A few weeks back, we decided to take the boys out on a Sunday afternoon and enjoy the day. Sam was very excited to see the pregnant elephant, and we were surprised to see a new baby warthog - ugly but cute - and spent quite a bit of time ‘playing the trees’ at the new interactive art installation in the Park. Please take a look at our photos here.
I think this photo of Sam is super-cute and wanted to share it here.
Tags: elephant, grant park, installation, Zoo
I was so sad to learn today that Masai, the 18-year-old lioness at the zoo passed away yesterday from illness and old age. She had battled upper respiratory problems and anemia the last few months. I took the photo of her above prior to Sam’s birth, and that image, along with several others, hang in his room today. We always enjoyed seeing her on the occasion that she’d show herself to visitors, and know that she will be missed. The AJC reports that she is not going to be replaced, as there are three other adults, plus three cubs born recently to a younger lioness. That’s plenty of lion for anybody. We are looking forward to seeing those cubs out and about soon.
Tags: death, illness, lion, Photography, sam
Arcing, originally uploaded by jetrotz.
Yes, that’s a powerline sparking and arcing as two lines crossed during the high winds yesterday. After a fabulous weekend celebrating Amy’s birthday (Saturday) and her being the best mom ever (other than my mom and hers ;-)), which we spent eating (Cuerno on Saturday night and Shaun’s for Sunday brunch) topped off with 7-th row seats to Jon Stewart’s show at the Cobb Center, I was relaxing and editing some photos on my computer on Sunday afternoon.
Shortly thereafter, I began to hear popping sounds outside the window, and saw the fireworks display of two live wires crossing as a tree branch pushed them together from the high winds we were experiencing. Shortly thereafter I began to hear those same sounds INSIDE our home, and began to frantically shut down and simply yank plugs on the computer gear in front of me. Turns out those sounds (and the smell of burnt electronics) were just a few appliances being fried, and no fire ensued, although we did have the fire department come to check things out with their spiffy thermal imaging camera - I need one of those! $500 dollars and five hours later, we had some new switches in our breaker box, a few new GFI plugs in place and the power restored. The HVAC is back to normal after a $100 transformer replacement, but it looks like we are shopping for a built-in microwave/range hood and a dishwasher. And my darn wireless bridge for my Xbox 360 also seems to be dead.
I should add that my surge protectors and UPS systems did their job. The $200+ monster cable surge protector on the HDTV, cable box, Xbox, Wii, etc. burned out during the incident, but all my gear seems fine. And the UPS on the computer systems kicked in very quickly - that alarm was really my first warning something was up, as it was buzzing like it does when we *lose* power while the lights were still on in the house, and all that gear seems ok. Whew!
We’re looking into whole-house surge protection now for an added level of protection.
So I was drafted this year to take the class and individual photos of the Grant Park Cooperative Preschool this year. Some 2000 images later, here are all the photos! For those parents coming here to Trotz.com to peruse the images for purchase (all funds benefit the Preschool), please follow the links below to review the galleries.
To order prints: please download the order form here (Microsoft Excel file, 24kb). Order forms should be turned into either GPCP office in the envelope marked with “Spring Pictures Orders” with check (made out to GPCP) or cash by Monday, May 5th. Order forms are also available at the offices.
The leaves are turning, the smell of fireplaces starts to waft through the ‘hood in the evenings, and the days are ending earlier. That can mean only one (well maybe a few) thing - the annual Grant Park Halloween Parade. This year’s version wound through the park rather than on the streets around it. I can see the sense in it (no roads blocked off, a shorter route) but the narrow paths of the park made it slow going for the hundreds of lions, princesses, spidermen, red sox players, red sox fans, totem poles, and countless other costumed participants. In the photo above, Sam and his buddy Sophie flirt on the hillside above the parade ending. See more photos from the event in the slideshow here.
Tags: grant park, halloween, parade, sam
Our neighbor’s cute-as-a-button daughter celebrated her first birthday in style this weekend. The kids had an absolute blast, including beating on the most durable pinata I’ve ever seen. That monster took at least 50 hits before giving up the goods. Click here for more photos from the party.
It’s amazing to me that a full year has gone by since Sam’s first Halloween. He’s such a big boy 
now - he had an absolute blast this past weekend through tonight with a full dance card of spooky activites. First up on Saturday afternoon was the annual Grant Park Halloween Parade (gallery here). Highlights featured a medusa, fish and even a ‘thing‘ to see! Sam even ran into another Tigger - imagine the odds! On Monday, we joined the festivities at Trick or Treat on Turner Street (gallery here) where Sam really got into dancing - with Lauren and various Mascots from the Hawks and Thrashers. The big event was tonight, where we recreated the 2005 Kangaroos playgroup ‘team photo’ (2006 gallery here, 2005 gallery is here). Amazing to see how these kids have changed so dramatically.
We marked the birth of the new Cabbagetown campus as well as the 7th birthday of the Grant Park lcoation with the annual Grant Park Cooperative Preschool Birthday Party this Saturday. The party was held this year at the Cabbagetown campus playground where the C-town kids have spent the last couple of days getting to know their new home away from home. There was a wonderful Nigerian drummer ‘Bisi’ who entranced all the kids, collage-making, lots of FOOD, and good company. Click here to see a collection of photos from the event.
Tags: cabbagetown, gpcp, grantpark
Sammy had his first day of pre-school this week and he loved it. It’s a small class of 10-12 kids, 2 teachers and a parent-helper. To make for a smooth transition this week, parents have been invited to participate for the first hour or so. It didn’t take long for Sam to get in the swing of things. It was so cute to watch these toddlers sit at their little table and eat a snack. Sam didn’t understand that you take more from the big tray and not your neighbor’s plate, but we’ll work on that. Overall, I know he’ll love it and so does Mom!
The Kangaroo and Zebra Grant Park playgroups got together on Saturday for a late afternoon picnic in the park near the pool. Amy and I were not able to join until quite late, but as you can see everyone had a blast! More photos here.
