Zoo day!

The weather cooperated and so Doug and I took Finley to Hogle Zoo in SLC today. The weather was perfect and the zoo wasn't too crowded, considering that there were several buses there with kids from various schools on field trips. We had a fun time but I told Doug that next time we'd save money and just go to the park since Finley's favorite things were playing on the playground and eating a snack on a picnic table! We rode the train and the carousel before our snack and he was tired and did not enjoy either one of those activities! It made me a bit hesitant about our Disneyland plans for a year from now but Chad and Anney assured me that he has loved those rides in the past so he must have just been having a moment. He perked up after we had a snack so maybe he was just hungry. Who knows?  We did have fun watching the mother orangutan and her baby. They were active and climbing all over and swinging from the ropes and it was fun to watch them. We also had fun watching the huge lowland gorilla noshing away on celery. Finley said that Grandpa is a gorilla because he likes celery!

Later Finley helped Grandpa water the garden and all the flowers in the yard. He's such a willing helper all the time but especially when water is involved!  Doug had to leave for choir but Finny was staying a little longer than usual so his mom and dad could go to a movie. He saw my potting soil, seeds and cups and asked me what they were. I told him what I was going to do (planning on doing it on Saturday) and he asked if he could help me. Okay, why not? So we set up the table outside and he busily helped me fill the pots with soil, water, seeds and more soil.  He was serious and intent on his work. We made a mess of the table with potting soil so we washed it off with buckets of water. He thought that was great fun!

After Doug left for choir and we were still finishing up our dinner Finley said to me, "Grandma, now that Grandpa is going to choir you can kiss me all over! Because you and Grandpa love me!"  Yes, sweetheart, we love you more than you'll probably ever know. I'm glad that he knows that now and hope that he knows that forever. These grandchildren are a precious gift.  Doug went down to SLC yesterday morning to help Beth and Hugh with some pruning and stopped and saw Zofia on the way home. I was jealous but was glad that he got a few precious minutes with her.

I finally broke down and went to the doctor on Monday (just to the urgent care clinic in Roy because they had no one waiting and I could get right in). Well...no surprise that I have my yearly case of bronchitis. I wish I wouldn't always wait so long to get help. After a couple days of the steroid treatment I feel like a new woman. She also prescribed some cough syrup to help with the coughing spasms at night as well as an inhaler. I didn't get the inhaler though, figuring that I could get it later if it proved necessary. It was so nice to wake up this morning and have a bit of energy for the day. The muscle pain from my treadmill disaster is almost gone too so it was nice to be able to walk around the zoo today.

Now it's late (1:00AM)  and I can't sleep, again, but need to try. Doug is working tomorrow all day in Syracuse (when Doug told Finley that he replied, "that's odd!") and so I'm on my own with the boy. We'll have a fun day but he'll definitely wear me out. We're going to make some M&M cookies in the morning and then if the weather is good we'll have a picnic with Doug in Syracuse on his lunch hour and take the cookies. If it rains, like it's threatening to, we'll just pick him up and find a fast food place nearby and have lunch there. Either way, the best friends will still get to see each other even though Doug is working.