May 2 - 3, 2012

Wednesday, May 2nd

This morning Olivia was very cheerful. She spent a lot of time 'talking' to me while we were getting ready for the day. Our morning routine has become a very pleasant one. It's been kind of chilly the past couple of days and we took the pink insulating cover off of the car seat, so I'm actually dressing her as warm (or warmer) than during the winter! But we're definitely spending a lot more time outside now, so it makes sense...sort of. Olivia decided to wear her new light brown corduroy pants and a floral turtleneck - they are a set and the pants have flowers & bows to match the top. So sweet! It's another outfit that Daddy picked out. That Daddy, he has such good fashion sense!

This morning we met Jessica for a pedicure. Olivia was very sociable and investigated everything - from the curious bubbling water to the strange things the pedicurist was doing to my feet. For fun we dabbed a little paint on her toes - more the toe than the nails since she was very wiggly.  After our 'piggies' were dry we went home. Olivia stayed to nap & play with Daddy while Jessica & I went shopping. My major purchases for the day were a bathing suit & flip-flops for Olivia! They were so cute, I couldn't resist!! When I got home I took the rest of the nail polish off of Olivia's toes and we all relaxed at home. It was salmon, broccoli & couscous for dinner tonight with a side of The Muppet Show. A pleasant end to a lovely day.

But the best news was last to come - we found out that our friend Kadyn's tumor was benign and although he still has a long road of treatment ahead of him, at least this was a positive result! We're praying for you K-bug and love you!

 Thursday, May 3rd

This morning Olivia slept in a little bit, which was nice. She stayed in bed until after Adam & I had breakfast, well until after I made my breakfast but before I got to finish eating it (of course). At the breakfast table we were watching her on the monitor as she looked around her crib and wiggled about. She would start to roll over (back to front!) and then roll the other direction. She only does this when we're not watching. I went upstairs to try and catch her 'in the act' but once she saw me the jig was up.

During the day Olivia has gone back to eating (on average) every two hours. So when she wakes up...the day gets very Olivia-centric. This morning we started a new game eponymously called "Arms Up, Arms Down". It was a very big hit. Today's adventure was a trip to the Botanic Gardens so for our outfit we wore a pale green sweater with crewel-work flowers. After getting dressed we played and sang in the nursery. At about 10:15 Olivia started to fuss. This seems to be her chosen nap-time. Well, it would be her nap time if she would go to sleep! It takes about 45 minutes of convincing her that she's sleepy to get her to drop off.

Unfortunately this meant that she was only asleep for about twenty minutes when Adam got home. And then it was time to get up and go! At least Olivia was happy when we transferred her to the car seat. We put her pea pod hat on to inspire us as we learned more about our vegetable garden & thought about our future crops. She was very content for the whole time that we were at the Gardens. We got to see where our 20'x20' plot will be and the type of drip irrigation system that we'll be using. Katie gave us a list of seeds that they have for us to use and we'll begin planting in the greenhouse next week! We're very excited!

After the Garden we went to Gulliver's Books to see if they had the John Jeavons book that Katie recommended we get - How to Grow More Vegetables. They didn't, but they did have two other books that looked exciting - Free-Range Chicken Gardens by Jessi Bloom and Mini Farming: Self-sufficiency on 1/4 Acre by Brett L. Markham. The cashier at Gulliver's was very encouraging about our endeavors and even happier when I shared an article from Colleen's blog "this little lark" which talked about how a bacteria found in soil reacts with the brain like Prozac. As if we needed another reason to get out in the dirt!

Next we stopped in The Enchanted Forest Toy Store. It was delightful! Full of the most wonderful, high-quality toys! I wanted to get Olivia one of everything. We tried to be restrained and only got her two paper birds (made from recycled paper) to hang in her room, a box of Alphabet Garden Fairies wall cards and a teensy weensy glass figurine. Whenever my mother took me to the Botanic Gardens in Chicago I was always allowed to pick out a small ceramic figurine at the gift shop, so this felt like carrying on a tradition.


We were on our way home when I realized that I'd missed a phone call from a woman in Fairbanks who is selling her Starck upright piano. Once we got home, had a snack and took care of Olivia, I returned her call and set up a time to see the piano. It turned out to be a nice, well-used but well-cared for piano. I promised to give it a good home and the deal was struck. Looks like we'll be getting a piano tomorrow evening! How wonderful!! Olivia had fun laying on Adam's back tonight and sitting on his lap - he was a very snuggly 'jungle gym'.

