engage-a-versary

 Saturday night randomly happened to be the 7th anniversary of our engagement.  I had been planning for a couple months to pull Ryan aside at the kangaroo exhibit on Friday night to acknowledge the special day that had happened down under 7 long years before.  With the time zones, I actually think Friday would have been more appropriate, but Amy reminded me of our wine-tasting plans for Saturday night and I opted for the actual date.  I had Whole Foods write on a chocolate decadence cake and had the wine guy bring it our to Ryan about half way through our tasting.


It did take him a couple (long) minutes to figure it out, and he said it scared him as he racked his brain trying to figure out what he'd forgotten.  

In the end, it was a simple gesture that meant a lot and really took him off guard.  I think the busier life gets, the easier it is to forget the magical and meaningful moments.  Taking time to reflect can have an amazing power of reconnection and I hope I'll be successful in taking time for reflection more and more as life gets more and more crazy. :)

Freshwater and sand-bottomed Lake McKenzie is one of the natural world's mysteries.

That's a happy girl! She got the ring and the guy!

Our safari cohorts were thankful for the extra champagne broken open by the generous guides.

Boo at the Zoo after dark

Last night we joined Cole, Amy, Grace and Sara at the Denver Zoo's Boo at the Zoo after Dark.  It was lots and lots of fun wandering around the zoo to different trick-or-treat stations and surrounded by lots of the lights that must also be used for Zoo Lights during the holidays.  After what seemed like forever we found the adult's only station, although they made us pay for our treats at that one. :)  Ben snagged a short nap before we headed in thanks to Friday night rush hour traffic and was perfectly subdued and happy all night.  There was definitely a crisp fall chill in the air by the time we left but Ben's costume had the perfect warmth for the slight chill.  
I never put my faster lens on and should have as the dark dark night was challenging.  I captured a few of my little minion and his buddies the Pirate and Pocahontas.
It was neat to be at the zoo at night, and a little scary, and though this special evening event required tickets even for members, I will definitely pay extra to go again next year.

Dada getting him suited up.  I hope I have as much luck on Thursday.

Yep, he's thrilled. :)

Sara has such great innate posing skills

a minion in a maze

fish

Well, our little Michael Phelps Jr. in the making is having some great successes at Swim Labs but he's also 3.  He recently added Saturday lessons and the first with Miss Kayla was a little challenging but the one following with Mr. John was awful.  Although I couldn't see him, I heard his name over and over, "Ben, back on the wall." "Ben, it's not your turn."  Well this day also happened to be "show and tell," when the parents get to see and hear what the kids have been up to.  John started with Ben and mentioned that he was ready to move up to intermediate!!!!!, but that he'd need to learn to stay on the wall and wait his turn in order for that to happen. :(  He went on a bit about how tough the day had been and how much Ben failed to listen all in front of the other parents.  Needless to say, I was mortified.  As I was leaving John also mentioned that it's hard for him to be firm with Ben because he clearly loves the water so much and is so fearless and so cute.  I told him that what Ben needed for success in all of life right now was firmness and clear boundaries.  I explained how much he'd been testing us since turning 3 and also reminded John a couple times that Ben was only 3 as the others in his group are 5 and 6. 
So, I devised a plan and today Ben made it 17 minutes out of 30 before he failed to wait his turn.  For Ben in the water that means he jumps off the ledge and swims a few strokes before being rescued (not that he's aware he needs rescuing,) from what may or may not be eventual drowning.  Thankfully we've had no close calls and in my book Ben might just surprise us and swim back to the edge but no one is confident in that yet.  Additionally, it is important for him to learn to take turns and wait in line-ugh! NO one likes waiting in line! So, we had talked all week about my expectations and what would happen if Ben didn't wait his turn.  He made it lots longer than I expected before Kayla waved me in.  I think she was thrilled with our plan and level of commitment in terms of Ben potentially missing part of his lesson. So, as discussed, I pulled him out, we left quickly, and he lost all iPad privileges for the rest of the day.  He cried and cried as we changed his clothes and it all sunk in but I was glad the losses meant something to him.  It was a tough lesson but one that I hope doesn't take too long to sink in.

GLASSES OFF!!!

So, many kiddos I've known and loved (especially the girls,) go through stages of weird peculiarity where they demand the craziest things.  They need things lined up or their parents to wear certain shirts or their hair a certain way.  I thought that with a boy and especially with one who was so engaged in the the whole word around him at a typically break-neck pace, I would never experience this strange preference for things to be a certain way.  Well, Ben has decided his "thing" of the moment is my sunglasses.  When we are indoors and my sunglasses are on my head, he asks me to take them off.  This started a couple weeks ago and I thought little of it.  The other day he had the iPad and noticed my glasses on and I tested him.  I told him it was no big deal and to just make the most of his iPad time.  Holy Moly!! He was having none of my shrugging him off and would have surely dissolved into full-blown melt-down had I not finally obliged and removed my sunnies.  We tested him with Ryan last night and he didn't notice or care.  It's pretty hysterical and I cannot even begin to guess why he cares so much.  I"ll let you know if I figure it out or when it ends. :)