Never Leave 2 Women Alone...

Left to Our Own Devices...

It's a bad time of year for Jeff. The Heritage Festival is on at Disneyland, and that means he's working every weekend from March through May. The good news is the little bit of extra money, the bad news is that it leaves Ten and I to amuse ourselves 6 days a week...and that usually costs what Jeff makes at D-land and then some!!

Fortunately, this week has brought fair skies and balmy weather, and with Aunty Meg gone for most of the week it meant that Ten and I were cheap dates and spent most of our time at the local parks. As a result, Tenley has added the swings to her repertoire of park fun, and actually requests them frequently as opposed to her first 7 months at home when she began crying whenever we would put her in one. We also took bread and went to Fairmount Park to feed the ducks and geese. I tried to get pictures, but that's hard to do when the toddler you're trying to photograph is velcroed to you in fear because the geese are bigger than she is.

Today, however, Jeff was going to be gone for a good 12 hours and the park just wasn't going to cut it. So I was given some "mad money" and Tenley and I decided to follow Daddy behind "The Orange Curtain". Our first destination was the OC Swap Meet at the fair grounds, where for the paltry $2 admission fee I got lots of exercise and loaded up on locally grown fruits, veggies and flowers for a fraction of what I pay at Vons.
Then we detoured into the actual fairgrounds themselves to visit Centennial Farm, which is a working 4 acre farm for educational purposes open to the public 7 days a week. I knew Tenley would love it, and she did. The first thing we ran into was a Jersey cow and her calf. I lifted Ten up to pet the cow and feel her nose, and she giggled with delight. Then the calf toddled over and since he was Ten's height I set her down so she could reach into the corral herself. Apparently the calf thought she was pretty nifty too, because he started licking her hands, and then stuck his head through the bars and started licking her head. My kid now had cow snot in her hair, and she couldn't have been happier. It was bloody murder to get her to leave that pen and see the other animals. The llamas were uninterested in everyone, and the oxen were interested, but unable to get near the public.(Tenley was unhappy about this: those were cows, and better yet, cows with big horns. Why couldn't she crawl under the barricade and go play with them??)

Tenley didn't like the way the sheep and swine felt, but she was facinated with the litter of piglets. She also loved the calf corral where there were 6 little Holsteins who were also happy to lick her to death. Eventually I coaxed her to the sink and got her washed up and steralized, and almost made it out of the farm when the moo-ing began. Tenley ran back to the cows and every time they would moo she would stare in wide eyed wonder and then shreik with joy while clapping her hands and bouncing up and down until they would moo again. This went on for a good 10 minutes before I forced her into the stroller and we headed for the car and the more civilized destination of South Coast Plaza.

We started on the "Crystal Court" side of the Plaza where Tenley found the baby carousel in the picture. While I picked out a new watch band in the Fossil store, she pointed and grunted at the carousel. As soon as I was finished I took her over so she could go for a spin on one of the toddler sized horses. She picked the white one and we revolved very slowly to "A Whole New World" as Tenley's steed bobbed up and down about 6-8 inches in each direction. She sat there completely stoic, but when the ride was over and I told her it was time to go; she gripped the pole shook her head and started to whimper. I asked the nice attendant if we could just go again as I fished another dollar out of my pocket. She got down willingly after the second ride and we crossed the sky bridge to the main part of the mall for lunch and to run a couple quick errands. No trip to the mall is complete without a visit to the balloon purveyor, and today Tenley selected a large clear one with a green flower in it.

We left the mall and went to the center across the street to get Mommy some new Birkenstocks which Grandma Suzie bought me for my birthday (thanks Mom!! I really needed 'em!), and then began our long drive home, aka nap time for Tenley. A long and exciting day for the Tenster finally at an end.

Home Stinky Home

So we got home and I was in the kitchen putting the fruit in the fridge thinking "Why does the house smell like crap? We emptied the cat box this morning!" As soon as I finished I checked the likely culprit, Tenley, and discovered that there was indeed a gift in her diaper. It was bath time anyway. So I went in and began running her bath, and then went to her room to turn the heat on. When I opened the door the smell hit me, and I found the source: poor Beeps had apparently snuck into Ten's room this morning and had been locked in there for a good 8 hours!! Poor kitty!! No food, no water, no box. She had vomited at least once, and there were 2 quite stinky puddles o' poop on the floor. I felt so bad. Usually we keep Ten's door closed for this very reason, and neither of us had counted heads before we left. Fortunately, Beeps is no worse for the wear and was back to her usual self after a snack and a long drink followed by a bath from the Smudge. Air freshener, Resolve, and Nature's Miracle fixed Tenley's room right up.

Be Careful What You Wish For...

What was it? 2 Posts ago that I was lamenting Tenley's cranky attitude & lack of teeth?? Well, we thought she was getting another one, but we were wrong: she's cutting four. Yep, 4 big swollen spots with little white dots where 2 Canines, an Insisor and 1 Bi-cuspid are working their way in. We've actually found 2 more spots that feel hard and swollen, but no visible sign of the tooth yet. I guess that explains the sudden loss of appetite, cranky attitude and extra long naps!! Sorry Ten- my fault!! I wished it on you!!