It hasn’t been a very cold winter so far, but it’s been a wet, soggy, dreary one. On the days its fairly warm outside, it’s too soggy either from melted snow or too much rain and the air smells like wet dog. Ellie was getting a little antsy and I think I was anxious to get out of the house too. So as a change of scenery, I decided to take Ellie to my local coffee hangout and draw pictures. Instead of drawing pictures over and over huddled around my coffee table, we’d do it around someone else’s.
THREE-TWO-TWO-ONE
My good friend Haniyyah was going to be in town visiting her sister-in-law, Ayesha, for a few days. Also in town was Haniyyah’s other sister-in-law, Fatima. Ellie and I were invited over for lunch with the group. (Actually I think I invited myself over) All of us have kids. Fatima’s daughter Aliyah, 5 months, is the youngest, then Ayesha’s son, Abdullah, is almost a year, then Ellie at 18 months, and then the oldest at two years old is Haniyyah’s daughter, Zayna. Three women, two babies, two toddlers, and me. There are a lot of Y’s and H’s in those names, did you get all that?
JUST ANOTHER DAY AT THE PARK
Our morning routine can be a bit challenging for Ellie. She normally just has to wait for me to get ready which doesn’t take long, especially if I don’t shower, which may or may not be frequent. But now she has to wait for four adults to get ready making her feel antsy. She’s not used to being confined to one room with the same three toys, so I’ve decided to take her to the local park after breakfast so she could shake her sillies out. Plus, getting out for some fresh air would do me good too.
CIDER TOWN!
It’s time for fall, my favorite time of year! And one of my favorite things to do is go to the Cider Mill. Last year on our trip to the Cider Mill, Ellie was just crawling and couldn’t eat donuts. But this year, it was a whole other story. We planned a trip with our friends Kelly and Evelyn to enjoy the apples, cider, and donuts.  I’ve only been to this place on the busy crowded weekends, so I was looking forward to going on a sleepy weekday morning.
PREHISTORIC ADVENTURE
I woke up at 8:30am naturally, without an alarm. The sun was shining through the window and there was a nice morning breeze. And then it clicked, it was 8:30!? Ellie was still asleep? Oh my gosh, I’m late! We were going to meet my friend Meggan and her son River at the zoo and needed to leave by 9:00am. Of course, of all the days to sleep in, Ellie picks the day we have plans. That seems to be her new trend, it’s like she can sense it.