the road to delaplane |
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oh, ethyl — we
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i love going to the petting zoo, and — according to gowalla, and foursquare before that — we’ve been to the “kid’s farm” roughly two dozen times since early May.
we go because i love that sparklet enjoys going to a “farm,” even if it is a fake farm with fru-fru animals like Miniature Mediterranean Donkeys and Anglo-Nubian Goats. that, and it’s only a couple blocks away so we go all the time. today, however, we noticed someone was missing — Ethyl, one of two Nigerian Dwarf Goats. (fwiw, the other is named Lucy … in a fit of “I Love Lucy” hilarity.) we asked one of the zoo keepers (who was really quite worked up about it) about what happened and she said Ethyl passed away earlier in the week after some time in the Zoo’s hospital. now, sparklet’s obviously too young to know any better … but before we lose any more Zoo friends, we decided to do a “guestbook” of those we see the most: See All the Photos on Flickr:
kids farm, national zoo, washington, dc |
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good night, mommy! |
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hope you’re reading the blog from san francisco |
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out: national gallery of art |
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go speed racer, go! |
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mushroom risotto |
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well, i’m cooking again. it took a decade for me to finally remember by culinary heritage — my father was a chef for 30-odd years — but i’m starting to have fun in the kitchen again. i used to love it. my father and i would regularly cook thanksgiving dinner for 400+ and we’d have a ball (a slightly exhausting ball, but a ball none-the-less). i have no idea what happened in between, but it’s passed — and the lady sparkler is now too busy with a small child to tell me what i’m doing wrong (bonus!). tonight was a risotto with wild mushrooms, a recipe that i picked up from a office-retreat-slash-cooking-class with Chef Susan Holt at CulinAerie (great class, btw — highly recommend it). full recipe after the jump. |
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“a little to the right, daddy…” |
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guestbook: the talimo’s |
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See All the Photos on Flickr:
guestbook: the talimo’s |
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what’s next … an earthquake? |
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well, after a brief return to normalcy, sparklet’s sleeping habits are back to being a royal pain in the rear. she’s fighting us going down, and isn’t usually staying down for long. at one point this week i stopped asking God for world peace, and started asking him to focus on letting me sleep. based on last night’s events, he wasn’t amused:
there you go. independent proof that God doesn’t have a sense of humor. at least, not about sleep vs. world peace. |
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video: first waves |
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i will say, that there isn’t much sleep going around … and yesterday sparklet didn’t manage a nap over 20 minutes in length.
the temperature being over 100 degrees for the last three days hasn’t help much either, as going for a walk is traditionally the easiest way to get an unhappy sparklet to take a nap.
so today, we resorted to driving. for three hours. in no particular direction.
by the time we ended up in delaplane — out Route 50 in Virginia, towards Shenandoah — sparklet had slept for an hour and she slept for another two on the way back.
we’re all feeling better already.
p.s. nine month pediatrician checkup was last friday, and she’s still growing like a weed. 99th percentile on height, 95th on weight, and the doctor is happy with the balance between the two. she’ll be talking by the next appointment, and we’re to start adding meat to the diet. exciting times.