Sometimes I am not home and I have to have others help me take care of Tatum. It does take a village you know. Well, it is no secret that I’m absolutely gaga-crazy about my Tot. Just recently, I had to leave her overnight so I could go to Vegas for GCU. Doug usually helps, which I so appreciate, but this time, Janette and Levi got the privilege.
When we arrived, immediately, she jumped right into playing, but not before she raided Levi’s closet for an outfit. Janette was not used to this concept since she’s used to her boy staying in the boy’s clothes for the whole day if not two. Not Tot. She has to have many outfits in the day. She finally settled on Paw Patrol (at least for a minute).
Shoes are not out of the question either when trying on outfits. Doug’s shoes are especially fun. But I digress…
Before I left her with Janette, I told her about a new emotion I was feeling: HAPPY SAD: I’m happythat she is going to have so much fun with Levi! I’m sadbecause I will miss giving her lots of kisses and love tonight.
And this is how it is with Tatum…a roll of emotions stemming from having so much love for her. Being her mommy is the biggest honor I could ever have. There are no shoes big enough to fill the love I have for her.
When you’ve just been beaten up by a periodontist for 95 minutes, you struggle with smiling. Yes, it was another surgery for my poor gums, but luckily Tatum let me hold THIS
for the surgery while she spent the morning at PFT. Boy did it help! So , what did I think about while under the knife? I thought of my little Tot.
After my surgery, I headed to Walgreen’s for my scripts, and while there, I bought her a Paw Patrol racket and ball bouncy thing. Well, after presenting it to her, the ball and elastic annoyed both of us, so we disassembled it, and decided to play “flip the pancake.” Much more fun.
I wowed her with my skills in between my laying down. She then was persistent to make sure the pancake flipped and stayed on the racket. It sure made the smile appear on my pain-filled mouth. It’s not hard around this little gal.
It was not the “usuals” today. We left the house quite early so I could get a blood test. Since I had to be fasting, I was starving and ready to eat an elephant. Tatum had to come with me since I did not want to take her to summer school so early. We arrived at Walgreens, and JUST TODAY, they have canceled their contract with Theranos, the clinic inside of the store. Great timing. So, what will I do with this extra hour before school?
Across the street, there was BrakeMasters, and I was way overdue for an oil change. Perfect! We can have a little fun doing our waiting game.
No wait when we arrived, which is unusual for a Monday morning, so we plopped down and did our waiting. I have a Master’s Degree in waiting. No problem. I pulled out my handy dandy Kinder brain game and we got to work.
Meticulously, she counted the triangles and circles to see what should happen next. She has mastered patterns.We got distracted taking a selfie…Next, we played run around the table (Yes, we were alone in the waiting room). As we were running, I realized I was running out of waiting games!! An HOUR later, he finished us up. It was the first day she was late to Pre-K, and they reminded me they do not give detentions for tardiness in Pre-K. Phew!
What do you do in Phoenix in the summer? It’s triple digits, and swimming can turn you into a prune after so many hours. Well, you drive 45 minutes to nowhere and go to the zoo! The week before, it had been record setting temperatures, so we planned to go the following Friday because it couldn’t possibly get hotter. It just so happened that it was overcast and only in the 90’s! That was a blessing. We arrived right when they opened at 9, and Tot was cozily snug in her stroller.
She did not last long in this position because she instantly saw a…..
Beautiful PEACOCK!..so we decided to follow it and be one with it. At one point, she followed it to a table. Tatum was concerned. She said, “Hey…hello!!??, you are going to fall!!” I don’t think he heard her.
Upon mimicking the peacocks we heard “macaw!!”…and so what did we come upon???Mimicking was becoming fun as we attempted to be Dr. Doolittle. They did not find me humorous.
So, we mozied on to more…EMUs! I personally love these because it’s always a clue in the crossword: three letters for a flightless bird.
That lasted a minute until the other side (with only a rope between us) KANGAROOS! Now, I had just read about a trio of girls being attacked by a kangaroo in Australia last weekend. So…. I had a teeny bit of hesitation when nearing these seem-to-be innocent creatures. We looked for the baby hiding in the pouch, but none to be found. Wait, what is that sound??? It sounds like a singing dog. Ok, seriously? It was.
We sang with it for a bit until…. We saw what it was singing to. WAKE UP!!!!
That did not work, so it was time to see this guy perched upon his mound to search for little girls. We did not hang around long.
Off to more kinder types?… Monkeys and regal black swans
And…..(commercial break here: I’d like to thank DOUGLAS HAY for photographing all of these pics!)
BIRDS of all kinds.
and, could you just look at us?
These ostriches were so hungry they attempted to eat the gate in front of us. We moved away, but first a quick conversation
He didn’t say much; he just opened his mouth really wide as if he was waiting for me to throw him a pizza or something large.
Speaking of large!…
More conversations not happening. You know you want to talk to us, little guy!
PHOTO OP! Love you Tot.
Get in a line you quackers! Stay with your mommy or you’ll be eaten by a….
SHARK!
Or a….. Nile Crocodile. Well, probably not, because we decided to go into the aquarium where these types were safely locked in a pseudo-tropical environment. I wonder if they know that the scene behind them is a painting?
Albino alligator. Not much hiding for him! He stood right out.
We did decide to get cooled off in the log ride. Tatum was just the right height. WE GOT SOAKED, but cooled off!!!
Ok, snack time and …..rest.
Now, these fish are called “lookdowns” Ironic, isn’t it.
God is cool; a little pink splash to this fishy.
Slow down so we can take your picture!
Look but don’t, ok, you can. TOUCH the starfish!
Now, we are just waiting waiting waiting for my favorite part: THE SEA LION SHOW
More waiting!
And there is little 3-year old CROCKET! Making a splash. He was a toddler sea lion. Not grown until 6.
And during the show, guess what fell down down down UNDER the bleachers. Yep…the baby.
So, I missed part of the show to find my way through the maze underneath to retrieve it and…
Reunited! So much for the sea lions.
On the way out we saw the ghostly sting ray. Honestly, he was haunting.
And the piece de resistance: LOS PENGUINOS!! My second favorite!
God is so creative with his animal creations. What fun fun fun. My only wish is that Doug was in more of the pictures. Thank you for treating us to a special wild day and a chance to talk to the animals. XO
Robert, Levi and Tot piled on top of each other in the plush AMC theater at Desert Ridge. Who knew that the back row was the best place to be.So we all took over this row, and this gave us the opportunity to have a dance party after our movie, Angry Birds. The movie was funny and so much fun. I had never played the video game (probably a good thing). Although it was PG, these birds had every right to be angry! The darn pigs stole their eggs, so anyone would be angry!
What it came down to was hanging out with the gals and Tot getting to hang with her buddies.
But I digress…
