Background Music

Not all sound is noise. DH recently brought home this beautiful cockatiel, whom we named "Peep". DH wanted to name him something dignified, but we started calling him "Peep" and the name stuck.

In the our family we don't believe in purchasing our pets, and diehard rescuers that we are, Peep is no exception. He was a gift from a friend who had too many birds to take care of properly.

Our bedraggled little songbird is just so cute, and we love his singing. He actually shrieks a lot too, but somehow even this is pleasing to the ear.

We also have windchimes, which sound so nice and relaxing. Babies love windchimes! How do I know? I saw that movie The Hand that Rocks the Cradle and the deranged babysitter, Peyton said so!

Best Wishes,

Jen

Never Far Apart...

Little Charles and Chacha never seem to be very far apart. I picked Chacha up from the rescue almost a year ago, when Little Charles was still safely gestating. Chacha's foster mom told me that the poor little dog had been owned by a homeless person for some years, but he couldn't (wouldn't?) take care of her anymore. So glad I saw her on the Internet Min Pin Rescue website. (www.minpinrescue.org) I never would have predicted that this scrappy little rescue dog would become such a nursemaid!

Best Wishes,


Jen

Peacocks at the Arboretum

On Sunday mornings Little Charles and I make our rounds of visiting our old friends. Sometimes on the way home we'll stop at the Arboretum and take a walk. Since I have membership at Descanso Gardens, we also get in for free at the Arboretum. There is a reciprocal program with most local and national botanical gardens--if you belong to one, you can get in for free at most of the others. The entrance fees are minimal, but hey--who doesn't want to save some money?

The Arboretum is famous for the peacocks that meander through the gardens. Here's a picture of Little Charles watching one go by.

We went specifically today to seek out the peahens and their chicks. The chicks follow their plain brown mothers around in a single file row. It's very cute. Baby animals are always endearing. However, they must have been hiding today because only the colorful males were out and about.

But I also took the opportunity to go with Little Charles through my favorite greenhouse--the one that houses the begonias and the carnivorous plants. I absolutely love begonias, and who can resist the weird allure of plants that eat meat?

When we got home we did a couple of little activities related to "nature". We (actually it was me--Little Charles is not yet 8 mos. old!) put a sweet potato half in water in a jar. Later it will sprout roots below the water level and leaves above. I also made a pinecone bird feeder, using a pinecone, peanut butter and bird seed. Being a mom is so much fun! I hope my baby loves these kind of activities as much as I do when he's old enough to have a say in planning his schedule!

Best Wishes,

Jen

Ouch!

We were at the zoo the other day and I happened to take a good look at these cacti. Looks like some serious graffiti, doesn't it? I was disgusted, but of course there's nothing I can do about other people's bad behavior. What could possibly help? Maybe the zoo should stop serving alcohol at their snack bars?

The County Fair

Reyna and my mom and I took Little Charles to the County Fair this weekend. He was such a good boy! He loved looking at the animals and seemed to enjoy the loud music, too.

We had his face painted. Here's a picture of this face painting--Reyna and I thought this would be a cute photo opportunity. Little Charles is too young to notice anything like this yet, but he gamely let the face painting guy do his work.

We all had ice cream from the stand by the dairy exhibit--even Little Charles had a few bites.

This particular ice cream is one of the reasons that going to the Fair every year is a family tradition--it really is the best I have ever tasted. It's called Dr. Bob's Ice Cream. The founder of the company, Dr. Bob Small, is a professor of animal husbandry at Cal Poly Pomona. He's a local celebrity around the Pomona area. I know, I used to live there!

Lounging Around

These days I have to do something work-related every weekend. Our office is that busy--this is a recession or worse, no matter what they say on t.v.

But I try to do my "work" work early in the mornings, so that I have the rest of the weekend days to spend with Little Charles and DH. Here's Little Charles lounging around on the grass at Descanso Gardens. The only bad thing about Descanso Gardens is that we can't bring our dogs with us!

Best Wishes,

Jen