Days 996-998: RUTH AND DAD'S BIG ADVENTURE, PART DEUX

After the Please Touch Museum, we went back to Rachel, Phil, and Asher's place. Ruth's main question:

"They have toys there?"

Phil - who is a great guy I'd only ever had a chance to chat with for a few minutes at Dreamation before - was working from home, but was quite magnanimous about Ruth wanting to bring him coffee and cake. Only he had to blow on the cake, because it was hot.

There was no napping, but about 6 my friends Amy and Leo showed up with their rug rats and we all bundled off to a diner for dinner. Ruth ordered a hamburger and french fries, by which she means french fries. Alex and Buggy, Leo/Amy's little ones, climbed all over the seats and generally had a rambunctious good time, and I took Ruth to walk around the diner, where she insisted on sitting on every bar stool at the counter.

Despite all the excitement and the late night, Ruth and Asher were troopers about getting to bed. Then we nerds all sat down for a rousing game of Puerto Rico, with Alex and Buggy tearing around and then settling down to crash on Leo's lap and the couch. I'm sure Puerto Rico is a fun game, but since we only started at 9:30 and it takes about 11 hours to play through, I'm pretty sure it's about agriculture and shipbuilding in Peurto Rico and then there's a red room and your Mom is there and you killed her but really your Mom is your first grade teacher and there are all these fish floating through the air only I can't make out what they're saying.

When I woke up, it was snowing.

TO BE CONTINUED (WITH THE REST OF THE PICS)

Days 996-998: RUTH AND DAD'S BIG ADVENTURE!!

Last weekend, it was a simpler time.

I'd conceived this great (quote-unquote) idea - I was going to take Ruth on a weekend trip by myself! Melissa wished me good luck and godspeed and settled in with a drink to watch the carnage... but we actually had a ton of fun.

On Friday, we drove up to Philadelphia. It was pretty bad-ass. Ruth and I sang along to They Might be Giants in the car the whole way (I could have lived with listening to some album other than "Here Come the ABCs" by the third time through, but, hey - it's karma for all the times I've made Melissa listen to KMFDM while I was driving), and Ruth plowed through a gigantic bag of pretzels.

We met my friend Rachel and her son Asher (unfortunately, not pictured here - I didn't get any good snaps of them, but I think Rachel got some photos - little help?) at the Please Touch Museum. Ruth, of course, wanted to play in the snow while we were waiting for them to arrive.

From 21st Century Digital Kid

And, by play in the snow, I mean eat the snow. Melissa, this is YOUR daughter. Fortunately, I was able to convince her that only white snow was good to eat. "Not brown snow?" "No." "Not yellow snow?" "No." "Not GREEN snow?" "Definitely not." "Only white snow."

From 21st Century Digital Kid

Of course, there was fun stuff to do inside the museum as well. We were fortunate in that, while Rachel and Asher were a bit delayed by the snow (and had our tickets, from... drum roll... Groupon) the security guard let us in to run around a bit before they got there.

From 21st Century Digital Kid

From 21st Century Digital Kid

That one was a space helmet, from this really cool room where you can build foam spaceships and then launch them using air cannons. I would have stayed there all day, but Ruth wanted to see some other stuff, too.

From 21st Century Digital Kid

Like the carousel.

From 21st Century Digital Kid

TO BE CONTINUED...

Day 991 - Zoo^2

So, it turns out that while I had been assuming that Groupon was pretty much some scam thing, Melissa was actually paying attention, which has led to us getting a really good deal on a membership to the Baltimore zoo. Which we promptly used.

I have photos of, like, animals and crap on the digital camera, but for now I've only got my phone. So let me show you instead Ruth's second favorite part of the zoo - their small playground. After going once (and seeing her first favorite thing, penguins), she insisted that we return the next day (we = me; Melissa had the good sense to stay inside where it was warm) to go to the playground she'd seen on the way in.

In the rain.

On the neat side, Ruth can now climb a rope ladder!

From 21st Century Digital Kid

My Daughter the Comedian, Part III

The scene: Trader Joe's. Ruth is the in cart, being pushed by Daniel as we look for polenta. We pass some tall bottles of olive oil.

RUTH: That's wine!
MELISSA: No, that's -
RUTH (cutting Melissa off, loudly): You need some wine, Mommy? You like wine. You need buy some wine.
LADY STANDING NEXT TO US: ::Snicker::

My Daughter, the Comedian, Part II

MELISSA: Who's your favorite boy?
RUTH: DADDY!
RUTH: Then Larry.

MELISSA: Who's your favorite girl?
RUTH: DORA!!!!!
MELISSA: What about me?
RUTH:... Mommy?