Zoo Date

After brunch, Elise&Erica joined me at the Detroit Zoo.

Bunnyville was going on for Easter Weekend,

so we made a food donation and joined the herd of children at the zoo.

Luckily, most of the little ones were entertained by the Bunny-themed festivities,

so we were able to enjoy the animals with a bit more peace.

First we walked through the butterfly & bird gardens in a beautiful domed building.

There must have been something in the air, cause all the animals were sleeping

and - oh my goodness - it was so adorable.

The grizzly bear was passed out on his back with his paw over his face.

The lions were spooning and the tiger had found a nice spot in the shade.

The animals that were up&about were so wonderful, too.

I forget how much they take my breath away until I find myself at a zoo again.

The zebra hung back away from the fence, but the stripes were still incredible.

The giraffe awkwardly tucked his back legs and plopped down on the ground for grass.

And the big-bodied rhinos wandered side-by-side through their area.

My knees were hurting me, so I didn't walk through the kangaroo exhibit,

but from the back side of the fence I could see the girls walking past the sleepy lil animals.

Before leaving, we got snacks - a pretzel for Elise, dip-n-dots for Erica, & cheese popcorn for me.

Then we started our journey back through Royal Oak to the car

stopping first for the skirt, shoes, & ring I'd bought and the clock Erica had found.

GideonMonster

My friend Hunter stopped by the house on Saturday afternoon

with his buddy's Golden Retriever.

I almost couldn't breathe with excitement to play with him!

He was the cutest boy in the world and so so playful!

We sat in front of the hotel for a minute

and he found what shade he could while we waited

then we went down to the bay

so he could fetch some sticks in the cool water.

I'm absolutely positive

that I'm going to make the best puppy-mom in the world

someday.

I jumped in after Gideon - fully dressed - to snatch his stick

and covered myself in sand while wrestling it from him.

And he definitely fell in love with me

and my willingness to embrace the day with him.

The most handsome golden I've ever met

completely stole my heart this weekend.

Max!

I'm so envious of Sydney's ability to adopt a dog! Joe&I have been wanting a puppy forever now, but we aren't allowed to have one in our current living situation. After work yesterday I met Syd at an Adoption Fair at the Detroit Zoo and she'd already fallen in love with this little guy: now named Max. We sat with him for a while before she decided to adopt him. Once we got him out of the zoo, we took him to pick up pet supplies and for a do-it-yourself bath. And he is such a good boy already, too! We took him out to dinner with us and he graciously sat under our patio table only stepping out to quietly allow passer-bys to pet him. He's a great, little snuggler and already house-broken.

I love him.

And I can't wait till I get my own puppy!

Holiday This&That

Some favorites from this week:

 



 Tons of New DVDs

 Olivia in her WinterWear

 Nommy Snowman Peep

Sweet Dove Chocolate Message

Christmas Details

CashMonster Being Babied

Gma&Gpa's Orniments

My Favorite Rainbow Mug

Little Girls in Little Heels

Evidence of Kiddos in the Bathroom

My Nephew Giving Toys to Grandpa

PuppyLove

I grew up with a dog – a cocker spaniel named Samantha – and I always assumed I’d get another dog eventually. Unfortunately, Mr.U&I have no time for a puppy. But that doesn’t mean we don’t gawk at puppies and talk about how much we want one every time we see one. This little darling is my college-friend’s puppy … all I wanted to do was snuggle it for a million hours.

 

ZoeyMonster

The Baby got a puppymonster.
She's so precious&fluffy.

Weekend Pet

After concretely deciding to move in together, Mr.U&I had about a day of “let’s get a puppy” talk. We googled different breeds, discussed pros&cons, and gushed over floppy-eared pictures. Then we dogsat the CashMonster. Don’t get me wrong, I love my brother’s dog to pieces and he’s been trained absurdly well, but even the most well-behaved pet needs attention and Cash, the biggest baby on the planet, needs it in your face, on your lap, and in the middle of the bed all the time. I don’t blame him – he is adorable&loveable… and he knows it. He cocks his head in confusion when told “no” and the little glimmer of defeat in his eye makes you take back any harsh tone. At one point, I woke up from a nap and he&Mr.U were both passed out at my feet on the sectional – a sight I’ll admit I’d love to wake up to again someday. But, for now, we’ve realized that we don’t have the time or attention span for an animal – especially one that would need to fit perfectly into my obsessively-clean, well-behaved taste. So we enjoyed our weekend as puppy parents, then went home to our pet-free life.

