A couple of weeks ago I took Aliya with me to the hair salon, and since we were there for a while I had my stylist cut her hair. She loved hanging out with the ladies, and when we were ready to leave she asked if she could use her tooth fairy money ($20 for 3 teeth) to come back and get a manicure. Later that night she said that she wanted to pay for her manicure and mine. I thought that was so sweet! The next day we were watching Idol Gives Back on the DVR, and she said, “I changed my mind. I want to send my tooth fairy money to Africa.” I leaked out a couple of tears and she asked why I was crying. I gave her a hug and said, “Because I’m doing such a good job!!!!!!!!!!!” She’s such a good girl!

The kids got a really nice surprise at soccer this morning. Toward the end of the game, a fire truck pulled up to the field and when the games were over the firemen let all of the kids go through the truck, sit in the front seat, take pictures, etc. They extended the ladder which attracted a lot of attention. I asked one of the firemen whether they were bored and looking for something to do, or if they were just doing some public relations. He said, “A little of both.” It was a real treat. As a side benefit, Adlani has decided that he wants to be a fireman when he grows up (Fireman Sam, to be exact) instead of a toe-licker (like Annie).

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“America’s Largest Traveling Children’s Zoo”

I’m pretty sure this must be Americas ONLY Traveling Children’s Zoo because it is not very large. I think we could have skipped this particular activity without any lasting effects, but Adlani had his heart set on it, so we went. The highlight was when the camels started fighting in their pen, with one camel biting the other camel’s tail and both of them squealing and running around. The other bright spot was when we saw Pam on our way in (she was on her way out but that wasn’t the bright spot) and she gave us 10 tickets (that was the bright spot). The entertainment choices consisted of the petting zoo ($1), a camel ride ($4), a pony ride ($3), and the moonwalk ($2). Lucky for us, Norah wouldn’t participate in anything (hence the lack of photographic evidence of her presence) which saved us a few bucks. The good news is that so far nobody is exhibiting signs of Mad Cow Disease…or Mad Camel Disease.
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I’ve always wanted to learn how to play Mahjong, and last night I finally had the opportunity. Lana very patiently explained the game to me and two other newbies. I’m still a little confused and I can’t seem to remember the rule about picking up a tile to make a pair (not allowed), but I’d like to try it again. I’m a sucker for challenging games, although the idea of playing Zingo and drinking wine crossed my mind while I stared at a bunch of Mahjong tiles that didn’t seem to add up to anything.

Since it’s school vacation week I’ve been taking some half-days off and working second shift to try to keep the hyenas at bay but also have some fun with the kids. Yesterday I took Adlani and Aliya to Tower Hill Botanical Gardens in Boylston, and met up with Kelli, Isabel, and Billy. Although on the way up the driveway Aliya proclaimed, “This looks boring!”, it was actually great! They had craft projects set up for Earth Day, a beautiful orangerie, hundreds of daffodils, and gorgeous grounds to run around and enjoy. We had a picnic lunch and the kids were passed out 5 minutes after we pulled out of the parking lot. They even slept long enough for a trip through the DQ drive-thru!!