Say a Little Prayer For Kitty Sticks - Baltimore, MD. - November 2012

For the last couple of weeks, we noticed some changes in our kitty cat's weight and behavior. She was hardly getting up to do anything but she was still purring and drinking small amounts of water. We thought she had a bug of some kind or a really bad hair ball, but after several bad days and no improvement, yesterday we took her to the veterinarian.

After an x-ray and several tests they found she did not have any g.i. obstructions, but she was very dehydrated and in acute kidney failure.

They put her on fluids and antibiotics and kept her over night. 

If you have a minute to say a quick little prayer for our Kitty Sticks that would be great! She is a sick little kitty and we love her very much!!!

Till next time,

Bon Voyage!

We Miss The Olympics - Baltimore, MD. - August 2012

I know the Olympics are long gone but I have to say, I REALLY miss having them to watch. I finally deleted the final gymnastics performance I had saved on our DVR, (Yep it was winning gymnnastics gold) and I feel a bit sad that we'll have to wait another 4 years to see more.

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The last time I blogged about the Olympics I made fun of the more "questionable" Olympic events, and although this time there are some that definitely fall into that category, I'm going to take the high road.

In an effort to cope with our Olympic withdrawl the Wandering family has been working on a few events of our own and I thought I'd share.

MJ is a natural at gymnastics with her specialty apparatus being the "crib exercise".  Much like the floor exercise, one must demonstrate flexibility...

(Notice her foot is IN her mouth)

Travel the entire length of the apparatus ...

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Must make eye contact with the judges...

And at the end of the routine the athlete must scream at the top of her lungs...

(the redder the bar the higher the scores)

***

Moving to the pool. We continue to be impressed at the Monkey's comfort in the water and all joking aside we think that water sports are in her future if she so desires. For now though her Olympic event is "Father Daughter Synchronized Swimming".

Her entry into the water is flawless...

She and Daddy prepare for the big stunt... Up... Up...

The jump... Look at the height she gets out of the water!!!

And hardly any splash upon entry!

The judges deliberate...

What will it be?  The head judge delivers the scores 

 and I think they're happy with the results!

***
Finally, we bring you to our coverage of Rocking Horse Equestrianism.  Over the summer we discovered we have a budding Equestrian in our midst. We first discovered her talents at the beginning of the summer at the playground on these fun spring loaded ride on animals.

According to our little monkey, this is a "Gog"...

This is a "Fog"...

And thanks to our friend Tong and the loan of this fun ride on toy she has pretty much perfected the talent.

Meet the"hurse" named "See-buh"

The intensity of a girl in training...

In our tiny living room we had to move furniture during training sessions because, as you can see from the photos, she actually gets so into it so much that she moves across the floor.

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She even learned how to say "yee haw!!!"  So much fun!!!

***

Some other sports we've been working on for Rio - 2016 are:

Power napping...

Speed diaper changing...

&

competitive laundry folding...

(Are those really such a far stretch from speed walking, dirt biking, & canoe racing)

I know I said I'd take the high road but I couldn't resist!  See you in Rio!

Till next time,

Bon Voyage!

Here's to Forever! - Baltimore, MD. - July 2012

Seven years ago I married my best friend

He has given me love when I don't deserve it, a listening ear when I ask for it, and a swift kick in the butt when I need it. 

He has given me the the 2 most beautiful little girls in the world.

 

His love for me far surpasses my understanding and I am thankful each day to be his wife. 

To quote his card "Here's to the best 7 years of my life so far... Here's to Forever!" 

Till next time,

Bon Voyage!

Pizza Party For 2 - Baltimore, MD. - March 2012

Four years ago, In my second post, Pizza Party For One, I mentioned that my favorite delivery pizza of all time is Domino's thin crust with pepperoni, mushrooms, and black olives, To this day it is my favorite and I could and on some occasions I have actually eaten an entire one by myself.

 Tuesday at about 11am I got a text from one of my best friends on Earth, Sarah, who lives just over 1,000 miles away (and according to Google Maps 18 hours and 1 min) away from me. The text read "Ordered you lunch. Should be there by noon."  I was confused and excited!

Just before noon there was a knock on our door. I opened the door to reveal a cheerful pizza delivery girl with a piping hot Thin crust, pepperoni, mushroom, and black olive pizza and an order of cheese bread! What a surprise and what a treat!

Turns out this is the Monkey's favorite delivery pizza as well.

(Just like her mama, sneaking toppings when she thinks no one's looking.)

Thank you Sarah for loving on us from so far away. The only thing that would have made it better is if you'd been here to share it with us!

Till next time,

Bon Voyage!

Fall Travels: Kansas - Manhattan, KS. - October 2011

El and I ventured west this fall for a long weekend to visit my little sister who is stationed at Fort Riley.  She is scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan later this year.  She's come to visit us several times since we've been in Baltimore and I really wanted to make a point to get out there to see her and the life she's set up for herself.  

First off she found two fantastic room mates and a beautiful house to rent so it was super easy to feel right at home.  Also, she's a total "foodie" so we ate like queens the entire time we were there.

I didn't take nearly the number of pictures I wanted to but did manage to remember to play paparazzi when we went to the Kansas Children's Discovery Center in Topeka.

 I was a little worried about there being enough areas that were good for a 15 month old to really make it worth going  and was happy to discover that there was more than enough to keep us all busy.

The rice bin was our first stop.  El might have stayed there the entire time if I'd let her dump all the rice on the floor and then pick it up one grain at a time... 

but really, we could do that at home. =)

 Next stop, instruments!

 Sheer curtains... Interesting.

She still does this with the one hanging in the bathroom and can't get enough.

 "Look at this cool puzzle ball Aunt Zanna!"

 Hmmm... 

 Not sure who like the puzzle ball more? =)

One of Suze's room mates Jenna joined us at the museum and helped El discover the wonders of air.

  The foam balls get sucked IN...

 but with the flip of a switch, the air blows OUT!  SO FUN!!!

 Now we've got it!

 El tried several times to say Jenna's name and each time it came out "Bubba", so El now has an "Aunt Bubba".

 Again not sure who had more fun here, the kids or the grown-ups.

El was also pretty interested in this contraption that moved grain around using shoots and moving ladders.

You use the big wheel to her left to make the grain move.  

(It's funny for me to look back at these pictures because I'd forgotten that at the time of this trip she wasn't a completely stable walker on ramps, so she was very cautious when moving around on uneven terrain.  What a difference a few months have made!)

At the end of the day we found the "under two" section.  It was completely padded and a great place to kick back and let her roam.

 She LOVED this block!

Doesn't it look like an awesome block!

Good for napping...

 And bouncing!

We had so much fun on our visit to Kansas and hope we get to see Aunt Zanna and Aunt Bubba again soon!

(Me, Aunt Zanna, Aunt Bubba, and El)

Till next time,

Bon Voyage!