happy to come over, not only because she gets to play with Boo, but because it means she’s out of her dad’s house… things aren’t going well between her and the girlfriend and any excuse to not be there is a good one in her eyes.)

This weekend was Gak’s birthday.  We were finally able to go out to dinner just the two of us.  Boo spent the evening playing with his cousins at Kat’s house.  Everyone seemed to have a good time.  Gak and I went to dinner at Applebee’s finally using the gift card that Michelle sent us for our anniversary.  After that we went up to Celtic Classic in Bethlehem.  The band I wanted to see was playing at 8 and we got there just about 7.  We wandered around a bit, but didn’t see anything we really wanted to buy.  So we wander over to the tent where the Glengarry Bhoys were going to play.  It was extra crowded and we couldn’t get a seat.  I said I was happy to just stand at the edge of the tent, so we did.  Unfortunately, they got a bit of a late start and Gak’s knee was bugging him because he’d been dealing with some pretty heavy packages all day.  After a few songs (the Bhoys still have the magic) we decide to head out and get some dessert before picking up a boy-o.  We went to the shopping area that has the Barnes and Noble as well as a bunch of other shops including a Maggie Moo (same as a Coldstone).  I had some really yummy cinnamon ice cream with granola in it.  Gak had red velvet ice cream with chocolate and walnuts or something like that.  Anyhow, it was yummy.  We browsed through B&N but neither of us found anything that was leaping off the shelves at us.

Originally this weekend we were going to go to the Maryland Renaissance Faire and we both took Monday off.  But, with Jon’s wedding being this weekend, Gak decided he’d rather have Friday off than Monday, and when you don’t get paid vacation time, every day counts.  So, we stayed home.  But this meant I still had Monday off (since I could take both Monday and Friday this week since, again, I didn’t really take any vacation time in the first half of the year…).

Aunt Beverly and Uncle Richard have been on the East Coast for a week now and are staying with Mom and Dad this week.  So, Monday morning bright and early Boo and I headed down to meet them at the Y for a swim.  Then after breakfast at Amma’s house, we all (except Dad) piled into the car and headed to the Philadelphia Zoo!

I’m pretty sure I mentioned it before, but Jon and Becca got us a family membership to the Zoo for Christmas.  Unfortunately, we’ve only been able to use it once before now.  But, after this trip, we’ve definitely gotten their money’s worth out of it.  We were able to get all five of us in, even though it’s supposed to be for Gak, Seamus and I and two guests.  I mean, that does total five people, but I wasn’t sure how sticky they would be about it.  I guess they didn’t care because my ID matched one of the names on the card.

Anyhow, we had a very lovely day wandering around the Zoo.  There is a special event going on (only until the end of the month-ish) that’s been here all summer called X-stink-shun.  It’s actually a Jim Henson company production.  There are several stages with muppets at various times doing little informative (and very funny) sketches.  We got to watch Iggle the Eagle and Leo the Lion Tamarin.  Both were very fun.  We also saw a little movie about migration featuring Otis the Oriole (not part of the X-stink-shun project).

Boo really liked the birds this time.  We also got to see some of the big cats up close, which I thought was great!  When we went to see the tigers, they were coming right up to the glass and one did the very cat thing of the head-but/shoulder rub against the glass where someone was standing.  The other one did a very male cat thing of scent marking… right on the glass where a little girl was standing.  It startled everyone.  It both reminded me of how similar and how different these big, wild cats are to our more domesticated pets.  They have a lot of similar behaviors, but on a much larger scale and aren’t afraid to use those teeth or claws.  They may be handsome, or even cute as cubs, but they are not house pets.

So, I’m going to wrap this up here.  The picture at the top is one Amma got of Boo borrowing my camera.  I have a lot of pictures that need to be gone through and posted.  I just haven’t had the energy or drive to do it lately.

This weekend will be quite fun and awesome.  Friday is some general family gatherings and then on Saturday Jon and Becca will be wed.  I’m really looking forward to seeing all the family and seeing Jon and Becca officially join their lives together into one.  I’ll hopefully have some pictures to post from the weekend that’ll actually get posted before the month is out.

So, I bid you peace and may your adventures be grand, and your events wonderful.