Zoo = Sleep (At Least We Hope So)

We are wiped out tonight, folks. Not unhappy, mind you. Just exhausted, drained, plain. old. tired. Why? Partly due to Lauren's ongoing habit of waking us up in the middle of the night for a plethora of reasons (you've got to give her points for the variety). As for today, we also attended a kid's dream of a birthday party at a local petting zoo/farm.

Cohen genes firmly embedded, we were the first to arrive. As a result, Lauren got special attention from birthday girl Reyna all afternoon.



The guinea pig and bunny pen was, of course, a popular attraction.

[Whoa, looks like someone has been sneaking that rabbit on the right some In 'N Out burgers instead of carrots and lettuce, don't cha think?]

The menagarie of animals didn't end there.

Emu anyone?


How about some llamas?




Even more popular amongst the finicky guests were the top notch pony rides.





We tried, but couldn't tell whether Lauren's raised arm was her pageant wave (in regular rotation lately), or her interpretation of a rodeo cowgirl. No matter. She still worked it.

I have to say, however, that the biggest hit at this party, hands down, was the train. Each pint-sized guest was given a single token to ride the train, but somehow the kids managed to finagle their way on again, and again, and again.




Nothing better than hearing the shrieks of deliriously happy children.

No birthday party would be complete without Lauren and Daddy's re-enactment of the cake cutting ceremony at our wedding. Norm is always game for a frosting-covered schnoz.






It's the little things that sometimes bring us the most pleasure.

After several hours of nonstop activity and right as the event was winding down, it was bound to happen.



A serious skinned knee, resulting in lots of tears which quickly disappeared as the caring staff bandaged her up. Fittingly, in the car ride on the way home, Lauren made me pinky swear that every band-aid she wears from now on needs to be hand-decorated exactly as the one she now has: with a happy face, complete with blue eyes and a red mouth.

So, while a few tears were shed, the overarching emotion governing the celebration was similar to this:



And Mama and Daddy don't want to jinx anything, but tonight we're cautiously optimistic that if Lauren is even as remotely tired as we are right now, then a full night's sleep may be in store for all of us. Amen.