Home again, home again!

Yesterday we left Pittsburgh, Karen, and baby Amiya. We were all sad to say goodbye, but there is always something happy about getting home to your own house (and bed!).

Before we left town, we stopped at the Water Steps and the Mr. Rogers statue. We've gone to both before - we've actually gone to the water steps just about every time we've gone to Pittsburgh, and i keep thinking that this time, my kids will  have outgrown it...but no. They still really love to leap around (so dangerous!!!!) and splash and find spots to lie down in the water. At first, Katrina was all, "I'm not going to actually get wet. Just my feet." But by the time we left, she was soaked from head to toe.

The Mr. Rogers statue is sort of cool - there's a whole circle thing behind it that plays Mr. Rogers singing songs on Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, which i actually really liked. And i love that they have a statue. But the statue itself? Kind of weird, and - in my kids' opinion - creepy.

The ride home was uneventful. I read nearly the entire book "The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry" out loud to everyone. I started reading it just to Juanito, so he could be entertained while he was driving, but then a few chapters in, i realized that Katrina was listening, and before long, Houston was listening, and they were all completely sucked in. We got home when there were only a few chapters left, and they were all, "Oh. We're home. Sigh."

Emma was SO happy to see us. Ever since we got home, she's been carrying her toy chicken around with her everywhere she goes, and at first we were all, "Huh. That's cute. And weird." And then we realized that that's the last thing i gave her before we left, and it seems to have become sort of her security toy of sorts, and now i'm all, "That's so SAD! And cute. And sad!"

In which we didn't do much.

Karen worked today, so we had a calm day, filled with holding Amiya, resting, and (in the kids' case) playing Wii.

At about 5:30, Juanito brought the mail in to give Karen. She and i were just talking, and when she put an IKEA catalog in the "throw away" pile, i was all, "Oooo! Are you going to throw that away?" And eventually, she said, "Well...we have an IKEA.... We could go tonight?!"

Houston and Zane didn't want to go, but the rest of us piled into the car and headed there! We went through the store fairly quickly, but it was Juanito and Katrina's first time there, and they had fun seeing it. Yay!

National Aviary!

See the rest of the pictures here!

We went to the National Aviary in Pittsburgh today. It's the kind of place where you walk around, and the birds walk/fly around you, and occasionally zoom right past your head, and occasionally walk straight at you and make you nervous that they'll attack, but they're so pretty that you can totally forgive them.

We arrived at the Aviary, got out of the car, and started walking toward the building, and Katrina's shoe broke. Juanito tied it up with string, and it worked temporarily, and Karen (who was coming a bit later) was nice enough to bring her other shoes for Katrina to change into. Shoes are not our friend this trip!

There were larakeets that we were allowed to go in and let them land on us. The kids (and Juanito) all totally seized that opportunity and tried to convince all of the larakeets to land on them. Zane was all eager until one of the birds pooped right near him, and then he was out of there (at least for quite a while!). I am actually completely shocked that none of us got pooped on all day!

There was a giant bird (a Great Argus Pheasant) who enjoys walking around right on the sidewalk, and he's awesome to take pictures of, but he's a little bit nerve-wracking, because he looks like he could do serious damage if he decided to attack. I was crouched down in front of him, taking a picture, and he suddenly and completely without warning let out a giant, incredibly loud honky-squawk. It startled me enough that i screamed a bit and nearly fell over, but still somehow took a picture, and resulting picture is mostly blurry, but kind of awesome.

There was a guy who worked there who was absolutely in the right job. He stood and talked to us about penguins for about half an hour, and then talked to us for a long time in the Rainforest room too. And he was actually really interesting. When i suggested we leave the penguin area to go see the sloth being fed, Houston was all, "But i want to keep learning about penguins!"

One thing that i've learned about us is that we just spend longer looking at stuff than most people do. According to Google, most people spend about 2 hours at the aviary. We were there for over 4 hours, and we could have stayed longer, except it was closing and we were all starving. And you'd THINK it was because i'm holding everyone up, taking pictures, but you'd be wrong. I usually just keep taking pictures because the kids are still exploring/looking/learning. And Juanito is nearly always trailing behind us all. The world is just such an interesting place!

The Strip District!

Get the rest of the pictures here!

We went to the Strip District in Pittsburgh today. It's a street with lots of vendors and fun stores and Wholey's, the store/restaurant that has all kinds of delicious fish to eat and all kinds of random seafood to see.

There's a counter at Wholey's where a couple of guys stand and clean fish, and while Houston was disgusted and didn't really want to watch at all, Katrina and Zane were enthralled. One of the guys was particularly awesome - he clearly loved his job - and he amused our kids by making a fish into a puppet and making him talk, using a fish tail as a mustache, and just being fun. Katrina wanted to keep watching while being simultaneously kind of grossed out, especially when he had the fish where he had to leave the head on but cut out the brains and jaw and guts. Zane, on the other hand, didn't seem disgusted at all, and actually asked if he could have the fish heart so he could bring it home and pickle it. (Me: No. No, no, no.)

This afternoon, Karen built a dresser (from a kit, not from pallets) and got Amiya's room all rearranged and settled with a little bit of help from Juanito and me. The kids took the little toys and stuff that they bought at the Strip, went to the basement, and (loudly, with much giggling) made movies.

And then we watched the Olympics! Yay!!!

Phipps!

(Google got rid of the slideshow option, so ... no more slideshows for me. Sad. Instead, i guess i'll just post a link to the album, and you can see the slideshow there? Here's the link with all of the pictures.)

My kids have been loving Karen's treadmill, and have been spending hours running. This morning, Zane tried to run on it for the first time, and he fell...but he held on while the track kept going, so he got totally skinned knees (treadmill-burn?) until he finally let go and "went slamming into the wall." He was a sad, sad boy.

