Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

We headed to this zoo after we finished up with the Garden of the Gods (on our trip to Colorado Springs over labor day weekend). This zoo was pretty cool. It was on Cheyenne Mountain itself, and was spread up the hillside. There were about 3-4 levels to the zoo, and this made for really interesting exhibits and viewing lofts. Unfortunately, I wasn't really able to capture that in the photos I took, but trust me, you sould see it yourself. It makes Tucson's zoo look very hot, plain, and sparse. We spent about 2-3 hours at this zoo, but we pretty much booked it around the exhibits, since we got such a late start in the day, we didn't get food, or spend much time reading the informational signs.

We had previously taken Lincoln to the Tucson Zoo back in April on the free day. We figured he wouldn't care much about the animals, but it was good to get him out and expose him to different things. We were right. The only animal I think he even saw at the Tucson zoo was the peacock, and that was not even in a cage. I think at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo he noticed a lot more of the animals. I am sure he didn't really know what to think about them, because he still didn't seem overly interested, but the experience was a bit better anyway.

I accidentally uploaded these pictures in reverse order, so just imagine us seeing these things in the opposite order.

The ape house:

This orangutan was soo cute. He had a momma and baby to watch over, but he still had the time to entertain all of us humans. He was really playful and in the video you can see him "kissing" at the little kids that get close to him. He did it for a long time, and really made thosee kids' days. :)

Daddy showing Lincoln the Gorillas. Lincoln noticed, and seemed somewhat curious about them.

Mommy & baby gorilla. This baby was dangling all over the momma before I started filming. It looks like the momma finally had had enough of it. I also though it was interesting that it appears that pregnancy and breastfeeding seems to wreak havoc on gorillas breasts similarly to humans.

Komodo Dragon. I think these things are pretty neat. I am glad that it was behind glass though, because I have heard that they really have stinky breath. ;)

These (I forget what they are, something related to, but much smaller than Kangaroos) were in an exhibit where you can just walk right through. It has double gates on both sides to prevent excapees, but it was interesting to be able to get so close to them. However, they seemed completely uninterested in the people in their home.

The aviary. One of the few exhibits that really got a response from Lincoln. There were soooo many bright, loud, active, colorful birds in there, that he couldn't help but notice, watch, and be interested in them.

What Lincoln looked like almost the entire time we were in the aviary. All smiles!

Grizzly bear exhibit. This seemed brand new, and very nice. Plus, the two bears in there were in a playful mood, and were swimming and play fighting, just like puppies would. I have a video of them below, but they were much more active right before I started filming (figures!).

Look at the crowd that has gathered to watch. The glass was pretty filmy, so I think Lincoln had a hard time seeing what was going on. He got pretty bored with us standing there for so long watching the bears play.

We didn't spend long looking at the lions, but I just loved the way theirs eyes are glowing in these pictures. Makes you kinda imagine what it might be like to shine your flashlight around at night out in the African Savannah.

I have never seen so many giraffes in one place as I did here at this zoo. There must have been like 20 of them! I have heard that this zoo is world renowned for its giraffe exhibit and successful breeding program.

A nice family picture taken by a kind stranger. :)

Garden of the Gods

On Saturday, Labor day weekend, in the early afternoon we headed out to the Garden of the Gods just outside of Colorado Springs, CO. This place has beautiful red sandstone that has been, through various geological processes, tilted vertically, so it weathers down between the layers and creates these crazy looking pointy monoliths. Other than the curiousity and beauty of these formations, entrance to the park was free, because the landower years and years ago gifted the area to the city, with the stipulation that the area will always be free to anyone who wants to enjoy it. The only regulations that they had were to not climb on the formations without a permit and the proper gear. Of course there were many there who either could not read, or chose to believe that those rules did not apply to them. Things like that irritate me to no end, and honestly, they deserve to get those sprained ankles or scraped knees that they seem to be asking for. Aside from that, the weather there was beautiful, and it was so nice to be outside in the sunshine, and be comfortable at the same time. Here are some pictures from the Garden of the Gods.

Stay tuned for another post this week about what we did later that same day!

MRI Adventures

Well, the MRI wasn't really the adventure, being that this was his 5th MRI in the past year, it was actually pretty "old hat"...although I am sure that Lincoln would not agree. However, the trip getting to Phoenix was the actual adventure. We had dead car batteries, traffic, a broken hotel computer systems, then more traffic, and getting a bit lost in the hospital complex. All in all, we survived, made it to the MRI, only 15 min late or so. Lincoln went under fine, had his 1 hour long MRI, then when he came out of sedation he was letting everyone in the back rooms know that he was not enjoying his time at St. Joseph's hosptial any longer! After feeding him some glucose water solution to settle his tummy, we took off and headed home. Despite all predictions Lincoln remained awake both to and from Phoenix. I guess our little sleepy head is finally waking up. We stopped halfway and got Lincoln some ice cream as a little treat. I think he experienced his first "brain freeze" because he was trying to eat it so fast. It gave him a bit of a pause, but, it certainly didn't put him off of eating the ice cream!

Because he liked ice cream so much, we used to add his Topamax to a dish after dinner. He only put up with that for about a week before he started refusing the ice cream! Ah! The power of bad tasting meds. I was worried that we had ruined ice cream forever. But apparently, his love affair for the frozen treat continues...

Some pics from when he was 7mo, enjoying his first ice cream cone:







Lincoln enjoying Daddy's popsicle at 10mo:

My design style

Tina, you are an Earthy Casual
You're interested in creating a welcoming home where people feel comfortable and happiness flourishes. You appreciate the warmth and individuality of natural materials and handcrafted things and are inspired by colors and forms from nature. You love mixing up different textures and are sensitive to the tactile qualities of objects. Your style is grounded and solid, not flighty or frilly. And you are never taken in by the trend of the moment.
You value order. You feel happiest if your home is well organized. You understand that when your house is in order, your mind feels clearer. Rather than a lot of meaningless objects or overly-designed items, you are happier with a few well-placed things. Your home is your respite from a busy life. Try to avoid letting things into your home that you don't really love.

This was a fun quiz, and the result is pretty accurate, in my opinion. If you are wondering what your design style is, follow this link: http://www.homegoods.com/hghq_quiz.asp

A Special Day For Many

Happy Grandparents Day to all of the grandparents out there!

The waiting begins...

Yesterday we had the CVS procedure done on little baby Blatchford. The doc seems to think it went well. To our unexperienced eyes, it seems like they had some difficulties getting to the placenta, and appeared to poke the baby in the head with the catheter. It was more painful and uncomfortable than I thought it would be transcervically, but I was relieved that they didn't have to do it transabdominally, with the giant needle. All in all, I am glad that it is over, and now all we have to do it wait.

We should have the basic chromosome study results by 9/16 - 9/18 (8-10 days after the procedure). We will find out if baby Blatchford has the normal number of chromosomes, and we will find out if we will need to buy some pink stuff, or if we are good to go already with the blue. We should have the TSC results by 9/24 - 9/28 (or 8-10 days after the first results are in). So by the end of the month we will know if we should be expecting a healthy baby boy or girl in March of 2010!

Holter Monitor Results

The cardiologist reviewed the Holter results, and sent us a letter in the mail. It states: Frequent extra beats (PVC's) but no arrhythmias. Will change follow-up appointment with Lincoln to 6 months. No current medication required.

No phone calls, no new medications, just a follow-up in 6 months instead of 2 years. Hmm. So I guess this is a good thing? I suppose the best we could have hoped for. Although, it would have been nice to see the report say...perfectly normal heart function or something like that.

But I guess we should take what we get and be grateful that it isn't much worse.