Franklin Park

All kinds of renovations are occurring at Franklin Park lately. They have remodeled the conservatory and are having a lighting/dedication ceremony on August 8. We plan to attend the event next Friday. They are also building a larger community garden near the caretakers house. http://www.fpconservatory.org/ We walked to the park this morning. Along the way we stopped to let Xiola swim, one of her favorite things to do at the park (if you look closely at the picture you can see Xiola in the water.) W. played on the playground for a little bit but had the most fun swinging. He seems to enjoy the train too. He kept trying to say "conductor" but it kept coming out as "ductor."

I am off to work a few hours this afternoon so W. will get to spend some time with Melani.

Legos

The video shows W. concentrating on building with his new Legos. It's a bit long (about 3 minutes.)

We went to visit Melissa and her 2 week old baby today. She was so tiny. It's hard to remember W. being that small, but he was. He enjoyed playing with her big sister. They had a good time in her sandbox. Scooping and dumping are some of his favorite activities.

On our last 2 dog walks we have spent time at East High School watching the big machines at work. I swear he could watch the diggers, front loaders, dump trucks and cherry pickers for hours.

walk downtown

After church today we went for a walk downtown. We started at the North Bank Park (in hopes the fountain would be on to play in but they were not!)and walked to Confluence Park and back to the Santa Maria on the bank of the Scioto River. Xiola saw lots of squirrels and chipmunks that she wanted to eat. We could smell the wonderful scents from the Jazz and Rib Festival.

The Eight Ideals of Attachment Parenting

1. Preparation for Childbirth

2. Emotional Responsiveness

3. Breastfeed your Baby

4. Baby Wearing

5. Shared sleep

6. Avoid frequent and prolonged separations from your baby

7. Positive Discipline

8. Maintain balance in your family life

For more information you can go to www.askdrsears.com or www.attachmentparenting.org

Young's Dairy Farm

W. and I joined Aunt Meghan and Uncle John's church youth group at Young's Dairy Farm in Yellow Springs today. http://www.youngsdairy.com/ Grandma joined us too. W. got a chance to pet a pig, calve and lots of goats. He was too timid to feed the goats at first but when we went back to see them later in our visit he was brave enough to let the goat eat out of his hand. He really liked to old-school tractors and the ice cream

Bison Burgers on the Grill

We've been big fans of bison for years. Here are some facts about it's health benefits (per 100grams of cooked lean meat)

• Bison 2.42 g fat
• Chicken 7.41 g fat
• Beef 9.28 g fat

• Bison 143 calories
• Chicken 190 calories
• Beef 211 calories

• Bison 82 mg cholesterol
• Chicken 89 mg cholesterol
• Beef 86 mg cholesterol

(USDA HANDBOOK)

I finally gave up cutting W.'s burgers and gave him 1/2 a sandwich tonight. He did wonderful! A lot less messy. W. loves mayonnaise on his burger, just like his father.

I worked for 4 hours yesterday and Melani got to play w/W. while I was working. They went to her house and tried to have lunch at the North Market but it's mostly closed on Mondays. They ended up having lunch at Barley's w/Melani's Mom.

We waited for the fridge to be delivered by Lowes. W. enjoyed seeing the delivery men use all their equipment (red dolly, screwdriver, the big delivery truck etc.) They had a hard time getting the fridge thru the kitchen door but after removing the fridge doors they DID IT!!

Todd went to see The Dark Night last night. He said it was very good. He seemed amazed by the movie when he came home last night.

lazy Sunday

We stayed indoors most of yesterday b/c it was soooo hot. We went to church at the King Ave. United Methodist Church www.kingave.org then we went to Lowe's to purchase a refrigerator for our renter. His fridge died on Saturday evening, however, he said the freezer was still working?!?!!?

Grandma and Grandpa came for a short visit. They came to Columbus to take Todd's sister, Kelly, for her foot surgery today. She is having her loose tendons repaired and getting some scar tissue cleaned up (she injured it over a year ago.) She will be staying w/Dave and Gail for about 2 months, at least while she remains non-ambulatory.

Khalida Tribe @ The East Village

Deanna, Virginia and I represented Khalida Tribe at the East Village in the Short North on Friday night. The theme of the show was Rock-n-Roll, it was a fundraiser for the Ohio Lesbian Festival that will be held this fall. There were burlesque and bellydance performances as well as some other interesting dances.

We performed 2 songs; Walk Like an Egyptian by Hakim and Shake Your Rump by The Beastie Boys. Our bangra in the BB song was a huge hit!

Dublin Methodist Hospital

WOW!! The place is amazing! W and I went to the hospital today to visit a friend. The art work, the fountains, the patient rooms, well everything really-beautiful. I guess if you have to be in the hospital that'd be the place to be.

This is all new to me.

I have been thinking about starting a blog lately so I finally got enough time (W taking an extra long nap today) to do it. Not very exciting yet so I am off to post some pictures.