what we've been up to

I decided I wanted to do something fun for our last weekend before school starts (for me). So Isaac and I went to the Camden Aquarium for one last weekend of fun***. I didn't take any pictures, but it was pretty neat. I haven't been there since my Melmark days (and actually, we encountered a group of Melmark adults in the line for our tickets). They had tons of hands on exhibits. We got to touch a jellyfish, a shark, star fish, anenome, and sting rays. We went to the 4D movie about Sea Monsters which was a tad on the scary side for Isaac. It was a little dark inside the exhibits for cell phone pictures, but I did snap this one at a fountain near the parking lot.

(see those pale white thighs? When he's in the tub he looks like he is wearing a pair of white swim trunks)

We stayed until we had enough. As we were driving home and passing the exit for the Smith Memorial Playground, we decided spur of the moment to stop there for a while and ended up staying for like 2 hours. If you have kids and live anywhere close to Philadelphia, I highly recommend it. It was a really lovely day.

I'm exhausted now but craving brownies. Since I don't have any mixes handy, I gave this one a try. It's a super easy and delicious recipe. Even the cat loved them. She was licking the batter from the bowl when I turned my back. I am going to assume that cat germs are like alcohol and will burn off in the oven....

My parents randomly stopped by Thursday night. They were in the area visiting a friend who is in the hospital. I didn't tell Isaac they were coming and he was sooooo adorably surprised. My dad works for the Bon Ton now, which is a department store in central PA. He picked up a whole bunch of stuff from sample sales for us. My mom brought me a ton of cute clothes she got on super clearance at a Penny's sale. It was like Christmas!

Anyways, I'm officially registered for my first grad class. It's education technology and it has no required textbook, so that's good. I have to go to campus on Monday to get a parking pass and a student ID. I'm really looking forward to getting back in the swing of things again and maybe even picking up some good knowledge about my job, since, lets face it, technology isn't really my forte. It will make me feel a lot more secure about my employability once

I finish up the second certification. I'm only kicking myself for not taking care of it sooner.

I also went and spent some time at Domestic Relations this past week when Isaac was at camp. I had to pick up some paperwork in order to add M. to Isaac's birth certificate. During the Great Argument of 2011, M. gave me a laundry list of things that I had done that had hurt him. Leaving him off of the birth certificate was (understandably) on the list. I was extremely bitter towards him when I was filling out the paperwork in the hospital and decided to leave him off, purely out of spite, but I don't feel that way any longer. Of all of his grievances, I figured this was one thing I could easily fix. So I trekked out to the Norristown Courthouse, fed a meter an astonishing amount of change (a quarter bought you seven and a half minutes.... seriously). It's always an interesting crowd there, but the clerk was actually friendly and helpful, even if he did refer to me as "madam" more than once. So the paperwork is all completed. Monday I will drop it in the mail. Go me for productivity.

My stint at Domestic Relations did afford me some time to keep working my way through this novel:

I know two people have read it. The first loved it and called it "life-changing". The second had a hard time getting into it. I'm leaning more towards the latter. This book is really depressing. I'm nearly done it, but only from a sense of obligation to finish it, not because I really care about what happens. I can't say I really love it (sorry Jami).

What did you get into this weekend?

***Incidently, I did inform M. that I was taking Isaac out of the state. The last time I took Isaac to New Jersey for the day, he had a fit when he found out because I took Isaac out of the state without asking. Which is being totally ridiculous. New Jersey is a 15 minute scoot over a bridge from his house. It's not like I flew Isaac to Texas without his knowledge. BUT ANYWAYS, he got his obligatory "I'm taking Isaac to Camden" text, so I hope he's happy.