Deer Education

With this crazy July weather we've been having (upper 90's one day, chilly mid-60's the next,) I think we're all a bit confused on what time of year it is.  I was hoping to go to a water park on Friday afternoon, but due to the winter-like conditions, decided to get a pedi, go to a French bakery, and shopping instead.  A fun afternoon, for sure, but not the one I was expecting!

We went to a my co-worker's party last night, and it was weird pulling out the fall apparel.  But, glad we had it, as we were outside most of the night, and it was chilly. 

This weather has started me thinking about this fall...and hunting season.  I'm not a hunter, but Scott is.  That means we both like it when we see deer in the neighborhood - but our joy is probably for different reasons.  I think they're cute animals, whereas Scott sees dinner.  On Thursday afternoon (I was home with a fevered-Ava) I looked out our back window and saw a doe with two fawns - hanging out in the neighbor's garden, enjoying the salad they found.  As I watched them, I noticed one of the fawns squat, and presumably pee.  I thought that was odd (I'll be honest, I don't read up on how deers operate in nature,) and even mentioned it to Scott, since I was on the phone with him when it happened.  I also mentioned it to another friend of mine - and they both said they didn't know deer did that (and maybe I was crazy?)  After some research (thanks Wikipedia!) we discovered that for the first year of a deer's life, they do in fact, squat...it has something to do with the glands on their legs, etc.  Interesting, but the main point was that hey, you really can learn something new every day!  And teach it to other people!

That was a really long paragraph about something that 0.01% people might be interested in, but...now you've learned something, too. :)

 

In other news...last weekend, Ava had a birthday party to attend at Como Zoo in St Paul.  Anyone who has EVER tried to go to Como on a lovely summer weekend afternoon knows that there is absolutely no parking available - not on the lots, not on the street, and not in the nearby neighborhoods.  Since Ava is only a wee five years old, I could hardly let her out of the car by herself and send her aimlessly across the zoo grounds to find where she was going.  Moment of panic!  Thank goodness that I'm friends with the mom of the birthday girl, and she left the pre-stages of the party to come and get Ava from my car.  Crisis averted! 

 

So, then I parked the car about a mile away, melted for about 20 minutes inside while making a phone call, and then trekked back to the Como grounds.  It was a beautifully hot day, so I enjoyed the sunshine outside of the conservatory, read a book, and did some people watching, while waiting for the party to be done.  I had a hard time getting Ava back to the car after the party was over as we had to walk by the Como amusement park, and then, oh yeah, had that mile hike ahead of us.  But bribing and dragging her seemed to work, and we eventually made to our destination.  I did tell Ava the suggestion that came from Grandpa Doug: "Either you walk to the car, or you walk home."  Seems like an obvious choice to me!

 

The Conservatory

 

 

 

In even more exciting news...our potted tomato plant produced it's first little crop!  We're so used to having a big garden, and weren't sure how things were going to work out this year with our on-deck pots of tomatoes and pepper plants.  I'm pretty happy with these little treats.

 

 



 

Pregnancy update: 25 weeks, and still feeling good. And tired. Baby Boy is moving a lot these days, and expanding to all available areas inside of me.  Although, last night, a woman I had never met, mentioned that based on my size, I must only be a few months along. When I corrected her and told her that I'm over 6-months pregnant, she exclaimed that it must be my first child.  Wrong again!  Let me introduce you to Ava...  Don't get me wrong, I'm fine if people think I look tiny - when I see myself in the mirror, I know I'm not.  Luckily, that view is reserved for just a small handful of people. :)

House update:  Last week we had a hole, now we have basement walls!  We drove to Rosemount this morning to see what progress had been made, and we were pleased to see that things moved along over this past week. Even with the downpours we've had.

 

The sun is out today, so I think it's time to enjoy it while it makes an appearance. Happy week to you!