We went to Phipps Conservatory today. Yay! It's SO beautiful! It's just giant - you just keep walking and finding more rooms, and it's all just so, so pretty! There's a whole area with bonsai trees, and mist machines to walk through when it's hot, and a desert garden that was just amazing, and butterflies! We kept being all, "This flower! And THIS one! And THIS ONE!"

But! OH. MY. GOSH. It was so, so, so, so hot. I mean, the day was a pretty warm one to begin with, but it wasn't unbearable, but then the conservatory had every room way hotter than outside, and way moister. We kept thinking, "Maybe the next room will be cooler?" But it never was. We were all just dripping sweat and dying of heat. Karen D. lasted for only a few rooms before declaring Amiya (and herself!) way too hot, so they went to sit in the entry by the bathrooms - the coolest spot in the entire building.

By the time we left, after we'd been there for hours, i was the hottest and most dehydrated i'd been in as long as i can remember. So!!! Hot!!!!

So in conclusion: Phipps is awesome. Go on a cooler day.

And then tonight was the opening ceremonies for the Olympics! Yay!!! We all found a spot around the TV and watched. Houston and Katrina fought over who got to hold Amiya. I was somewhat disappointed in the opening ceremonies, honestly. I think China spoiled me a bit. But watching all the athletes come in, all happy and excited, is fun. And It's exciting, because...OLYMPICS! Yay!

Meeting Amiya!

Today we drove to Pittsburgh! To visit Karen D and her new little daughter Amiya! As always, the kids were fantastic the entire time, and it was a pleasant enough drive. With a few mishaps.

We got to about Detroit, and Zane had to go to the bathroom. I noticed that he had on his slippers and said, "You should change into your shoes first, though." At which point he got this shocked and dismayed look on his face and said, "Oh no! I think i forgot my shoes!" Sigh.

I got a few books on CD from the library, but our CD player doesn't work, so i copied them to my phone...but the thing that makes them play through the speakers didn't work either. So! No books for us!

We got to Karen's around 4:00, and nearly immediately snuck upstairs to see the sleeping little Amiya. And she is TINY! She's a month and a half old, and today weighs exactly the amount that Katrina weighed when she was born. And Katrina was my little baby! She's SUCH a cutie, and we cannot get enough of holding her. Katrina and i are mostly fighting over her, with a touch of Houston thrown in.

Zane was all, "I don't want to hold her at all. Nope." When i questioned him further, it was because he's nervous and doesn't think he's good at holding babies. Me; "The last time you held one was when you were 8. You're older now!" Him: "But i'm still energetic!" I did eventually persuade him to sit next to me and let me help him hold her, and he liked it fine, and i'm hopeful that now that he's tried it and succeeded, he'll want to hold her more....

Amiya is absolutely adorable and the most laid-back, quiet baby ever. Katrina keeps squealing, "She's SO CUTE!" and she really is. She's just a sweet little peanut. 

Zane is TEN!

Today Zaney, mah babee, turns ten. He's been in this world for a full decade, and i am better with him in the world. Our family is better with him in the world. The world is better with him in it. He is silly and loving and energetic and incredibly sociable.

Zane loves to talk. He will talk and talk and talk and talk and talk. His favorite books are the "100 most _____ things on the planet" series - "100 Most Dangerous Things," "100 Most Feared Creatures," "100 Most Awesome Things"... - and he will tell me (or you!) all about a pyroclastic flow from a volcano or about some deadly ant or about some other completely random and usually interesting fact. Or he'll tell me all about something on Minecraft, and i usually have to pretend to be interested for a little while until finally i have to tell him that honestly? I don't care about Minecraft. At. All. He'll tell jokes. Or he'll want to plan out some event that's coming up. Or he'll just talk about...nothing at all.

He likes to know things. He wants to know everything. This includes facts about animals, the world, and science, but also what we're going to do today. And tomorrow. And next week, if possible. He wants to know that he'll like something before he tries it, and if possible, he'd like to have tried it before. He's not a big fan of surprises. (When i plan birthday parties or fun things for the other kids, i keep a lot of it a secret. With Zane, i let him plan every single detail with me, because that's what will make him happiest.)

He's a bit of a micro-manager, when he can get away with it.

Zane absolutely loves to be doing things with other people. He loves to play games, or do Legos with someone, or ride bikes with someone, or play a computer game with someone.... He's happiest when he's in a group of friends. He's the first kid to leap to join me when i'm running to the store or doing some other random errand. However. When there's nothing else to do (or when i give him the choice of finding something to do or helping me with chores), he can amuse himself for hours by listening to a book on CD (usually Harry Potter or Percy Jackson), reading books, or playing with Legos.

Zane's at an age where he desperately wants to be funny. He tries really hard to say things that he thinks are hilarious, and he sometimes succeeds,but often just kind of misses the mark. He cracks himself up, though.

He has a very clear idea of who he is and what he likes. And he's pretty stubborn. As i was looking through pictures today to make a collage of him at every age, i realized that he's worn the exact same shirt for 3 of his past 4 birthdays (although this year it was for his party rather than his actual birthday). He has the attitude of "If i like it, why change?" He does change, it's just very, very slowly sometimes. (For example: After years and years of refusing to put his face in the water, he finally - FINALLY! - learned how to swim this year, and he discovered that he loves it.)

I love that Zane just is who he is. He really wants to be liked, but he's not willing to change who he is to get someone to like him. He sincerely wants to be kind, and he really does want to be friends with everyone. He's always surprised when kids - or people in general - are unkind. He has an incredible heart and an incredible mind, and while i really want time to slow down, i look forward to seeing who he becomes in the next ten years.