Urban carnivores

One of the great things about living in this great big park are the lectures that the Friends of Griffith Park host periodically.

Tonight a researcher from UCLA discussed her research about rodenticides and their impact on bobcats. We have a bunch of bobcats here in gp, which was one of the areas she studied. It's a pretty clear correlation now between when these poisons are introduced into the environment and the fatalities of the urban carnivores,  with enough of an increase in deaths due to mange that that became a focal point of her study. Recently, Griffith Park's famous mountain lion P22 was found to have mange, most likely due to the correlation between the rodenticides he is exposed to amd the inflammation to the immune system it causes.

Interesting information,  and there's a lot more at urbancarnivores.com and on the facebook page of the same name.

#200happydays day 17

Trip to Sequoia

The one good thing about Fresno is that it's an easy drive up to Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Park and National Forest. Our friends loaded up their toddler, while we loaded up the baby, and we drove a beautiful hour to get there.

We checked out Grant's tree, we went to the Chicago Stump, and on our way back stopped at a beautiful meadow. My husband has a remote control drone that he attaches his Go Pro camera to, and so a lot of our stops are based off of where he thinks he can get the best video.

#200happydays Day 14

I can feed him anywhere!

entertaining babies

we found a field!

Grizzly Falls

Mini family vacation

#200happydays Day 13, in photographic form...

Visiting our friends who just moved to Fresno, we had all sorts of fun...

Torturing our son on our car trip to Fresno...

Little family portrait

Baby absolutely enthralled by the ceiling fans

Baby BFFs hanging out

Wyatt's dog, friend, and protector

Time to swim... and totally unsure about this wet stuff

Trying on hats!

Munchkin

One of my greatest pleasures in the whole world is playing tabletop games. I like party games (like taboo, scattegories), and classics (like scrabble or Risk), but my favorite type are tabletop games like Dominion, Seven Wonders, Castle Panic, and Ticket to Ride. It's always nice to find other people who like to play too, as few people outside of my family seem to have the desire to play quite as much as we do.

This weekend we visited friends who have Munchkin - an easy to learn tabletop game that pays tongue-in-cheek homage to D&D. Of course, I have the added dilemma of how to be a nursing mother while getting in my game fix. This weekend, I was very pleased to have a baby perfectly happy cuddling and sleeping in a wrap so I could be hands-free to play!

#200happydays Day 12

England baby

My sister recently went to England for a few weeks, and when she came back she brought Wyatt this Padington. Too adorable not to be my happy days post.

#200happydays day 11

Neighbors

Today a neighbor took me on a tour of their backyard, so that I can come swim whenever I want. They've rescued dogs, rabbits, and a goat from the park (my husband actually rescued the goat and gave it to the neighbor). All the houses in our neighborhood are built into the hills, so their Jacuzzi is up some beautiful mosaic toled steps and has a great view. Pictures will come, I am sure.

The happiness here...a husband who talked up how much I love to swim, a neighbor who offered.

#200happydays day 10

Park day

Wednesdays are park days, the staple of any good homeschooling week. Today was a small group. We sat in the shade, and I sang to the baby while he laid looking at the trees and squawking.

#100happydays #200happydays day 9

Chlorine and remote control helicopters

First, my happy days post was going to be about loading the car up with baby and husband, swimsuits and go pro, and heading to my sister's to swim the day away. But then I got home and discovered a new and fun photo editing app on my phone.

Today really was a sweet, simple day. We outlasted three different servers at a restaurant for lunch, swam for hours watching little kids learning how to swim, had frozen yogurt, and flew my husband's drone with his new first person goggles. And of course, all this with Wyatt oeering out of his carseat and over shoulders, taking it all in. He makes every little experience sweeter.

#200happydays day 7

Say cheeeeeese

It sounds cheesy to say that my best friends are my family, but it is very, very true. There is no one I would rather spend time with than my sisters, no one I think is smarter than my mom and no one I find as delightful as my dad.

One sister lives in San Francisco now, and came down on the bus this week. My mom picked her up in the early morning at Union Station, and since I was awake feeding the baby, they brought breakfast to my house. We sat on the front lawn eating pancakes and talking baby talk to Wyatt.

Of course,  I forgot to take pictures of that.

But here are some of Wyatt with my family.

#200happydays,  day 6

Wonder

I remember before we were married taking my husband to Disneyland.  "That was fun," he said, "it'll be more fun when we take our kids." Same thing at the apple orchards. We both looked forward to seeing all these places through the eyes of little children.

Every day my baby is a little more alert. Every day his field of vision seems to expand, and he expresses more. Today we were walking through The Lab ( used to be called the anti-mall), in Costa Mesa, when we parked his stroller underneath trees that had been yarn bombed. It was sunny, there was a lot of light playing in the branches, and he was delighted.

We were lucky to get photos of some of his experience. Everything is brand new for him. And I'm so lucky, as I watch what he's watching, that it is all brand new to me all over again, too.

#200happydays day 5

Baby as accessory

I knit. And crochet. And would like to go grocery shopping one day again.  People always say that baby wearing is the way to go, but I haven't found anything that worked...til now.

Sling made by my sister's soon-to-be mother in law. It's beautiful,  and clearly made of magic because this little man is sleeping,  despite the fact that it is the fourth of July and we are in a fireworks-are-legal city!

#200happydays day 4

100 happy days all over again

I just finished my first round of #100happydays, which was a wonderful experience.  Every day I'd find something to post that made me happy.  The great thing is that in 100 days, it's not all big exciting events. You have to look for the little pleasures in life.

A great example of how it improved my outlook was just the other day -- I woke up with one of those terrible neck pains that makes you afraid to even look in another direction. I couldn't life the baby, and it was about to feel like it ruined my day. Except, I had #100happydays to post about. So you know what I noticed?  I have a sweet and thoughtful husband who brought me ibuprofen and went to the store to buy a heating pad for me. Instead of woe is me, I felt glad and grateful.

So I finished the original challenge,  and want to do it again, but I want to do it here and not on facebook so I can keep some record of it.

Today,  I went for a walk with a friend, and the baby and along the way we found a whole wall of grapes growing. #100happydays #200happydays day 1!

#100happydays day 12

Took a quick walk down the street before it got dark. It feels like it might rain. I didn't take my phone with me, went back after to take the photo.

So grateful I live here. That I have 5000 acres of wilderness behind me, and trees and green and beautiful homes in front.

And then this big dog who welcomes me home.

Family time!

Dinner with mom, sister, aunt and cousin! No good photos were taken. At. All.

Paleyfest take two!

Had my second experience with Paleyfest today. My sisters, mom and I enjoyed a pretty great view of Marvel's Agents of Shield from the mezzanine of the Dolby theater.

Felicia Day moderated, which was fantastic. The audience asked pretty good questions. Phil Coulson lives.

Also we got to see the next episode ahead of time, so, nanananaaaaana.