Hay Happens and Hay's Happen

This is no ordinary zoo. It’s out of this world! Well, actually out of Phoenix and into Cottonwood.

Doug and I took Tot to Out of Africa, and once we got there, we were amazed at the true beauty of God’s creation in animal form!

Immediately arriving we jumped onto the Safari ride. We were handed some celery sticks and off we went. Tot rode on my lap, and the next thing you know, we are surrounded by zebras! Now, supposedly there is only ONE male in their group, so he is pretty lucky. The rest are females, and he spends his time making zebra babies. The poor zebra mommies are pregnant for a whole year. Not a good plan..not at all. The horned cow came sauntering along and broke up the zebra party.Then it happened. It was love at first site. Kiva, the giraffe, and I made eyes, and the rest was history. Now, I’m sure it was Tot he was eyeing, but I think for a moment, we had a bond. However, he was a bit old and tall for me, and his skin was too saggy, but otherwise, we both shared a love of celery. He came down to our eye level, stared at Tot and I, and boom…celery love. 

Upon this, what more could there be!? A Gemsbok! Oh, of course! It’s from the Oryx genus and he looks like a unicorn. Beautiful

A sable antelope was next. 
And he was staring at the beautiful camel..who wanted nothing to do with our celery.

Finally, the three side-chewing-lazin in the sun-not a care in the world water buffalos. Once the ride was over, we hopped out and headed to Creature Feature. Doug comforted her as we headed to the sssssssnakes. (didn’t know this!) I had no idea it would be real critter things. But…we stayed for a minute. Tatum got a bit cold as we waited so I cuddled with her.
Yes, we pet the snake, but more importantly, she met a Coati! And what a funny looking bunny-dog-rodent thing. But soft as could be.

Before lunch, Tatum was being eyed by a hyena FOR lunch. The way he looked at her had Doug and I stewing, but she was undaunted.

He just paced back and forth with his eyes focused on her. All he could think was…delicious! EEK! Yes she is, but not for you!!!!

Lunch time! I discovered Tatum loves mustard. Well, maybe she saw me dip everything in it, and she did too. It does not go well with white. 
So, now, we had some time to kill, so we took some pics….

Tatum and Doug played, “On your mark get set…..”

and Tatum ran up the steps as I sang the Rocky song.  Go TOT!
Ready for Tiger Splash… These crazy men run around with play raft toys and the cute little tiger chases it to its death. It’s quite a show! We ended the day with a trip to the gift shop and Tatum spied…. some “I can see you’s!” She spied things all the way to the parking lot. James Bond has nothing on her!

Thank you Doug for taking us on our adventure. We are grateful for you! You are one prepared dude, and that made all the difference.

Sunday is usually our Football Day, and Tatum loves to sport the jersey. She’s always asking about the “little birdie” on her sleeves, and we remind her it’s the Cardinals. Great C word which I’ve added to her lessons of course. They had no Fitzgerald jerseys (the were $150..HELLO!), so she’s sporting a Peterson 21. He plays some thing like left field or goalie or safety or something ( haha)Anyway, it was a winning day, so Doug offered to take her to the park to play some real sports! Real girls get real dirty, so I geared her up with her tennies and lots of Thieves spray

Golf was first, however, she did not realize this club was to be used as a club. Not a mallet or hockey stick or whacker. (sorry Doug)

At one point she saw a dog go by. “Squirrel!” moment. “Doggie! Hi doggie!” All was lost at this point.

Ok, Focus Tatum…there ya go.
No, don’t put the ball in; PUTT the ball in.  Ok, never mind. Hole in one!!

It was time to change courses. Baseball is much safer, right? Especially when your bat and ball are nerfy. Doug was safe when she bopped him on the head by accident and threw the ball at different parts of his body. (she apologized profusely!) OK…time for bowling since how could anyone get hurt here? Nobody except a few ants, right?

Doug: Roll a strike! (Ahem..Doug? She doesn’t know what this means)

Tatum: throws the ball and hits two pins. Throws the other ball and hits two more. (key word: “throws”)Then whacks the rest with her hands. 

Doug: I think that counts! STRIKE!

So, he slightly altered the rules for all three games, but she had a blast, had no major injuries; Doug kept all of his limbs, and me? I loved every minute of them enjoying each other.

This girl of mine? She’s shining every where she goes, and people notice. She’s a kind, silly, sweet as pie little child, and I love her so much.

Thank you Doug for making it a great Sporty day. Who needs the Cardinals when you can watch Tatum sport it up or at least find every dog in the park.

Of course we had to start at Trader Joe’s! Bev was dressed as a Minion as well, so they had to pose! She was playing “Dave.” Tot? She is more like Bob, but he only had one eye!Then, when we got home, Tot’s bed became “toddlerized.” And she was bouncing around like a monkey! She pretended a bottle was a microphone and belted out some tunes. Then collapsed in laughter.

We eventually got Coti in his Bat costume. (after much consternation)And voila!

Tatum is ready to hit the road.  She ended up having a bite of Butterfinger and Heath Bar.

