A Day At The Zoo

As predicted it was a tatting free day and not only that it was a completely non-stop day as well. We don't skimp on kids birthdays around here. We were up and out the door early headed for the zoo a few towns over. We spent many hours there and had quite a pleasant time especially after the zillions of school groups had gone. Seriously it was like an ant invasion, there were everywhere, but luckily only for the first couple of hours. After that the zoo was practically empty and the girls got their run of the place. They're actually posing for their dad here which is why they're not looking at my camera, but this exemplifies them so well.

Also it is here that I pause to show you what I did to their hair on Wednesday. Yes, I did that to both of them. Yes, I had to bleach the hair first. They both ended up wanted red even though I got pink for the youngest and they can always go purple or blue if they want. The piece of hair we dyed is under the part for both of them, but it's much more obvious on the oldest which is why you get her picture. Also it was her birthday and she is clearly quite happy with it. I'm currently waiting for the first, 'You're a horrible mother for doing that to their hair!' I'm certain it's coming, I'll be patient.

The rest of the day was spent shopping at stores we don't have in town like Toys R Us and a JoAnn's that makes ours look like a stand at the swap meet. The children came home with a couple of toys and adventures under their belt. The day wasn't quite done though. Once we were back in town it was a couple errands and out to dinner and then ice cream. By the time we were home for good it was almost time for bed. I managed to quickly get the Wunderkammer scheduled up and answer a few emails, but that was it. To demonstrate my level of exhaustion, we turn to the king of sleep, the sloth, who according to the zoo keeper, sleeps about 20 hours a day...in a tree. Are you jealous? I kind of am.

On Zoos And Regret

Another lovely, but exhausting day. It was sunny and breezy and really a perfect day to be outside at the zoo all day. I know I've been to the San Diego zoo, but it was so long ago I barely remember a thing, so this is by far the nicest zoo I have in memory. It's full of large overgrown plants and most of the enclosures are open, large and full of native plants as well. It is a good thing we all took an allergy pill before leaving though. There is also nothing like being in the audience of a bird show with at least three different elementary or preschool groups to make me truly appreciate how well behaved my own are. I mean, they are still kids and thus slightly insane, but they listen to directions, sit quietly and watch the show.

Anyway, we did get back fairly early in the day, even a good zoo can only occupy the kids for so many hours at a time. I finished remaking a couple of things and obsessively tracked my large order package. It did get stalled because of weather in the mid-west yesterday, but it appears to be moving again.

Oh, man I almost forgot to tell you. So yesterday morning after I wrote the blog post, I was looking through my shop traffic numbers and there was a big spike on Tuesday. I look to see where it's coming from and it's...regresty...crap. It was a direct link so I go there and it was a feature on another tatter's 'bridal' mask. The listing was likely chosen for a couple of reasons, a badly spelled name and description and for the mere idea of wearing a mask to ones wedding. The normal ha, ha mocking started and there were also several defenders of her spelling noting that English is not her first language as well as defense of tatting itself. Apparently there was also a troll battle in the comment thread as well. None of that is my point however as someone linked to my shop in the comments to mock mostly my 'cheesy masks' and my barefoot sandals. Again there was some mocking and some defending. It can get downright cruel over there sometimes though generally the things posted mock themselves. This was the closest I'd ever come to being featured and it really wasn't all that bad. We all have different tastes and sometimes we don't get who would wear or use something we wouldn't. I mean, I don't wear barefoot sandals, but they sell well to belly dancers and for beach weddings, so why not. Here's hoping that this remains the closet I ever come to regretsy fame though.

I'm not sure what today has in store, we've no big plans. Probably schooling, errand running and maybe some cleaning, though honestly I am just ridiculously sore and tired after all that walking about and then sitting in a car for hours Monday and yesterday, so I might fight the cleaning bit and curl up like this porcupine fellow. We'll just see how it goes and roll with it I guess.

Zoo

Yep, see I told you I've got nothing for you. We took a trip to the zoo and when we returned I picked up that little tatted triangle and attempted to determine its purpose in life. I dug out bells and beads and crystals. I set it next to countless scraps of lace trying to find it's complimentary shape and I came up with nothing. Then as if to distract me from my failure I received an order that I could make and I abandoned that little triangle for another time with fresher eyes.

So today, you get zoo pictures. We had actually never been to this zoo even though it is only an hour from us. It was really nice. It had huge overgrown trees and bamboo, very natural looking habitats and a really cute little bird show. We managed to kill four hours inside and once the kids are out of the nap age, I imagine we could spend more time there. You'd think we'd get sick of seeing the same animals, but we go to the Monterey Aquarium at least twice a year and have done so for the last eleven years.

Today only has a little planned adventure so hopefully I'll get some creative time. Wait, just to be clear, today only has a little adventure, but this evening has far too much as we agreed to host a slumber party for all the kids cousins. That, my friends is eight children under the age of eleven, six girls and two boys. So if I don't get anything done today and you don't hear from me tomorrow...you'll know what happened...and please send help.