I am Two!! Part C

After muddling around in the space ship/UFO I managed to wind my way to the entrance. I then backed out of the tunnel carrying one of the balloon shaped objects from the ship's inside.

After leaving the space ship, I quickly realized the balloon shaped objects were actually sentinent beings. Here I smile with a particularly friendly one.

In order to test whether or not they were dangerous, I used my brother J as a test subject. After a few hours they became good friends when they realized they enjoyed Enrique Iglesias and thought that runny eggs were gross.

As my brother played with his new friend, I was struck with a realization...I have a space ship full of aliens! Happy birthday, indeed!

I quickly set about emptying the ship of the aliens. After going to zoos all my life, I could finally give something back. I quickly called each zoo in a 1000 mile radius. They offered $1 million for each of the balloon-aliens.

I struggled with the decision to sell and profit from these obviously harmless beings. Hmm...what should I do? Maybe I should donate them to science? Should I keep them? Maybe "I can be their hero"? Unsure, I decided to sleep on the decision in my now empty space ship.

What will M do? Will she profit from balloon beings? Find out next time...

I am Two! Part B

As I heard a song echoing through our massive house, I decided to go downstairs and see what all the ruckus was about.

Oh my! It's a party for me? Well it is my birthday...no...wait...they are cheering my arrival because something has washed ashore...

It appears to be some sort of space age submarine/UFO.

Egged on by the crowd cheering "M! M! M!" I entered the tunnel heading to the space ship on a journey of exploration.

I am so scared right now.

Oh bother. What have I gotten myself into? Stuck in a space ship and on my birthday no less. Stick with me readers or I will get lonely. Do I make my escape? Do I have a party?

I am Two!

Why am I smiling so big? I turned two yesterday during my birthday celebration that has occurred annually since 2006.

More pictures will follow throughout the week so check back often. But this picture should pique your curiousity for my further birthday celebration photographs.

Picking the Raspberries

A couple weeks ago, I visited COSI with my friend, B. Ignoring the fantastical playgrounds inside, I headed for the John Deere showroom by the river and happily spent the next few hours. Notice my choice of footwear for the event. I thought to myself---this John Deere would make raspberry picking a breeze.





Alas, the raspberry farm did not allow this efficient machine to be used. It would have made picking and then smashing the raspberries for jam quite easy. Rules are rules, however, and other plans were made. Below my trusty companion B and I are setting out to pick raspberries by hand.

No, I didn't leave the younger generation at home to raise themselves on video games and Fla-Vor-Ice.

And, yes, I did take the older generation out with me because outdoor exercise reduces the chances of dementia.

After arriving home, I leaf through the Farmer's Almanac hoping to show my brother their latest predictions on the raspberry crop. It took a while for me to find, and, in the mean time, my brother puts on his best impatient face as I mutter to myself, "where is it?"

"A-ha! Here it is." The raspberry crop will fail next year. That means we need to store up extra jam to make it until 2010. I guess the Aunt J's can't have any of our jam this year! JC looks on not fully realizing the magnitude of this revelation.

Visit from Grandpa J

Not too long ago, Grandpa J came to visit us. The entire time he tried to convince me that he had two sets of eyes, one of which he hid under his sunglasses all the time. I don't believe him. My sister, M, looked fooled.

Our story, however, focuses on the night that Grandpa J left. Sleeping fitfully from missing Grandpa J, I heard some strange noises coming from downstairs in the kitchen. Crawling silently, I grabbed the camera ready to surprise and catch the midnight snacker in the dark. I fully expected to catch my dad in the midst of sleep-eating (sleepwalking + eating), a condition so far only known to affect him. Lo and behold! My sister M, however, was there instead eating what appeared to be fruity pebbles!

What?! After recovering from the shock of seeing my sister and not my dad, I approached my sister and found not fruity pebbles but...chilled vegetables? I said somewhat incredulously, "You snuck out of your crib, opened the refrigerator, removed the vegetables, removed the Tupperware top, and found some silverware to eat cold vegetables at 2 in the morning?"

Yes...yes she did. And she did not go back to bed until they were gone.

I am three months old!

Hi there fair friends! Although Thursday night might have meant different things to all of you---it was a special day for me. I turned three months old. Once again, my parents showed my preferred child status by photographing me with a harmless, shrinking stuffed lamb. No scary Uncle R for me!

My age has brought on many new skills---this is a smile!

Whoops! Too much exertion.

Indianapolis is not the Central Time Zone

My brilliant dad decided that Indianapolis was in the central time zone. Early in the morning we left Ohio, with the intent of getting to the zoo in Indiana at the opening bell. Indiana is not in the central time zone as evidenced by this shot below of us waiting for the zoo to open.

We saw penguins...

We saw polar bears....

We saw dolphins. The picture quality of the past few shots is due to the obscene hour the photographer was made to wake up in order to reach the zoo at it's "opening time".

We saw zebras....(obligatory little brother shot)

We saw goats....

We even videotaped the goats. Here I touch the goat and make a terrible discovery!

At the end of the day, the take-home moral is that if you see this arch, it doesn't mean you are passing into the Central Time Zone.