zookeeper for a day

I'm writing this post from our new laptop. On Monday there was a bit of an unfortunate mishap with our old "new" laptop (which we bought at Christmas). Let's just say that there was a glass of wine involved and that it cost more to fix that laptop than it did to buy this new one. I accept all responsibility. But don't start getting images of me having a few too many on a Monday night. Get that image out of your mind, because I'd only had one sip of one glass before I knocked the thing over. What a waste of wine.

Anyways, no laptop, no posts. But I wanted to share what we got up to on the weekend. For Jordan's birthday this year I went in with his mom and dad and got him a day at the Calgary Zoo spent behind the scenes with the zookeepers. Jordan loves animals, and our trip to South Africa was the highlight of both of our travels so far. It's a little expensive to go back there, and I don't think we will be going back any time soon...but a day in Africa at the zoo seemed doable, and almost (no, not really!) as awesome. I have to admit his initial response was not the ecstatic excitement I expected for this fabulous gift, but he eventually got there, and now after experiencing it thinks it was...

 

So, Saturday was the day this all went down. His day started early at 7 am with the Gorillas, where he fed the silverback a smoothie and helped clean up their enclosure. Then he fed the turtle, the lemurs, the bats (by hand), and helped build a nest for one of the birds in the rainforest. At this point, Westley and Jordan's mom and I joined in the fun, watching from afar and trying to get Westley to look at his Daddy in the enclosures instead of the fun and noisy kids running all around him (not easy!).

The best part for me was when he went over to the African exhibit with the Hippos. Somehow he mentioned my love of hippos to the zookeepers (we had seen one once in South Africa, and I screamed loudly in excitement and it immediately went underwater and never came back...I was so disappointed), and they offered for the three of us to go back and join them while they trained Sparky the hippo. Eek!!! I almost cried I was so happy. They let us feel inside her mouth, and the adorably soft spot behind her ear. Then the giraffe stalked over to see what we were doing and we got to feed the youngest giraffe some carrots (which he wouldn't eat) and bananas (which he loved). It all ended with Jordan helping the zookeepers to feed and distract the older giraffe Keri (sp?) while she was treated for an uncomfortable patch of dry skin. It was very cool to watch how patient the zookeepers were with her and they explained that they never make the animals do anything they don't want to do, everything is done on their time. Anyways, what started out as a gift for Jordan ended up being just a much fun for all of us and I'm so grateful to those awesome zookeepers!

 

 

 

 

 

sidewalk citizen bakery

Hello, hello! It's me again. I used to blog here every once in a while. Remember? I hope you had a wonderful week, it's been busy here with a sick and teething baby. He's on the mend though, can't wait to have our happy baby back!

Just wanted to share with you our bounty from the amazing Sidewalk Citizen bakery this morning. Whole wheat sourdough, red pepper and onion scones (our love for Sidewalk Citizen started with our love for their scones, best. scones. ever), cauliflower chickpea dip, a meringue, and a dark chocolate brownie with white chocolate ganache and Grand Marnier. Um, can you say yum??! If you're in Calgary chances are pretty good that you've heard of the artisan bakery, but if somehow you haven't...you need to check it out. Even if you, like me, are trying to get back into shape and eat healthily, you should go. Because, life is too short not to enjoy some high quality baked delights on the weekend. You work hard all week, right? Time to eat carbs and treat yo'self.

Going to Sidewalk Citizen feels a bit like you're in that scene from Beauty and the Beast, when Belle is in the town square and there is a butcher, a baker and a candlestick maker (or something like that). Everyone who works there is so friendly, and Aviv and his wife get to know their customers and obviously LOVE what they do. The only difference is that this isn't a cartoon, and it's not in a cute french town square. Remember when people used to get there bread from bakeries instead of costco? I don't. But I know people used to do that. I wish that there was a bakery like this in walking distance from my home. Actually, on second thought maybe I don't, because there's no way I could resist the temptation on a daily basis.

Artisan breads, danishes, croissants, sweet and savoury scones, pizza, sandwiches, cheese sticks, and more, more, so much more. What you don't see in the above picture is the sandwich we had for lunch - cauliflower, goat cheese, and mint were the main ingredients and it was de-lish...cauliflower in a sandwich you say? I know, I thought it might be too weird too, but they made a believer out of me. The flavours and ingredients of their goods change daily, so you never know what you will get, which is part of the fun, don't you think? They just opened up a bakery deli in Sunnyside (all information is here) and the main bakery is off of Macleod trail. I get a little lost every time we go there...but I still go, and drive halfway across the city to boot, so you know it must be good!

PS - you may not know that you know sidewalk citizen, but Aviv's breads and baked goods are in hip joints all across the city (Phil & Sebastian's is where we discovered the scones), so look out for the name when you're out and about - I promise you won't be disappointed.

PPS - if you're on the twitter, follow @Avivfried for the daily flavours and enticing photos that will make you drive across the city too...