Here Comes A New Shelmet

Zoe loves her father. She loves her mother more. But she loves ice cream more than both of us combined. Just ask her and she'll tell you. Plus, her face really says it all. We were able to hang out with our friends the other day, which include Karim. Those two really enjoyed their ice cream. Of course, there are other times when Zoe gets to have ice cream where you would think that she doesn't really enjoy it. Well, you would be mistaken because she only makes that face when I ask her to smile. I think I may have commented on her mustache, and she didn't like that very much. The other day we went to help celebrate Issac's birthday at Clark Park. Zoe had a great time seeing some friends, but she was most excited to see old Dyllie-Pickle. Judging by these pictures, I assume we can expect great things from these two in the future. Of course, by great things I mean lots of trouble, but I think that was already clear from the poses struck above. Since we were

Zoe and water have a love affair that I am not sure I will ever understand. She loves swimming in water, getting shot with the hose, drinking water. You name something with water, she's in to it. So the other day when there was a lot of rain, creating puddles on the sidewalk and a stream in the street, she wanted to go jump in it. We grabbed a couple of umbrellas, she put on her bathing suit and water shoes, and we went in to the street. I'm not entirely sure what the neighbors thought about it, but it was a lot of fun. I was able to stay, mostly, dry and get a front row seat to what happy looks like.

Over the years I have had a number of birthdays. One every year, as far as I can remember. This year my birthday fell on a Sunday, and it was a textbook lazy Sunday. At some point we made our way over to Tyler Park and I got to watch my lovely ladies run around in a field, imagining they were butterflies. Once the time in the field was done, we moved over to the creek. There the girls sat barefoot next to the water, throwing stones and watching the ripples. It was shaping up to be quite a lovely day, but then Annabelle and John showed up and it got that much better. See for yourself. There is something about watching kids, playing in a creek, sifting through dirt and rocks, not caring about how wet or dirty they get, that is incredibly refreshing. Even though it was my birthday, I don't think that I had the best time; however, it certainly gave me pause to think of Kurt Vonnegut. If this isn't nice, I don't know what is.

This may be difficult for most of you to believe, but Zoe really isn't a good patient. Not only does she have very little patience, but she is also prone to what we call a "total freak out meltdown" when someone is asking her to do something she doesn't want to do. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of the dentist, but apparently at this last appointment she was a total peach. She sat very well through everything, including x-rays! That's pretty impressive, at least for her. I don't recall the last time I had those done, but I do recall not enjoying them. A few days later she wanted to do a swimming tubby in her new bathroom. I think this is the first time she got to use the tub. She really likes swimming in her new tub. Hopefully we can actually introduce some soap and help keep her stinky butt clean.