Sparrow Lorelei and Robin Artemis photo gallery
Family adventures part 1, July-August, 2011
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Werribee Zoo
Sparrow asked to go to the Zoo one morning and I thought "Hey, that's a good idea". So we went. Werribee is reasonably close and easy for us to get to, and it has lions and hippos and monkeys. So of course when we got there Sparrow wanted tigers and gorillas. The trip ended up being a bit difficult - we went straight to the animals, but as soon as we were out of sight of the food places all one little girl wanted was morning tea. And she can be very difficult when she needs food. So we had a stop at the monkeys (which were quite diverting for both her and Robin), then because we were almost to the lions we went there too, and then we went back to the front of the zoo to buy some lunch-like stuff. And their kiosk was closed because I was there what turned out to be four minutes too early so I got stuck in the bistro. And it all did not go well. So I was a bit disappointed - it was a lovely day to walk outside and I really didn't get to enjoy the walk at all because there was so much complaining and foot-dragging going on. I was carrying Robin a lot of it too. We started with him in the stroller - his very first stroller ride, he's just got big enough and strong enough to go in this one - but once the novelty of pushing Robin in the stroller wore off (which was before we'd even entered the Zoo!) Sparrow got a bit possessive of the stroller and wanted to sit in it herself whenever he was in it. So I put him in the wrap so she could ride, and then she only wanted to walk. Just difficult today. But the monkeys were good. I think these are the first animals other than cats that Robin's watched, and he was fascinated. They'd just had food put out for them in front of the window, so they were busy digging around and exploring and Sparrow got pretty excited by that too (you can see her "I say hello?" to the monkeys). Until she found the big rock, which was even better.
Family time
The kids are starting to spend time playing together, well at least Sparrow plays with Robin, it's not quite the other way around yet. She started out a little hazy on what was good playing and she's still hazy but it's getting better. Robin loves watching her and laughs at her a lot when she's not actively attacking him in ways he doesn't like. To begin with Sparrow was mostly just trying to do whatever I or James were doing with Robin, kind of jumping in on the game, but she's starting to get the idea of playing "with" instead of playing "instead". Here are some selections. Prepare yourself for some cute.
Tummy time. Sparrow is doing tummy time too. And hiding from the camera.
"Hello."
Robin is standing, helped by Daddy (it's one of his favourite things). Sparrow is "helping" hold Robin up by hugging him to death, where possible with her launching at speed. It was cute though. And Robin didn't mind.
Here, have my bear. No really, take it. OK, I'll take it then. Sparrow is developing an understanding of sharing items that is heavily reliant on Robin not being able to grab hold of them when she offers. She will discover this is a mistake next month.
Reading one of our current favourite books - Owl Babies. Sparrow loves the lap time and the story, Robin loves the conversation. It's a nice way to keep the two of them amused together.
More reading, though Sparrow is reading the book herself this time. Same book, I notice.
"Showing" Robin the ball. This is the ball that Oma knitted and sent this month. It's Robin's, and we're working on the concept with Sparrow that some toys are Robin's first and hers second. But the two of them were having a good time playing while I made dinner (it's on the stove, just a stirfry using up some leftover ingredients).
Shopping trip
Sparrow kept saying one day "Go shops look fish". Over and over again. I thought about it and thought that it was probably a fairly reasonable idea for an outing. She had a big thing about fish at that point. So we went to Coles and got some shopping done before going for a trip around the centre. It's usually Coles as they have the good trolleys and I can put the kids in them without having to try and fish out a coin while holding the one and keeping the other from running off (the Safeway only has pay-trolleys, and it's just one hard thing too many). So we went to the pet shop via KMart's toy section (I was looking for wrestling figurines and couldn't find them, Sparrow was trying to convince me to buy her a truck but really hoping for a tractor instead). Robin quite enjoyed the fish at the pet shop too, to my surprise - the tank was at just the right height for him. Sparrow's always keen on the fish - whenever we go by the pet store she points out the puppies and maybe the kittens, but it's the fishtank she stops and looks at for ages and ages. We will probably end up building her a fishtank the next time we're in the same state as one of my fishnerd friends.
Tumbles afternoon
One cold and wet afternoon we decided to wear Sparrow out by going to Tumbles. Robin wasn't too bothered, and neither was I, but one little girl did have fun. And I finally coaxed her into climbing all the way into the flying car-thing, which you have to reach by going through a tunnel and I wouldn't go through there either if I didn't know what was at the end. She was actively trying to hide from the camera though which meant I got fewer good photos. I may have smaller photo pages soon if this keeps up. Though the total number of photos I take isn't going down like I'd hoped, because I take more trying to get the one good one that shows her face.
