This weekend Matt, Gracie ( Sunny), Mother Dear, Goose and I were supposed to go to pick berries and pet animals at this farm. Sadly,
Mother Dear called me on Sunday morning and gave me the sad sad news
that it was going to Thunderstorm all day and it would probably be best
that we plan for a different day.

So as disappointment set in, I did what any Mommy would do…I made
the best of some cruddy news. I promised Sunny animals and I intended
to give her animals. Yes,  faithful readers I'm fully aware she is 6
months old and at all aware of what an animal is, a sticking point that
my Matt pointed out as often as he could while I debated our Sunday
family fun day. Never one to be deterred we headed out into the vast
Brooklyn landscape of concrete and 87 degree sunshine.

First stop. Buttermilk Channel in Cobble Hill.

This was a treat,
This is the most crowed brunch restaurant I've ever been to. We really
thought we were going to get outdoor seating because we arrived at 10am
on the dot. There was line around the corner, so we had to sit in the
last possible table closest to the kitchen,and yes totally worth it… the pancakes are
simply that delicious. 

While there we learned that Sunny is no longer
fancy restaurant friendly. She used our laps as a spring board, grabbed
water glasses, sugar packets, and the paper they have draped over their
very fancy table clothes. She talked/yelled, insisted, persisted, and
after a few rounds of trying to nurse her, speak calmly to her, and
sing her favorite Indigo Girls song, we gave up asked for the check and
walked out of the restaurant where Sunny promptly fell asleep.

Second stop, the Brooklyn Zoo in Prospect Park. 

Have you ever been
here? I don't want to say it's a pathetic zoo given that it is
relatively cheap and super convenient, however, it's more of a
glorified petting zoo.

In fact the petting zoo is the best part of the
zoo. We fed the Alpaca's which I called Llama Llama red pajama. 

We
milked pretend cows, petted a few goats, and in an effort to get Sunny
to show that she even cared a little bit I smiled and repeated phrases
like, "Isn't he cute," "What does the sheep say?"  Never to young to
start learning right?

 

At this point our day took an unforeseen turn. We took Gracen to a
bar in Park Slope. A reasonably clean bar, with bar food, beer, and
surprisingly good wine. We watched the World Cup and marveled at all of
the people who filled up the bar. Sunny had the time of her life. 

Matt
and I have often joked that when she wakes up in the middle of the
night she's ready to party. In fact the first several weeks of her life
my Mother would call and ask us "How was Club Gracie, last night?" And
yesterday at the bar we confirmed what we already new, our girl will be
a full fledged party animal. She cooed, giggled, smiled and marveled at
the crowd. She watched the game, drank her bottle, ate her lunch ( more
on that later) and tried to grab my wine.

Yesterday was not what I thought it was going to be. There was no
berry picking, no Mother Dear and Goose, no homemade pies and long car
rides. It was unexpected, unplanned, and unreal. I loved every minute
of our family fun day and can remember thinking over and over again,
this is the life.

Long before I had a family, back when a World Cup
match would have been a great excuse to put on lipstick and head out
with the girls to bars to meet guys. I dreamed of the day I'd spend at the zoo searching for Kangaroos and petting Llamas.  And here I
am, a little earlier then I thought possible, a little better then I
could have ever imagined, and a lot happier then any one person should ever
be.

This is the life. This is exactly what I always wanted, and Lord knows I am so very grateful.

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