Olivia is taking a little longer than usual to settle down tonight, so Adam & I are sticking close to the nursery. He is designing our vegetable bed and I am reading about the history of the Georgeson Gardens. It has been a very good day!

April 29 - May 1, 2012

Hello everyone, it's Jessica again. After giving Adam the reins to the blog for the month of April, I'm snatching them back. Well, not snatching... Although I've missed sharing some of the fun things that have happened in April I know that you've been well-informed and gotten to see things from a Daddy perspective. Hopefully Adam will continue to chime in here. But now he doesn't have to fret about 'getting behind' in the blog when he would rather be spending time with Olivia. And who could blame him for wanting to do that?!

Sunday, April 29th

This morning Olivia found out that Aunt Jenn & Uncle Sean and Owen will be welcoming a new baby girl into their family in September. She is very excited that she will have a friend to play with and I know that Owen is going to be a great big brother. He already looks after 'Baby Olivia' when we see him on Skype. He is growing up so quickly. It's hard to believe that he is going to be THREE this week. It seems like only five minutes ago I was falling in love with this little baby boy. I only blinked and now he's THREE. It just drives home how quickly Olivia is growing up, too. It will be fun to share baby girl things with Jenny. She is starting to 'think pink' and admired Olivia's pink jammies with little bear feet. We certainly have lots of clothes we can send her way.

We also got to Skype with Nana this morning. Olivia showed her how good she is at standing. Once again it was clear that Olivia is getting bigger by the minute. I know that when you're with someone every day it is harder to notice, but I definitely realize it when people who haven't seen her for a few days or so remark on it.

After we got off the computer, Olivia put on a pretty Navy blue cotton dress that Daddy picked out for her. He said it reminded him of Little House on the Prairie. I know we have a bonnet somewhere....Mimi? Seen a bonnet lying around? While Olivia was getting dressed she practiced sitting up. She's a-l-m-o-s-t there. She can prop herself up with her arms. Although sometime the weight of her noggin tips her forward and she rests on her head with her fanny in the air. It is pretty funny. (And it doesn't seem to bother her.)

Today Mommy & Daddy began a more vigilant healthy eating plan. As Adam's mentioned previously, we want to get into good habits (of mind & body) so as to set a good example for Olivia. Healthy eating is one of those things we want to make sure is an established family practice. We used a site that I had joined a few years ago (and enjoyed) called SparkPeople which allows you to plan meals, print shopping lists and see how your diet breaks down. It is very eye-opening. So we planned out the week's menus and went to the grocery store.

One piece of sage advice that I remember hearing on television at some point in the past was that your grocery cart should be mostly full of produce and raw ingredients. Well we certainly met that objective today. We got so much delicious produce that we're going to have to find new places to store it all! Olivia, as usual, enjoyed the shopping trip because of the beautiful lights. After about 45 minutes to an hour of shopping, though, we were all ready to get out of the store. It was too crowded and we were all over-stimulated. We made one quick stop at Toy Quest and then hurried home.

We Skyped with Mimi & Big Boppy in the evening and part-way through Aunty Kari joined in. It was nice to see so much family on this Sunday. I hope it can be a regular thing.

Tonight Dad collected more of his birch syrup in preparation for the boiling, which will begin tomorrow. While he was gone, Olivia sat in her high chair and played with her new set of 'happy foods'. I don't know who likes them more, me or Olivia, but it was lots of fun. When Daddy got back we tried a little bit more solid food, this time we mixed the rice cereal with breast milk and a little bit of pureed apples (baby food). I'm not sure if it was received much better than the first attempt at cereal. Oh well, we'll keep at it! 

Monday, April 30th

This morning Olivia & I met with Katie DiCristina at the Georgeson Botanical Gardens. Olivia is going to be spending a lot of time at the gardens because Mommy is going to be focusing her volunteer efforts there for the rest of the year. They are such a valuable institution - a center of beauty and knowledge - and are in real danger of being closed because of lack of funds. I am determined to help. It is important to me that places like this are around for Olivia (and other children of course!) to enjoy and to learn from. I can remember, with great fondness, the times I spent at the Chicago Botanic Gardens with my mother, and all the wonderful times I've spent at the New York Botanic Gardens. Gardens are so close to my heart. Gardens were also my Grandfather's passion. He and my mother introduced me to gardening and I can't think of a better way to honor him than to pass that love of growing things on to Olivia. Anyway, she will be at the gardens A LOT as a volunteer, as part of the Master Gardening hours I have to give, and to work in the vegetable plot that Katie is helping us plan.

