Weekend-ing

We finally took the time to do something fun with Ellen this summer that didn't involve wallpaper scraps or cleaning.

The zoo!

The weather was awesome and Saturday morning just happened to be friends of the zoo appreciation day, so we got in an hour early, had breakfast and got to start visiting our animal friends before the masses descended.

We seriously have the system down: Enter, walk straight to Africa. Buy a one way ticket on the new Sky Safari (awesome, but induces the heebie jeebies if you are afraid of heights even a tiny bit. I held on to Ellen for dear life, afraid that she might wriggle away and have to be left to be raised by zebras). You get dropped off at the chimps. Say a quick hello, then head back through Africa by the lions, meerkats and cheetahs to the entrance. Take the tram back to the zoo entrance. Hop on the train and ride to Australia, waving at the kangaroos along the ride. Hop off, visit the tigers and orangutans, and walk back by Nikita the polar bear and leave. Awesome!

We did get home and Ellen said, "Hey! You know what I forgot to do? Ride the carousel!" Apparently the ski lift / tram / train weren't enough for her and she has been promised a trip back.

After the fun, though, it was back to the house grind. Erik and his Dad tore up a bunch of stuff and made TWO trips the dump. Troopers. Erik said he saw the biggest hairless squirrel he had ever seen hiding under the pile of debris. I learned that hairless squirrel = rat in Erik's vernacular. No thank you, sir.

I spent hours and hours in the garage cleaning and sorting and hauling the last of the boxes into the house, only to have to spend hours and hours in the basement cleaning and sorting and putting away. Again, you've never seen such a dirty place. Well, formerly dirty, but it is hard for me to forget the dirt. I even found a bottle of 409 in the basement closet, which made me laugh out loud because I don't think the former owners knew about cleaning, and then I realized it was full, which made total sense.

I do think the last of the boxes have been unpacked! I forced Erik to go through his "memorabilia" boxes from childhood, as I thought this was the last likely time we would touch them before we die. We kept some cute notes and such, but I gently urged him to throw away the soccer consolation trophy from 3rd grade. Fair, yes?