zoo crew

Being zoo fans in Phoenix, we thought we'd hit up the Sacramento zoo. It was a bit on the underwhelming side and we decided not to purchase a membership. Little Miss J mostly enjoyed the zebra and the fact that we let her walk around on her own. She did quite well and didn't run away once. There was also an ostrich with the zebra. Those things are HUGE! Other highlights were the giraffes and the carousel, of course! I guess there is another zoo in Folsom, so we might try that one next.

endeavour

To be honest, I wasn't that excited about seeing the space shuttle and really only went to look at it because I was a follower. I kind of thought it was going to be one of those things where it would be so far away that I would barely be able to make it out and then have to feign enthusiasm when in reality I wouldn't have been able to distinguish it from a really big bird. Kind of like the whole Halley's Comet incident back in second grade. While it is exciting that I can tell people that I "saw" the comet, as I recall it didn't look like much. Or when I couldn't tell Baby J's head from her foot on the ultrasound. The whole thing just looked sort of alien-ish.

Space Shuttle Endeavour, however, turned out to be a completely different experience. It flew super close to our building and I was able to see the shuttle just chilling on top of plane. Here's some photos that someone from our office took - pretty cool stuff.

Little Miss J also saw the shuttle at daycare. When I picked her up after work I asked her if she saw the shuttle and she said, "yes." Gus then asked her if she saw Jesus, and she replied in the affirmative to that as well. While that may be true, I think her shuttle sighting is going to end up being analogous to my Halley's Comet experience.

wordless wednesday

neglected

Going a bit overboard planning a two year-old's birthday, organizing a baptism, and learning that we need to fly to Florida for a wedding in early November has been keeping us busy and leaving this blog a bit neglected, but we have been making the most of our weekends.

One of the downfalls (of which they are very few) of living in this house is that we don't have a swimming pool. Fortunately, Target has a wide array of inflatables on clearance. Weather continues to be in the 90s during the day so a couple weekends ago, we all (including Carl, minus Gus) enjoyed some pool time.

Last Saturday, we made a little road trip to visit Carrie, Jessie, Eleanor, and Baby Beckett. Unfortunately, I didn't remember to take any pictures! Being in Sacramento has meant being closer to old college friends and it was great to see Carrie's cute house and catch up a bit. We both have similarly "active" children, although thankfully mine seemed a bit subdued mostly as a result of being in a new place. I follow some of Eleanor's adventures via Carrie's Facebook so I feel like I know her a bit, but it was so fun to see her in person again. She's such a sweet, funny, smart little girl! Hoping that she and Little Miss J (and Carrie and I) will have more opportunities to hang out together.

Then on Sunday, our dinner with the neighbors was postponed due to their son being sick. Luckily, we managed an impromptu playdate with their 5 year-old. Little Miss J did some swimming, played on their swing set, went down the slide countless times, and even managed to finagle an invitation to go inside and get lots of snacks - yogurt, applesauce, pasta, broccoli. Lucky girl. Us moms had a good time chatting and getting to know each other better - and Gus got to sit home and watch football.

We've really been enjoying our weekends and the fact that we can play outside. Only four more days of work until the next one!

the big reveal - part deux

As promised, here's the living room.

super excited to have window treatments

 This is the first time Gus has let me have curtains. I used to beg for them in the downtown condo. Then we weren't in the Duluth house for long enough to make it feel like home, and I just never felt like putting much effort into the Arizona apartment. Need them for the little windows next to the fireplace, but wanted to make sure I liked them before I went all out.

Carl relaxing in the living room.

love the fireplace

Gus and Little Miss J had the caricature done at the museum on Monday and managed to "photoshop" me in thanks to a smartphone and Facebook, but I wish Carl was included.

Happy Little Chunglund Family.

gold rush days

We did a bunch of mundane errands, like going to Ikea ... TWICE over the long weekend. Fortunately, we managed to have some fun and do a bit of exploring. We ventured down to Old Sac on Sunday to check out Gold Rush Days. The city brought in dirt to cover the brick lined streets and there were horses and shootouts, along with suffragists and stagecoaches. Turns out Little Miss J really loves horses and stagecoaches. We had to wait a bit for our turn to ride and every time a stagecoach pulled away with another family in it she would cry "horse-yyyy."

and it was finally our turn. see how happy she is?

That happy little face turned to a look of sheer pain and torture, when she was informed that the ride was over. Thankfully, on Monday Gus took her to the Crocker Art Museum for Little Buckaroo Day, which included Native American dancing and a petting zoo. Can you tell which animal was her favorite?

I think it's the "horse-y." Look at that smile!

the big reveal - part one

Some folks have been asking for pictures of the new digs, but it's been slow going getting everything ready to show off - so I think this will end up being a series of posts.

Little Miss J's room is finally complete and as I blog, she is nestled all snug in her new bed. She was climbing in and out of it this evening saying, "Juliet, bed." After reading some books, we turned off the lights and snuggled up to look at the stars projected onto the ceiling. There was a bit of tossing and turning, but she eventually fell asleep, allowing me to quietly sneak out. Here is her new room - I was excited to find a duvet cover that would go with the valances that Gail made for Little Miss J's original room in Duluth.




Next up ... living room. Stay tuned.

the many faces of little miss j

Little Miss J often hands me the camera and says "Juliet, picture." Yesterday we tried making different faces ... which for the most part look fairly similar.

excited face

scary face ... RAWR!

sad face

happy face