It was a cold & windy day, so after our meeting Olivia & I went right home. When Daddy came home he played with Olivia while minding his boiling birch sap. I am so proud of his endeavors.

This afternoon Olivia tried eating apples (baby food) with no rice cereal, to see if that was preferred. Once again...unsure. But we are still trying. She is clearly at the appropriate stage for introducing solid foods. She's staring at our foods, and the time between nursing has gotten shorter. She's a hungry, growing girl! Now if we could only convince her....

In the evening the sun came out, and even though it was windy we took Olivia & the dogs for a walk around the neighborhood. We're getting more than 17 hours of daylight at this point, so it's not too hard to squeeze in a walk 'before dark'!

Tuesday, May 1st 

This morning Olivia & I got going right away. Although Daddy had already gone to work by the time we were up, we still got to see him when he came back for breakfast. Today we were off to the Museum of the North to observe their docents in action. We'll be training to volunteer as docents for their next season of educational programs, which begin in the fall.

The team we saw today was great! What a beautiful museum and well-designed program! Olivia was in the Snugli today and enjoyed watching the docents & children and looking at all the artwork. She liked the cool antler artwork that stretched high onto the ceiling and she liked 'the place where you go to listen'...a fascinating room that incorporates seismic censor readings, celestial movement and Aurora activity to create a symphony of sounds & light...all with real-time scientific information! Her new favorite thing, though, was 'blowing bubbles' and she spent most of the day burbling & bubbling. I hope the docents didn't take it as a commentary on their performance! Towards the end of the program Olivia nodded off, but 'museum fatigue' can hit the most dedicated of visitors, don't worry Olivia!

Once she woke up, she was ready to go home. Thankfully, it was just that time. We hurried home and tried to settle in for a nap, but Olivia was fighting sleep tooth (or gums?) and nail. I tried to tell her that she was tired, but she didn't believe me. Only after we watched Kermit the Frog singing "It's Not That Easy Bein' Green" many times did she suddenly conk out on the couch. Phew! Daddy rescued us by coming home with a tasty treat, pizza!, and a hug.

Tonight Olivia got a bath. Since we've been using the three ointments prescribed for her, the irritated skin on her neck is so much improved. We're almost to the 'end' of the course of treatment and I think it has really done the trick! Ms. Cox (our LPRN) really got it right!

April 23rd - April 28th

Monday, 23 April
 
    Since Olivia enjoyed her Spring cleaning stroll so much, we decided to try a second attempt.  While the post does have a day scheduled for Spring Cleaning, it is terrible how much garbage is left on the park grounds, the walking paths, and the neighborhood roads.  Although we can't get all of it, Jessica has make a concerted effort to try and fill a whole garbage bag on each walk.  As she was darting back and forth across the road, I was learning how to deal with Olivia, the stroller, two dogs... while swatting flies, picking up after the dogs do their business... in short I was trying my best to do what Jessica has been doing for months.   Lucky for me, Olivia was in a state of bliss.  She always seems to fuss as she is getting put into the stroller, however, once inside she forgets the crisis.  She will either fall asleep immediately, or she will quietly enjoy the trip, staring at anything and everything.  Some times we have to stop to see if she is still in the stroller... what a very quiet baby!

   Olivia is becoming more and more attentive to music, or short videos on the phone.  She has branched out from her obsession with Ringo, and now has added a bit of a crush on Kermit the frog.  Following our walk, Jessica introduced Olivia (and me) to Kermit the frog singing 'Lydia the Tattooed Lady', perhaps Olivia things they are saying 'Olivia the Tattooed Baby'!.  She continues to be a sweet blessing each and every day.


