A Day at the Zoo

Took advantage of our long weekend and spent a day at Franklin Park and Zoo, here in Dorchester.

The lion kept roaring. Which had the opposite of his desired effect I am sure, as everyone gathered to watch.

A new baby gorilla! Mom and baby were positioned by the window, and the little baby was pressing his mouth against the glass. Of course there was a swarm of kids at the glass as well, making it difficult for me to get a good view. Amira wiggled her way in though.

This duck is on the wrong side of the net!

And Amira learned a new word "Peacock." She picked it up fast, amazed by these beautiful birds wandering around.
The zoo felt pretty big to all of us, and we were all pretty tired at the end of the visit. Amira took her only real nap of the weekend after this visit. She has been having some trouble sleeping lately, not just at nap time but going to bed too. Which leaves mom and dad a little too tired to run around and tire her out during the day. Hopefully this is just a phase. We really enjoy our sleep around here!

Walk in the City

Adrian teaches "Drawing about town" on Sundays.

So Amira and I took a trip into downtown to pick him up from class.

I am downtown during the week for work, and it is a busy place.

But on the weekend, anywhere more than a block from Faneuil Hall is empty.

And there are horses!

But even though we have been living out here for about a decade, I still like these tourist areas.

And Amira certainly does!

Moments of Spring at the Arboretum

We took a walk in the Arnold Arboretum and caught visions of spring. It has been a beautiful weekend here in Boston. Everyone had their dogs out, which made little Amira ecstatic! Her running down hills made mom and dad a little nervous, since her control is, well, lacking. But, we caught her before each potential tumble. Now we are back home, with Adrian and Amira napping.
I wish I had written down the name of some of these trees. The first one is a beech, but that is all I know. Any ideas? Feel free to share...

Walk with Gramma in the woods

My mom, me, and Amira went for a walk on the island across from my parent's house last weekend. We were home to celebrate Adrian's 30th Bday(!!!) Adrian was meanwhile competing with my sister in scrabble, there is an ongoing feud resulting from their scrabble games.

The island that we walk on, we walked on many times when I was a kid. My mom used to tell me that "Indian's" were buried there, and I could tell where the graves were from the bumps in the ground. This spooked me quite a bit as a child, and I still get some eerie feelings when we walk through the woods on the island. Twice human bones were found under the road in front of our house when repair work required digging. This did not ease my ghostly feelings. For years the bridge to the island was closed, and we stopped visiting. Then as an adult, it reopened. And the trails are so familiar. And now everytime we go, we see deer. This time we saw a family of 6. But as I walk through one section, I can't help but think of what the past of this area might have been.

Springtime?

We had a family day in the middle of the week. Amira got tubes on Wednesday, so we went to the hospital with her, and stayed with her as she recovered during the day. She was a bit wiped out, and more cuddly than usual, but really she handled herself quite well.

All these photos are so brown! I was hoping to do a color story. But that is springtime in New England. I took a picture of a bud, just to prove spring is arriving, though it is snowing right now...soon enough.

Finished Spring Sweater!

Finished! I free handed this sweater, and for once, it fits Amira. I used her jacket as a reference...it is still a little smaller than I originally envisioned, but is super cute, and I used all my yarn, so it will have to do.

I cinched the designed at the elbows, waist, and wrists. So the arms of the sweater are pudgy like the arms of my little girl:)

The colors are supposed to be like dyed Easter eggs. I imagine this cardigan over a light Easter dress. We still need our sweaters in Spring around here.

A picture of Amira in it, before the buttons were added. I will be sure to get more snapshots!

Just Girls Weekend

Daddy is away on a conference for the weekend, so it is just Amira and me.
We had no plans at all. I had considered the zoo, but the weather was a little chilly. Then I thought about drawing, and taped down some paper for the two of us.

Amira found the tape the best part. All sorts of the things in the studio are now covered in blue tape. She even taped herself. All of our play in the studio sent me in an unexpected direction as well.

With Amira content occupying herself with painters tape, I decided to do some projects as well. First it was painting a rocking chair we picked up. But then I decided the studio was not using space effectively. So I rearranged the whole space. Put up shelves. Created a drawbridge type structure to store our paper. I hope Adrian likes it when her get home...
A weekend with no plans, short naps, an upset stomach before bed (for Amira), and without my right hand (Adrian), turned out to be surprisingly relaxing and productive . Now I am showered (can't imagine fitting that in before work tomorrow with Adrian gone) with a bowel of popcorn and a little wine, ready for bed.

Swoosh!!!!!!

Do you see this little face...

She is geared up to swoosh through the air.

Swoosh!!!!

Pause for a sip of water.

OK-ready to go again!

Swish, swoosh, woosh, what a blurry way to start the week;)

Ta-Da Moment!

Our friends are having a baby,

And inspired by a beautiful baby blanket given to me at my shower, I made this blanket.

It took me a while to figure out what to make a baby boy-I live in a land with pink sparkle sneakers.

I came up with this.

And I must say I feel quite accomplished having finished it!

Planning and doing-on to the next project!