What a weekend.

It all started out innocently enough, with a drive to Ames to visit Mubby and Skittergramps.  Mubby was working when we arrived, so we stopped by her dance studio and caught her between classes.  She put a pair of tap shoes on Miles, who had a good time making a lot of noise on a chair.

Aunt Suzy and Uncle Joe came down from Minnesota just to see Miles, and they had fun with him part of the day on Saturday.  Unfortunately, Joe was taking a bike ride down Lincoln Way, a busy street in Ames, and a jaywalker stepped out in front of him.  He swerved to avoid him and crashed, and ended up spending a really long time (10+ hours) in the emergency room while they figured out what to do with him.  He has a broken collarbone, a fracture in his hip, and some abrasions.  One thing that made it all take so long was his reaction to painkillers, which made him woozy and low-blood-pressured, and the doctors didn’t believe him when he said that was his typical response to painkillers.

So yeah, we didn’t get to hang out with Ah-Ah and Djo (codewords for Aunt Suzy and Uncle Joe in Milesspeak) as much as we would have liked.  Fortunately, after an overnight in the hospital, Joe was well enough to make it home.

Today we went for a day of adventure at the Blank Park Zoo, where I had been as a kid but didn’t hardly remember.  It’s improved massively since my youth—it’s really very nice now, with lots of different animal habitats and specimens.  It’s fairly small, but it was a good, manageable size for our needs today.  Miles especially enjoyed the giraffes.  Mubby and Skittergramps joined us, and Nanna and Papa (Denny’s parents) came too.  Miles was so happy to see them, he about leaped out of his stroller when he saw Nanna approaching.

After a zoo lunch (hamburgers, hot dogs, and fruit with a side of many, many bees) we went to a concert:  Justin Roberts and the Not Ready for Naptime Players.  I thought it might be a little too much for Miles, since he was getting tired before it even started, and it was pretty loud, but he had a great time.  He seemed to recognize the songs, which makes sense considering Justin Roberts takes up a fair share of the family iPod.  He loved clapping after each song ended, and he demanded “Moah!” (more) every time.

In the car ride home, I asked Miles what was the best animal he had seen at the zoo.  “Papa,” he said.  I couldn’t argue with his logic.

After all that adventuring, now we’re resting at home.  Just a little while ago, Miles was sitting in his high chair having a snack (a blueberry waffle with butter and maple syrup, one of his favorites).  I was leafing through a periodical, skimming an article about ways to make your day more pleasant.  One suggestion was that at dinner time, each family member should say what the best thing that happened to them that day was.

“Miles,” I said, “what was your favorite thing about today?”  I imagined he might do his giraffe impression, which involves him tossing his head backward, or say one of his grandparents’ names, or maybe make the “la la la” tongue-flapping that indicates music (or banana—you have to pay attention to the context).

He gave me a huge smile and pointed down at his waffle.

At least it was bee-free.