Tuesday, 24 April

   Although by the calender, she has already surpassed the 4-month mark, today we went to the hospital for her scheduled check-up.  As I have been away quite a bit, this was my first appointment with Olivia.  Jessica had prepared me for what to expect, and I was very nervous about Olivia getting her immunization shots.  As it is, I can hardly deal with Olivia crying over a lost pacifier, so you can imagine how worried I was about three shots!     We got to the hospital nice and early, and parked up front in the expectant and new mothers parking spaces.  I'm not sure how long we will qualify, but there were about a dozen spaces for this purpose, and they were all but empty.  The hospital is only about a mile and a half from the house, very convenient if we ever need it.  As Jessica signed us in at the front desk, I waited and entertained Olivia.  The first part of the checkup

was to check her vital signs and statistics.  For those of you keeping score at home, Olivia was 14.25 pounds, and 24.75 inches, both measurements put her at 75% according to the World Health Organization (Jessica had to explain to me that 50 was the average, anything above was good.  At first I had thought to myself... only 75%? she had better start taking double shots of milk!).  The next measurement we received was the circumference of her head.  16.75 inches!!! her head is 90%, so by medical standards... it's HUGE!  Olivia was very complacent during the entire screening. Next we waited for a bit and then went to see the Doctor.  We asked some questions about Olivia's weight, and certain little issues, and we were assured that Olivia was perfect in every way.   Even the Doctor, who must have seen more than a few infants, couldn't help but comment on how beautiful Olivia is.  To be honest, I'm never quite sure how to respond when people, especially strangers say 'Oh my, she is quite beautiful'... I feel a bit conceited when I respond 'Yeah, I know'.  So I usually try and come up with something.   Next we waited for our turn in the 'shot room'.  Olivia was extremely happy, laughing and cooing at everything.  I tried to take Jessica's advice of showing Olivia a positive face, but after that first shot (in her cute chubby leg) I couldn't keep up a smile.  Olivia has this little way of her bottom lip quivering as she cries and stares at you... as if to say 'Daddy, How could you!'.  Between the three of us, we got through it, and in no time, Olivia was asleep in the car.  She is such a little trooper. 

When we returned home, she was tired and somewhat happy, so we took advantage of the good weather and started our gardening project.  Jessica has taken me on as a student, so that I may try to learn a bit of her gardening skills.  We started simple, two types of lettuce in planter boxes, and a 'Childs first herb garden' kit.  The child's kit isn't for Olivia, it is for the big kid in the house.

Wednesday, 25 April

After a brief stop in at work in the morning, Jessica announced that she had a special trip in store for us.  Today Daddy got to take Olivia shopping for the first time.  I hadn't yet picked out any clothes for Olivia, and although we have received a tremendous amount of things from our friends and relatives, I wanted to be able to pick out some 'perfect outfits' myself.   We started off at 'Once Upon a Child'  which is a second hand store of sorts.  (Many of the outfits on the racks were brand new, having never been worn.) Needless to say, I was quickly overwhelmed.  Who knew that there were so many choices of outfits for such a little girl.  I decided on finding several cute outfits for Olivia to wear while she helps us in the garden.... jean overalls, yellow overalls, and lots of red checkered things.   We then moved to 'Blueberry Baby', a store that I had found online during the winter, when Jessica and I were talking about using cloth diapers.   They have many organic, and natural baby items, including some authentic Alaskan baby parka/jumpers  that will look adorable on Olivia come next winter.

Once again, our trip out had put Olivia into another happy mood, in order to capitalize on her good spirits, we dipped into her closet and found a bouncy-standing-seat thing. (Which I have been told is a sassy seat, or a new version of a johnny jumper).  Olivia loved it!  I won't be able to describe her reaction as well as the pictures, and even the photos don't do her justice.  She was amazed at her own standing abilities, and then excited at the bouncing.  All in all, we spent the better part of forty-five minutes letting Olivia entertain us.

Thursday, 26 April

During our four-month checkup, the Doctor had told us that anytime we were ready to try, Olivia would be ready to start on real food.  The criteria were pretty simple.  Is your baby able to hold her head up?  Can your baby turn her head away to refuse something she doesn't want?  Does your child express an interest in what her parents are eating?  Is she needing to be fed more often?  Olivia was a resounding yes in each category.  Jessica and I have decided that we are going to try and make our own baby food, we have access to good local produce at the local farmers market, and we would like to minimize the amount of processed food that she has.  However, we hadn't had enough time to prepare, so we started Olivia off on some organic rice cereal mixed with her favorite milk.  We started Olivia on her road to independence by placing her in the world's most complex high chair (We have one by Stokke that is a beautiful looking, simple wooden highchair with a harness more complicated than anything I have ever worn in combat.)  After getting her strapped in according to NASA standards, we tried a little bit of soggy rice cereal.   We can sum up Olivia's response as being somewhere between disinterested and 'What are you trying to do to me! Give me some more milk!'.


