Feeding a Lamb, and Other Fun Stuff

Wow, we've packed a lot into the last couple of weeks! (This is Ash typing, and man, it's slow because I sliced my ring finger while cutting onions and it's now wrapped up in a big hunk of gauze.) So I may keep it short, but it's not for lack of material.

First, we discovered a place that I swear is more fun than Disneyland and Six Flags combined - and all it is is a dinky little "water playground" with some sprinklers, geysers and various other devices that shoot streams of water. We went on a 90+ degree day, and Ezra was in ecstasy. And Gabe and I laughed more than we have together probably ever. Ezra couldn't get enough. He was not at all content to sit and play in the little baby zone. He kept crawling at breakneck speed for the Old Faithful of the place and didn't care a bit that much, much bigger kids were running right past him, slippin' and slidin'. We seem to have an adrenaline-junkie on our hands. I'm a little scared about the implications of that.

Then, Aunt Katy and Noni (as Grandma Andi would like to be known) dropped by on their way from the desert to the Big Apple. They came bearing some really cool gifts, including a handpainted stepstool and a handknit cardigan, both Noni's handiwork. This child has more handmade, beautiful, one-of-a-kind possessions than an art collector! He has, of course, his awesome handmade motorcycle rocker (made with love by Grandpa John and Grandma Cheri), many crocheted blankets by Grandma Cheri, and now also a hand-sculpted fish-mobile that just arrived in the mail from Aunt Lisa. I'm told that Aunt Katy is working on something, too. Get on the stick, Katy!

We joined our friends, Pat, Sarah, Arthur and David Briscoe last weekend in Door County, Wisconsin. It was a blast, beginning to end. (Except maybe the car rides to and fro. Ezra reverted back to his nonstop crying. Ugh.) Pat and Sarah won a gift certificate to a pretty fancy resort in Egg Harbor - overlooking Green Bay - and decided to share it with us. (They were that eager for a rematch in the board game Taboo.) We frolicked in the pool, hung out in our two-story suite, cooked yummy food, drank lots and lots of Wisconsin cream soda (and some other brews with a little more kick), and made one fantastic field trip to a place called the Farm.

Going to The Farm was like waving a magic wand and bringing to life one of Ezra's board books. There were lambs, kittens, pigs, calves, horses, geese, goats, donkeys, peacocks, bunnies, and a bull with a scarily long tongue. We got to bottlefeed a lamb, and Arthur and David fed corn to the calf. We all got to take turns holding teeny-tiny kittens. I think it must have kind of blown Ezra's mind to see that these creatures exist in real life.

It was so fun to see Arthur (6) and David (almost 4) with Ezra. They didn't seem to mind when he'd swipe their toys - in fact, they were kind of fascinated with him. Arthur even began lobbying for Pat and Sarah to have another baby. David drew the line at that, though. And the time it took two hours and nonstop crying to get Ezra to bed one night probably tipped the scales for all of them against that idea.

Anyway, this wound up longer than I thought it would. Sorry again for the delay, and thank you to the readers who have hung in there with us!

Love,

Ash, Gabe & Ez

P.S. Lots of advancements in speaking lately! Mama, Daddy, chee (cheese), tuh (train), buh (balloon), buh (bear - depends on context), hi, yeah and he's repeating lots of stuff without necessarily understanding what it is. No walking yet, though.