I told her she could have her lollipop tomorrow. She asked me if she could have one lick after church. Should I? We shall see! (Don’t you love it when a parent says that!?)

We had the MIM to ourselves today! And…we had no idea that it would be the treat of all treats!

Upon visiting the European instrument portion, and avoiding the school that just arrived, we ventured down for the show. What show!? Supposedly, once a month, they have a concert, and today, it was to be the trombones from ASU! Now, would Tatum be able to sit through an hour long concert? Let’s find out.

First, these ASU students were dressed in nice rainbow shirts, and they had quite the array of talent to boot. The conductor, was Douglas Yeo, and was he a gem!

Supposedly, he was with the Boston Symphony for 30 years and now teaches at ASU.

Tatum sat quietly enjoying each piece as well as these short interludes.

The best part was when the conductor performed his solo from “Peter Gynt.” Dem tromBONES! Wow!He introduced it with saying that he never expects his students to do something he wouldn’t’ do, so one of his students did the conducting, and he did the performing! What a sound message: MODEL! HE paused at one point (and we all thought it was over), and Tatum yelled, “Good job!” Douglas became red in the face and smiled. I became red as well! Excuse us! HE played with poise, preciseness and perfection.

It’s a definite that we will attend each of these mini-concerts since the venue is small and it’s so easy and inexpensive. She is learning so much culturally as well (as am I!)

Finally, we hit the gift shop and guess what we found?Yes, besides these…(which I had to buy of course!)

A HARMONICA! She couldn’t say it quite correctly, so she called it her trombone. She puffed away at it making various sounds, discovering it has quite a range of noise! Her delight made it all worth it. When we got home, her first thought was to show/scare Coti! *wince*

“Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world.”-Martin Luther

(even if sometimes the music isn’t so musicy!)

Dress rehearsal. The goggles! Yep. It has the “Oh my GOODNESS! Look at her!” effect. And so it was. The little minion idea was created, and she was into it because she likes to be funny. The goggles are not the most comfortable eyewear, so she knew that for music class, she’d have to bear it for a few Kodak moments. This week, it was the “Pumpkin Patch” party, so she had to sport her costume. Finding the right jumper was a challenge, but bingo! We got it.

I could just eat her up! As usual, each class, she has to choose a way to tap her name on the drum. This week, it was the pinky finger. Ms. Mary, our bumbly bee teacher, couldn’t stop laughing at Tot this week because she just had that effervescence. They visited the virtual pumpkin patch and Tatum pretended she was grabbing the largest pumpkin on the lot.

My little Minion posed with Sullivan (firefighter), Morgan (Princess Elsa), Harley (Marshall from Paw Patrol), Berkeley (a pink cat), and Emma the angel (and she really is)
Now if you look up Minion, you’ll find it means, “a loyal servant of another person.” Yes, my girl is truly LOYAL as she shows her love and joy daily to her family and friends.  Another term she is learning is to have a “Servant’s Heart” like her Savior, Jesus. My little Tatum, may you shine!

I love this girl so much. Loving someone this much, unconditionally, takes no work when it comes to Tatum. My daughter, my sweet little girl, absolutely knocks my knickers off. So, I might not wear knickers, but if I did, they’d be flying off into outer space with the amount of awe I have for this kiddo. She actually reminds of a juicy grape. But, she did not start out that way.

This little raisin has been producing more plumpness as time has gone on. Now, what is it that makes me crazy about her? Our negotiations. I have become the prime negotiator as she usually has to have her way. (I know..a little girl wanting her way. Whoda thunk!?) For example, every single morning, we have to decide what will come first: Coti going out, her baba or the morning “ride.” When we finally get to her ride,….well, I should say morning push because she doesn’t really “ride” the bike quite yet….she sports her grapey little jacket. It keeps her cozy warm as she learns to turn right and left and not run into the wall. Ha!Then, there are the lessons. She wants to please! We discuss the desired behavior incessantly. Tatum, you will listen and honor your teacher. Of course, she knows that she must obey if she wants a big smile from mommy. But more importantly, she is learning the concept of respect. Today, she wanted to wear these grape-colored Cressi Crabs. They sure helped her see more clearly. Wouldn’t it be great if all we needed was a pair of grape Cressi’s to be able to see the clear picture?

Tatum, FOCUS! (sometimes I have to remind her)

Then, of course there is the little shopper’s need to empty the basket and hand and name each item to the cashier. (Hopefully, it’s Kevin, her favorite TJ’s employee). She finishes, pushes in the tray, returns her cart and rushes to get her stickers. This kiddo has it down.

Every single solitary day, I understand how fruit is produced. Pruning must occur. As John 15 points out that without the struggle and the pruning of some challenges , plump juicy grapes could not be produced on the vine. So is it with raising Tot. We fall forward every day as we work through being the best we can be (with what God has given us!) Some may wonder what it is that makes me so crazy about her? Well, just hang around her for more than one second, and you’ll see why. She’s charming, funny, creative, and will keep you on your toes! She’s as sweet as a bunch of grapes. And the great thing? This little orb continues to get more and more juicy and plump every day. How can it not be with God’s love and her family’s love pouring all over her.

I can only be “grape”ful.