Friday, April 27

Today was supposed to be a day off for Adam but, alas, the army called. So today Olivia spent the day with mom. We did exciting things like - go to the pharmacy & Wendy's! Dad got home in the late afternoon, just in time to go to Creamer's Field to help set up for the Spring Migration Festival tomorrow. Afterwards we went to Barnes & Noble to warm up, look at books & 'vintage' toys and peruse magazines while we munched on tasty treats. It was a quiet end to the day.
Olivia is already an avid reader, and collector of books.  She rocks in her swing each morning next to a stack of children's books, and several times during the day she helps read stories about animal noises, and pigs who get stuck in concrete sidewalks.  She felt very at home in the bookstore, at least until she was accosted by a wayward hedgehog.

Saturday, April 28

Today was a very busy day for Olivia.  We spent some quality time working on her soccer skills by playing with her new pink ball.  She didn't quite get the hang of kicking the ball, however, she could grasp it between her feet.  She would hold on to it for a second, and then twist her hips to the side and let the ball fall on her face and then roll away.  She seemed happy with the is arrangement, and if she is happy, I am over the moon.  Towards the afternoon we took Olivia to Creamer's Field, a naturalist preserve which is the home of the Spring Migration festival.   Jessica had volunteered to help run the children's arts and crafts station, while I volunteered to take charge of Olivia.  Olivia and I toured the many stations, some of them she gave her full attention to, while others she didn't even notice.  Giant six foot tall guy in a blue bird costume?  Nope she didn't even glance.  Wooden birdhouses?  She was captivated for a dozen minutes or so.  We then went over near where Jessica was helping to make plastic stained glass drawings of ducks, and we saw a crowd gathering around a Peregrine falcon named Stinky.  The handler was showing various parts of his pet falcon, and telling many funny

stories.  Once Stinky started having his lunch, I was able to see just how wild and strong this bird was, I had a quick mental image of Olivia being carried away laughing in the talons of a bird of prey.  Knowing that I would never live that down, Olivia and I went for a nice long walk down the sides of the fields, stopping to take many pictures of the geese, cranes, and ducks.   A sudden wind and rain storm caught us by surprise, and although Olivia was very quiet, I could tell by


the way she scrunched up under her fleece blanket that she wasn't too happy with me.  After helping Jessica recover a tent that had blown away, and helping to put away the tents and tables and things, we warmed Olivia up in the car and then brought her Coldstone Creamery for a sweet treat.  

April 22, 2012

Although Olivia is far to young to remember and take note of some of the things that we have been doing with her, Jessica and I have wanted to get into a good routine so that when Olivia begins to form her ideas about life, we have been practicing the things that we will 'preach' to her.  Some things we have both been doing the entire time, others Jessica has been doing her whole life, however we have decided to rededicate ourselves to stewardship of the world around us now that we have one more of us to care for.

So for 'Earth Day 2012' we decided to include Olivia in our activities.   First off we went to the FT Wainwright recycling center (well, place where they put the recycling dumpsters) and brought our bins.  Although the post community doesn't offer recycling at homes, they do have locations where you can drop off your own items.  We keep four bins in the garage, plastics, paper/cardboard, glass and aluminum/tin.  Today we filled the back of the car, put Olivia in her car seat, and we headed over by the Post Exchange (Army version of a Walmart) and sorted our items into the correct bins. 

After that we went for a quick bite to eat as one of Fairbank's premier roadside Coffee and Bagel hut.  For some reason, all over Fairbanks (and North Pole) there are small huts, about 6x10 or so that offer two drive up windows, and sell mostly beverages, and bagels and the like.  It is especially nice in the -45 degree winter days to not have to get out of your car.  Jessica has been introducing me to various foods that I haven't ever had, as it seems, growing up I had my filled of Irish cooking (lots of boiled and roasted things with very little spice) and some Italian cooking, but many items that my parents (sorry Mom) didn't like, were never around.  As I am a creature of habit, I have usually avoided the things that I avoided as a child.  This morning's new adventure, Cream Cheese.  Seriously, I had never had cream cheese before.  Yes, I know, I am a pretty weird guy, but evening being this odd I still ended up with an amazing wife and a perfect daughter.  End result: I like cream cheese.

