our family

Dadda and Darcy:   90% water

                                       10% fruit snacks

Mamma: 100% Guacamole

 Thanks goodness Darcy refuses to eat green things.

More guac for me on this wonderful Wednesday. 

What are your foodstuff makeup percentages?

.veronica.

26

I woke up Friday morning and was officially over a quarter of a century old. I almost didn't believe it. I looked around for evidence of my being so.....adult.

I have a husband.

I have a child.

Next comes....senior discounts?

In outright defiance of 26, my husband took his girls to the Phoenix Children's Museum.

Entering the museum, the first thing you see is this claw-foot tub with swan wings suspended 30 feet overhead. All I could think about for the rest of my birthday was the person responsible for creating the magical flying bathtub. 

And can they be my daughter's preschool teacher?

And then maybe my friend?

Because by the time you get to be my age you've been told so many times, "Inanimate objects cannot fly." It's wrong to color purple polka-dots in the sky. It's impractical to make the duck talk with a British accent. Imaginary friends don't exist.

 In short, grow up.

It makes me wonder how we're going to solve the many large problems facing the world when we put it into a child's mind that not all things are possible.

The museum decor is inspired by children's imaginations. They filled the whole ceiling with fish creatures made out of stuff a child would have on hand.

The Monet of watercolor

Painting a rocket ship with two paintbrushes.

 One of the first things Steven said when Darcy came to our family was, "She's gonna have a killer imagination." I remember thinking it was an unusual prediction at the time. Couldn't we first get her sleeping through the night? 

But every morning when I get to look at my freshly rested little girl and into her large brown eyes, I realize that her imagination is something worth fighting for. She was born creative beyond the limits of our circumstances. That creativity has the potential to do great things. 

                                       

Never underestimate the effect a British accent can have on the world.

.veronica.

How much is that Darcy in the...

"Hi! How you doing today?!"

Ouch.

My sides.

.veronica.

Z is for zoo

Planning a day at the Phoenix Zoo in August is like planning to go sightseeing on the surface of the sun....with animals.

We chose a rainy day to visit the zoo--the only acceptable kind of day, in my book. I'm a stormy kind of person on the inside. If you cracked me open, I'd look like the Northwest in April.

The Phoenix Zoo has a refreshing "Enchanted Forest" area to play in. Darcy and I love the crystal  creek that wraps around a whimsy tree house. It makes us feel like hobbits keeping cool on a torrid day in the Shire.

Looming over the enchanted forest like the eye of sauron is the zoo's carousel. As we splashed in the lapping water, Darcy took notice and immediately begged me to take her. No, I said. We're having plenty of fun not spending extra money. She forgot about it, but I felt myself start to cave. She's so cute. She is just like her Dadda. She makes me laugh until my sides hurt every day. Maybe...

Darcy's expression is pure elation as she goes sailing up and down on the back of a great white shark, the strangest animal to pick out of the entire carousel, if you ask me. Her laughter travels around a spoke. Frozen animals all around us seem to look at her like, "It's just a carousel, kid." After several minutes on the ride, the shark is losing speed. And Darcy starts to screech--she is angry at me because the fun is over.  I can't begin to comprehend what is happening.....my daughter is screaming....because  I treated her.....with a ride.....on the carousel.

I subdue my explosive child as best as I can, and we start the drive home. The clouds that once blanketed the flat, brown desert are breaking up. The harsh, blazing sun is cracking brittle earth again. Puddles are evaporating. My carousel is slowing down. The great white shark is screeching to a halt. I feel the complete unfairness of it all rising up.

And I still have no idea where she gets it from.

.veronica.