Great Hopes

How is it possible that the weekend is over already?! And what a busy weekend it was.
On Friday, we took a little road trip and did a zoo visit. This was Maya's first trip to a zoo, and it was very fun! I personally LUV zoos, so I'm glad that everyone had as much fun as I did! Feeding the giraffes was the high point of the day. The carousel was the LOW point of the day. Major scarring.. obviously Maya was not quite ready for a carousel ride. oops! Who knew she wouldn't mind sticking her hand in a 3,000 lb giraffe's mouth to feed it a cracker, but she would have a complete panic attack on a carousel horse? Live and learn.

On Saturday, we took a short trip to a state park and had some fun watching Tasha swim in the doggy-park area. The poor thing is feeling her age lately - the arthritis is kicking in. She still doesn't know when to quit, so at least swimming to fetch her balls isn't as painful as running. On Saturday night we had some friends over for dinner.. including their kids, so that was a good time for both Tasha and Maya. Nothing like having several kids walking around and holding food right at the dog's mouth-level! Tasha scored big that night!
On a sad note, my oldest fishie died on Friday night. Sniff..sniff. I somehow had kept that guy alive in our pond for 3 years. I noticed he was looking very sickly and put him in a little 'fishie-ER' (a make-shift aquarium.. I didn't actually take him to the vet.. hee).. but it was too late. At least now I know what to look for and might be able to save another before he's on his last leg/fin.
On an up-note, we have ONE more document that we are awaiting, and our dossier will be complete!! Yay! Praying that it comes tomorrow and we can be finished with this gigantic pile of paperwork. I think we would be on the official 'list' after Dillon recieves and approves the dossier.. but maybe that doesn't happen until after they send it off for further gov't approval. I can't recall.. I should check on that.

A little Maya update: the girl's vocab has grown astronomically in the past couple of weeks. It is so crazy! I've heard that this happens - they hit some point and it just takes off - but it is still amazing. She is singing along with songs, repeating phrases and sentences rather than just words, and making up her own sentences. She has quite a personality, and is just a bundle of entertainment. :) She's also being much more independent (of my leg anyhow) and she is starting to actually interact with other kids (not just smooch them into crying fits). Of course she is also starting to do the toddler 'I am NOT sharing MY toys' meltdowns, which is lovely.
She LIVES for Elmo these days. I was talking about Halloween outfits with Aj tonite, and all of a sudden she starts saying 'Elmo outfit, Elmo outfit'. ! How in the world did she know to interject that thought? And no, there will NOT be an Elmo outfit. I think I can still push my ideas this year.. but I can see that my power is quickly dwindling.. ;) I have a GREAT outfit ordered though.. stay tuned. I just LOOOVE Halloween!
Anyhow, my root-canal tooth is still killing me. I think it's time for more pain medication, ice-cream and Seinfeld DVDs. Such a rough life life!
Cheers!