Visit from Uncle Rob

We had a great visit from Rob last weekend. He joined us to cheer at Carter's soccer game and for a trip to the zoo. He drank and ate all the unnaturally green things I gave him. He taught Carter to play darts (inventing rules that put them on a level playing field) and lost gracefully at Monopoly.








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Granny B's Visit

Granny B came to meet John in mid-September. Her visit coincided with Carter's fall break, so she spent a lot of time with both boys.  (Our school district has fall, winter, thanksgiving, holiday and spring breaks - 1 week each, except the holiday break, which is 2.5 weeks.) Some pictures of our adventures below.

In less than 2 weeks, Granny B will be meeting up with John and me again in Las Vegas! (where I have a conference)

We took the train downtown

We tried a lot of sodas at World of Coke

And then we hit the aquarium

Baby tigers at the zoo!

Bronwyn's friend Polly is a docent at the zoo...

and she gave us a terrific tour!

We had dinner with the other Fowlkes

Granny B and John got some time together, too!

A rare photo-friendly day

Recently, Carter hasn't wanted his photo to be taken, which is why these photos from a recent trip Thomas and Carter took to the zoo were so very surprising to me!

Carter's Chicago Trip

Carter spent some of his Chicago vacation with Mama Helen and Daddy Phil at our friends the Wojcik's house in Evanston. From the pictures my mom took, it looks like he had a blast.

Two funny things:

1. Carter insisted that we were in New York for the entire trip. Since we got home, he's been asking people: "Did you miss me when  I was in New York?"
2. When he was in the city, Carter also insisted that "his" town (Atlanta) is bigger than "this" town (Chicago, aka NYC).

A new favorite game

At the playground

At the Lincoln Park Zoo

Also at the Lincoln Park Zoo

Mama Helen & Daddy Phil's Visit

My parent's made a short trip to Atlanta this weekend to see us. The weather was perfect so we gardened, went to the zoo and dined outside. Mom, Dad and Thomas also got some history in at the Atlanta Cyclorama. Here are a few, not-so-good, photos of the weekend. We all loved having them here, but none more so than Carter, who was in HEAVEN all weekend!

42 inches

If you are 42 inches tall, you don't have to take a parent with you on the rides at the zoo. And if your parent wants to ride with you, they have to pay.

I discovered this yesterday, when I took Carter to the zoo (in the cute new overalls he's sporting below). I noticed this because Carter happened to stand next to the sign, and his slightly messy hair hit the 42" mark. I've since measured and discovered that he's only 41.5" (in shoes) when his hair isn't so poofy. But still. I don't think they really WANT kids that are under 3 going on the train alone. I checked growth charts, and a six year old girl in the 5th percentile could still take her parents on the train for free, but on a bad hair day, my two-and-a-half year old couldn't?!

What's the deal with using height as the determinate? Where money is involved, I get that they probably don't want to use age because it would entice folks to lie. So, I don't really have a better solution to propose. I only know that my little boy is going to be very sad someday when all his friends are playing in the balls at Chuck E Cheese, and he isn't allowed in. The upside would be that he's allowed in earlier than his peers, but in many cases that would be dangerous and scary for him now.

For the record, no one hassled us about his height at the zoo, and even if they did, I wouldn't MIND paying the $1.50. But I'm starting to see our future, and I think it might involve a good bit of slouching...

Uncle Patrick (and parents), we're going to need some of your advice in this area over the next 16 years or so!

Calm down...

This isn't a real blog post, but here are some iphone pictures for all you starving people out there:

Pizza at Cart Cart and Nonna's with Anna et al:

Dada and Carter winter trip to the zoo. Pandas are still a big hit.

As is the carousel (he was actually riding the panda, but it is hard to get a picture while also holding him on).

More posts to come eventually...if you are nice to us.

Sick Day

Carter's nanny was out sick yesterday, so Thomas and I split the day caring for him. Lucky for us, Ashley was also staying home with a feverish Anna, so we got to hang out with them. In the afternoon, we took a short trip to the zoo and hit the carousel and train. Ashley and I are in agreement that we'd appreciate it if the kids could plan their sick-but-not-too-sick days at the same time in the future!

Zoo Freeze

It's finally, actually, starting to get cold here. So we celebrated with a trip to the zoo yesterday! Unsurprisingly, very few other people thought to visit the zoo on a cold new year's day, so we had the run of the place - and the animals were very active! Here are a few pics of our visit.

Zoo

We went to the Atlanta Zoo yesterday, where Carter got to see a real life Giant Panda (Theodore, the stuffed animal he sleeps with is a panda).

Atlanta Zoo has one of the country's only baby Pandas, but she was sleeping, so we only saw her back. This one was much more fun to watch.

You'll notice that I pretty much only have pics of Carter if he's running straight for me or if he is caught unaware (I wrote in yesterday's post about his new found love of taking pictures). Doesn't he look like such a little boy??

Last Sunday in Brooklyn

I realized this morning that today was our last weekend day in NYC. We did our last day justice, Brooklyn-style. Joo stayed over last night after Kirstin's bachelorette party (more on that when I get pics from some of the other girls), so the three of us hit the Prospect Park Zoo, the carousel and yummy brunch.

We had taken Carter to the zoo once before, but he wasn't old enough to really appreciate it. I know he'll probably appreciate it even more as he gets older, but he LOVED it today. The fish were a huge hit - as were the alpacas. Carter even fed them out of his hand! Of course, the real highlight of the farm (for Carter) was the kid-sized sink in which he washed his hands after he touched the animals. Likewise, the stairs proved to be more alluring than the monkeys or the sea lions (though the sea lions were awesome!).

On the carousel, Carter rode his own horse for the first time!

Here are some pics from the day:

Arkansas Trip Part II

It was great to see all the improvements that mom and dad have made at the cabin.

On Sunday we took a stroll through the much improved Little Rock Zoo.

Patrick and Kirstin had great wedding showers.

And it was nice to see so family and friends that we hadn't seen in far too long.