Charlie and Aspen Meet Wolfie

I just realized I've had a Thankgiving background on my blog for over a month! The funny part is that for the first time in probably 10 years, I actually have some Christmas spirit. Guess that didn't extend to my blog until now . . .

For a little more non-irony irony (I've got an English degree, so don't get me started on the proper use of "irony"), the one year I don't get a flu shot I get the flu. John's work has a bunch of nurses come and give free flu shots. Well, the day they came I was on antibiotics for a sinus infection so I couldn't get the shot. I refuse to pay $35 to get something I usually get for free. I get it that nurses work hard too, but charging $35 for a stick? I mean, really. Give me the dang syringe and I'll do it myself! Really, I think I could. So if this post makes no sense, I'll blame it on the flu. I haven't been sick like this in years. I spent half the day in bed yesterday because I seriously felt like I'd pass out any time I even sat up. Ugh.

So on to the fun stuff. A couple of weeks ago Charlie and I had a play date with my friend Sarah and her daughter Aspen. It was sooo much fun. It was cold and drizzly that day, so we literally had the entire zoo to ourselves. It was so nice to let our crazy two year olds run amok while we got to have some girl bonding time. The best was watching Charlie and Aspen play together. They get along so well. Aspen helped keep Charlie in line. Any time he'd run too far off, Aspen would yell, "Come ON, Charlie! Come back!" He would listen to Aspen, not me. In fact, he wanted to do everything she did. For example:

Yet, he drew the line at the petting zoo. Can't you sense his dread in this picture?

Aspen happily played with all the animals. The goat's ARE scary, I'll admit . . . heck, one of them literally swallowed part of my sis-in-law's stroller and she had to physically yank it out of its throat! I always think of that when we're at the petting zoo. Anyway, I tried to get Charlie to pet the pig since it was gentle, but as soon as it starting oinking, Charlie took off towards the exit. He's in this "I'm scared of everything" phase. It's pretty annoying. He makes himself shake and declares, "I'm scared!" at EVERYTHING. I had to hold him for the first 10 minutes at the zoo that day. My back hurt so I just dropped him and refused to pick him up again. Here's what Charlie did about 30 seconds after he was whining about being scared of the monkey:
Yes, he's giving Hank knuckles.

Here's a video of Charlie and Aspen meeting "Wolfie." Sarah and I told them it was a wolfe, although technically it was a coyote. We're not zoologists, okay! We told Charlie and Aspen to howl at him . . . only for him to start howling back! I wish I had turned my camera on 10 seconds earlier . . . this could've made it on "America's Funniest Home Videos" for sure. This video also highlights Charlie's fake laugh that drive John and I crazy! I plan on adding a bunch of videos to my YouTube channel, so if you're interested, feel free to hit the "subscribe" button on this link.