It's Raining... Again

So, to combat my S.A.D, which is rearing its ugly head with the lack of sunshine in Atlanta in the winter, and because Monkey was starting to get bored of his exersaucer, his floor mat, and me, we had ourselves a little outing today.  Monkey and I went to the Fernbank Museum of Natural History.

I have a love of museums... and I have for as long as I can remember. I especially like the ones that show archaeological finds (probably dates back to when I wanted to be an archaeologist before I found out it was a lot more about dirt and a lot less about Indiana Jones) and the Fernbank didn't disappoint.  It was also nice as an introduction to Georgia (it has a very cool exhibit where you "walk through" Georgia and see all the different wildlife and terrain).  Now I know some places I definitely want to visit.  Yay - day trips.

This is Monkey and I in front of the museum.  There are a few things not so good about this shot. First, let's cover the obvious - yes, I didn't frame this so well (or could we decide this is artistic and I framed it perfectly?).  Here is the deal.  On my right shoulder was a diaper bag and a baby carrier (much like the Bjorn but ours is a Jeep).  As you can see, Monkey is on my left side.  Well, the button for the camera is on the left side so I'm holding the camera and trying to snake a finger around to get a shot.  Didn't work so well.  The other obvious problem with this picture is that my baby looks drunk.  He is... I've given him lots of brandy for teething (just kidding, he isn't drunk, but have I told you that teething is my least favorite part of motherhood so far?).  Like a mo-ron, I waited until the end of our time at the museum to take a picture so he is literally half asleep.  He also was much more interested in a fountain than the camera.  The final problem is that you can't see his smile.  Sorry, teething + tired - thumb too small for teething = pacifier.  That's life folks - but it's a cute pacifier!

Here I did better... I switched Monkey to the same side as the bags and whatnot (so I wouldn't have to snake a finger to hit the button), flipped him around so that the fascinating fountain was in the background (see how gray the sky is... all I can say is S.A.D.), and at least I got his eyes open.  He is still using his pacifier but refer to earlier formula and stop asking me about it.... smiles.

So, I think Monkey enjoyed today.  It's hard to really know when he is strapped to the front of you so you don't see his face as he experiences things.  I saw his head swiveling around a lot and he was fascinated (maybe disturbed?) by all the bird noises throughout the walking tour of Georgia exhibit.  He fell asleep as soon as we got home (which was like 20 minutes ago) so I decided to write this post. You never know how long sleep lasts with teething.

One museum down... at least 10 more to go - which is good because the forecast is showing a lot of clouds and rain.  And bonus, on my drive to the museum (which was ridiculous - 10 minutes through neighborhood streets - hello city living) I realized we live around the corner from The Flying Biscuit -mmmm... Sunday morning breakfast.