KittyMonster

This is my new snuggle buddy: his name is Bill. He’s not actually a snuggler, but I like to believe I’ve wheedled my way into his soft spot. He tends to be skittish and shy with company and gets a little aggressive when he thinks he’s being chased or patted on his belly. But one weekend alone in the apartment with him and I now wake up with him curled at the end of my bed. And if he doesn’t feel like close bodily contact, he insists on investigating anything new happening in his space. Take, for example, the other day when I cleaned off the coffee table to scrapbook. Could this Mr. just calmly sit on the floor while I organized? No. He had to climb onto the newly-cleaned space and roll around then stare at my camera with “I know, I’m so adorable” written on his face.

Needy Naps

HazelMonster is super needy.
While her momma has been out of town, Mr.U&I have been playing PetParents.
She doesn't need much
- mostly just to be near us -
so she squeezes herself as close to the bed as possible.

Chocolate Monster

There’s a wonderful little chocolate shop in my hometown that my mom adores to utilities for gift-giving. Thus, for every Christmas I can remember, I’ve gotten a box of Something Sweet chocolates. Sometimes, I’m being a “good girl” and give them away or only eat one a day. Well, it’s 4 days after Christmas and my chocolate box is empty… I shared: one with Mr.U. And I threw two away because they had white chocolate on them, which I’m allergic to. But, that’s still A LOT of rich truffles to suck down in less than 72hrs.
Woops.
January 1st is going to kick my ass.

OliviaMonster

My parents came to visit me when I was living in Florida and the little condo they stayed in was so cute.
2 bedrooms
– 1 for them, 1 for my brother&I –
lots of brown&tan
I had to go to work while they were there, but I stayed with them as much as I could – partially because my house was at the peak of disgustingness thanks to my nasty roommates but mostly just because I’d missed them so much. My favorite stuffed animal, Olivia, kept them company while I was gone, which made my dad happy cause he has a fun, little habit of documenting his time with her and sending it to me for laughs. One morning, while I shoveled scrambled eggs onto people’s plates, I got this picture of her eating breakfast with dad in her new Walt Disney World t-shit. Yeah, we’re a dorky family, I guess, but it was cute. Their entire visit was so therapeutic and made me realize just how much I really missed home – I could sacrifice the endless days of sunshine to giggle with my family again.

Monster Walk

Campus in the fall is potentially one of my top favorite things in life and this fall just keeps going and going for me to enjoy. This past Sunday I decided to take the puppymonster for a walk. I only planned to walk through what is known as East Campus, because I’d already worked out and that is closest area to our house, but the day was just too beautiful to pass up. We ended up walking for a solid three hours – all through campus for miles of colorful trees and my favorite buildings lit by the dim, fall sunshine. We even stopped at the library to say "hello" to Mr.U - who Hazel seems to adore. By the time we headed back toward the big hill home Hazel was plain tuckered-out and anytime I stopped to snap a picture she laid right down on the cool pavement. It was no surprise when we got home that she literally passed out on the rug next to my bed. She looks at me with more appreciative eyes now, though. I may have invaded her home and walked all over her territory, but I’m slowly winning her over – and getting a lot of exercise while I’m at it.

Puppy Monsters

I spent my summer with this monster. His name is Cash and he’s a 1.5 year old red lab. He’s the biggest baby I’ve ever met. He spooned with me through naps and snuggled up on my lap like a puppy – an 80lb puppy. My new monster is this girl. Her name is Hazel and she’s a 4 year old pitbull. She’s addicted to the rugs I have in my room – apparently both of us think hard woods are chilly (yet beautiful). She doesn’t snuggle – probably cause I won’t let her on my bed.

Animals come with a lot of responsibility. Too much for me. I enjoy the monsters I live with, but I don’t want a monster of my own anytime soon. I definitely don’t think I’m ready to have to please anyone (or anything) all the time.
And dog hair drives me nuts.

SnuggleMonster

Cash is the neediest lil snuggler in the whole world!