This morning we wanted to take a look at carts to hitch behind the bike and tow Olivia, as the weather is perfect already, and the post is covered in dozens of nice paved bike paths.  We went to the Fairbanks shopping district (Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, Sportsmans Warehouse, Barnes and Noble, Petco, some shoe store, and Sports Authority).  Jessica had seen a cart at Sports Authority when she bought Olivia's new stroller.  It turns out that the carts, and various other attachments for children to ride with their parents aren't reccomended until the child is at least 12 months old.... even though we know Olivia is very advanced for her age, we didn't want to risk it.  So we found her some other fun distractions, and then we went home.  

After some chores around the house, we decided to take a walk around our neighborhood, with Olivia, the dogs, and several trash bags.  We started by cleaning our yard and driveway (not that there was much to clean up) and then went across from our house where there is a large field (sometimes a swamp, especially following five feet of snow melt).  We worked our way behind the house, to the playground.  Army communities are very nice in that each neighborhood has several playgrounds and parks.  Our little neighborhood of three rows of houses has two large fields, three playgrounds, and a long trail through the woods.  Our back porch opens up into one of the play grounds... so it is this one that we decided to clean up.  There was a tremendous amount of refuse. I would like to say that it was all buried under the snow and no one cleaned it up because they couldn't see it... but that is just hogwash.  People don't seem to teach their children how to clean up after themselves, and why should they if the parents don't clean up either?  We decided to show Olivia what responsible families do.  We cleaned up two full bags of garbage... candy wrappers, papers, mail, barbie doll parts... the most interesting was a large pile of moose droppings (very distinctive) that had a fork next to them.  I don't know if the moose was using cutlery to have its lunch or what.    After the park/playground, we worked our way down the bike path to the woods, cleaning up a good bit before our bags were full.  Then Jessica entertained Olivia and the dogs for a bit, while I went into the woods to check my Birch taps.  As there are very few maples trees here, the native population learned to get sap from birch trees, the sap of course boils down to make syrup.  Similar to maple syrup but very distinct in taste.   The sap had just started to run, so I'll check it in a day or so and see if my two gallon buckets are full.  It takes 100 gallons of birch sap to boil down to 1 gallon of syrup.... so we may try to make a few ounces of syrup this year.

April 21, 2012

Today was Olivia's first trip to a museum ( I hope she enjoyed herself, because this will be the first of many).  After spending a morning playing with Dad, we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and go to the Museum of the North. The museum is located on the campus of the University of Alaska - Fairbanks, which has one of the best views in town to glance south and see the Denali mountain range.  Denali is McKinley for you southerners. 

The museum was having a military appreciation day, which allowed us a free pass to visit the museum.  In addition to all of the usual exhibits, they were providing tours of the work areas, allowing you to see the conservation efforts first hand.  We had decided to put Olivia in her stroller for this trip, particularly since I had finally figured out how to fold it up and place it in the back of the car. Since she was in a stroller, we were unable to go 'behind the scenes', but that was okay because we had never seen the exhibits! 

The museum is is comprised of exhibits highlighting Alaskan history, as well as the abundance of unique animal life that can be found in the state.  They also offer many child friendly exhibits, such as crafts and touchable items.  I enjoyed running my hands over mammoth ivory tusks, or giant boulders of copper ore.  At first Jessica was shocked, that I would attempt to touch a museum artifact, but I was able to point out several 'Touch Me' signs around the museum (although not on the large polished rock that she had chided me for feeling). 

Olivia enjoyed the lights and several ceiling mounted spinning mobiles, while Jessica and I enjoyed the Native Alaskan carvings, tools, and furs.  There was a large collection of items from the era of Russian-Alaska, and many items having to do with gold mining.   In such a short time as Alaskans, Jessica and I have both learned a good deal about the state and the history of the area, many times we were able to talk or discuss an exhibit, before even reading the signs.  We both recognized a wood cut print from the village of Nulato, from the time of Robert Kennicott's exploration (Jessica has enjoyed learning about his work since her days as a child at the 'Grove' in Illinois).

We finished off our museum tour with a stop at the gift store, naturally. Although we didn't find anything to bring home (this time)  we did entertain Olivia with some of the stuffed animals on the shelf, or more likely, Olivia entertained us.