Playdough

Last week I made found a recipe for homemade playdough, and decided to give it a try.  To my delight, the texture turned out perfectly.  Even I had tons of fun playing with it.  The only downside, is that Lydia kept trying to eat it ...  At least she actually doesn't eat it, because it is really salty!

When goats jump

It seems like the last time I blogged was FOREVER ago.  Yep, my dear readers, you are all nodding.

A couple of weeks ago my parents drove down from New York to spend a few days with my family and my brother's family.  We didn't tell my niece and nephew that they were coming, so when they showed up for dinner on Saturday two weeks ago, it was quite a surprise!  It was so nice to have my parents around.  At first, Lydia wasn't too sure about these strange people staying in our house, but it only took a day before she was putting out her arms to them, wanting to be picked up, and sitting in their laps having a story read or singing songs.

One of the days they were here, we went to the Yellow River Game Ranch, which is essentially a wildlife petting zoo full of rescued animals who are too accustomed to humans to be returned to the wild.  Lydia was not too sure about some of the big animals, but she actually decided to pet a bunny all by herself!  I guess it's just like a kitty with long ears and huge feet ...

I was really amazed at how bold the animals were, and completely unafraid of humans.  Of course, they know where the food is!  One brazen deer even came right up and started eating the carrots out of the stroller (which was serving as a food carrier instead of a Lydia carrier, since she refused to sit in it).

The most exciting incident of the whole day came when we reached the goat paddock.  The goats have a ramp leading up to a small window which they stick their heads out and you can pet or feed them that way.  I decided this would be a GREAT photo op, so I gave my mom the camera and asked her to take a picture of me, with Lydia on my shoulders, as we fed a goat.  No problem.  So I'm standing there, posing with the carrot in my hand ...

When suddenly, the goat decided to jump out of his little window, onto the ground right in front of me.  Startled?  Yah--I think so ...

It's too bad that the picture cut off Lydia's head, but as you can see from her hands, she's hanging on for dear life.  The rest of the trip was relatively uneventful.  We did have a wonderful lunch at Stevi B's, where Lydia scarfed down no less than 3 pieces of pizza ... well, at least she scarfed down the toppings and cheese.

My parents left just a few days later.  We had such a good time that I bought a plane ticket up to NY in September.  Yikes--that is going to be an interesting 2 hours, cooped up in a plane with little girl ... But, at least it IS only 2 hours and it's a direct flight.  I can't wait.  I'm ready for a vacation!