Worth the $1.50

In one month, we have already gotten our money's worth out of the 18 month family membership at the zoo so we decided to splurge $1.50 on a carousel ride for Dexter. He loved it.

The Unhappy Lemur

Last Sunday, Ben and I took Dexter to the zoo (again). It was a soft class of day: drizzly rain and slight breeze, not hot, not cold. They have a children's zoo which has some inside exhibits so, after the Monkey House, we headed over there to explore. Dexter did not want to leave the "greenhouse" where there were a bunch of children misting plants and playing with the shrubs. After about 10 minutes, we tried to coax him out but no go. After another 5 minutes, we tried again - this time using a little parental muscle and carrying him out. As soon as we outside the room and had put Dexter down on his feet, he dropped to the ground and threw a tantrum. We opened the door to the greenhouse and Dexter led the way back in. In a few short minutes, however, Dexter decided to leave and followed another set of parents out, cutting in front of their own kids. As we followed them all out, I heard the mom say, "We let one out!" But we couldn't see Dexter! He had taken off in front of the family. The mom said to us, "He went into the bathroom." Ben and I each took off into the women's room and men's room which were a quick left outside of the greenhouse. Ben found him in the men's room.

One of the other exhibits involved letting the children pretend they were caretakers of a lemur exhibit. There were coats and brooms to promote imaginative play. There were also lemur outfits. Ben decided to make Dexter a lemur and struggled to get the outfit on him. I watched as Ben and Dexter worked very hard to get the outfit over Dexy's head only to realize that they had just put his head through an arm hole. That might explain Dexter's mood during his visit with the lemurs.

Remembering the Good Old Days

When My Bologna's couch was all his own...

The Guv

On Thursday afternoon, I brought Dexter into the Starbucks in Lyons so he could run around and socialize a bit while I got my pre-dinner coffee fix. There were only two other patrons in the place: a polished, blond woman in a power suit and a slightly rumpled and pasty balding man in a shirt and tie. They were talking about "the office in Springfield". At first glance, the guy looked like Illinois Governor, Pat Quinn. He looked more and more like him at second and third glance. By the time Dexter had interrupted their conversation with his cuteness and chirping, I was convinced it was, indeed, Governor Quinn. Then, and here's the best part, he started playing peek-a-boo with Dexter! If it wasn't the Governor, it was his doppelganger. Man, I wish I had had a camera with me.

The Amp That Daddy Built

This morning, the family got to "christen" the vacuum tube guitar amplifier that Daddy designed and built! No sparks, no fire, just the tasty sounds of tele through tubes. We are all so proud of Daddy's mad engineering skills.

Split Pea Soupasaurus

Turns out Dexter LOVES split pea soup.

Self-Explanatory

Dexter's Kitchen Cabinet

Helping Mommy prepare dinner...kind of...not really...

More Zoo

This time Dexter and Daddy explored the petting zoo and Dexy made friends with some goats (and other people his size).

Puppy Free-For-All

Every Sunday morning dog-owners gather in Riverside turning one of the people parks into an unofficial dog park. My Bologna loves to play with his kind (you can see his white butt running full speed in the distance in this video). And Dexter was in the thick of it.

Double the Fun

Eventually, Dexter was ready to move beyond the plastic alligator. He and Ian enjoyed sliding down the slide together (more or less together). Dexter enjoyed it so much that each time he got to the bottom, he tried to climb back up the slide and wasn't happy when we had to remove him so that the other kids coming down the slide didn't plow him over.

Animal Lover

After the Choo Choo restaurant, we took advantage of the awesome weather and went to a nearby park. Dexter noticed a plastic alligator and started kissing and hugging it. All the other kids were running around, playing on the equipment and there's Dexter, loving up a plastic alligator.

Choo Choo Restaurant

Yesterday Dexter and I went to lunch with our friends Ian, Elissa, and Jason. We went to a special restaurant where the food is brought to the tables via model train. Ian (who is a year older than Dexy) LOVED it. It took Dexter a while to notice the model train. Initially he was focused on the other people, the cars outside, and the real train that would pass through the depot merely a block away. Dexter had his first order of french fries (came with his choo choo burger) and he was hooked, stealing fries from any plate he could reach.

Slide, Swing, Shake?

Any bets on how much longer this swingset is going to withstand Dexter's enthusiasm?

Batman's Ready for April Showers

Grandma F sent this awesome rain gear for Dexter!

Spring Has Sprung

Last week...this week it is bitterly cold and rainy. But last week, Dexter got to explore the kid's section of the Brookfield Zoo.

Happy Easter

We had a lovely little Easter, just the four of us. The Easter Bunny brought Dexter a basket of goodies and a new fuzzy buddy - a light blue lop-eared bunny. We had an Easter egg hunt and then I made a brunch of hot cross buns and green eggs and ham.

The Story of Passover

One of my favorite parts of the Passover Sedar was when everybody participated in a play depicting the story of passover. Here's a shot of Ben and me as our designated plagues.