Bears and Bunnies

One night last week we awoke to Zach in our room, a bit spooked by his first real nightmare.  He was asking Mike about bears, and were there any in our house?  We calmed him down and assured him that there were no bears around here, and probably none even in Iowa.  We also assured him that bears could not get into our house anyway, to which he asked his standard question- "Why?" and Mike told him that since they don't have thumbs, they can't open doors.  Ok, so he's randomly said since then, "So, bears can't get into our house because they don't have thumbs to open doors, right?"  I don' t know where he got this fear of bears, but it's there.

So yesterday after preschool, the boys and I were headed home, and Zach and I were talking about holidays.  He asked what a holiday was, so I was giving examples.  After I mentioned Easter and the Easter Bunny, Zach said, "But how does the Easter Bunny get into our house?"  I could see the no-thumb wheels turning in his head.  I just said, "Um, I'm not sure."  Zach said, "Maybe he comes down the chimney."  I said, "Yeah, maybe," hoping to avoid the no-thumb connection, and hoping he didn't put 2 and 2 together and start thinking bears could come down the chimney, too.  Then he said, "Or maybe he comes in the front door...but he doesn't have thumbs, so he couldn't do that, right?"  I started laughing, and somehow got the subject changed.  

I'm watching Little People, Big World, and there was a scene just now with Zach, the little people son, and his twin, who is not little, and actually is quite tall.  I was totally reminded of P.D. Eastman's book Big Dog, Little Dog.  Funny.

It was a pretty nice day here today, so after the boys' naps, we took a walk/bike ride up to the grocery store.  I pushed Drew in the stroller and Zach rode his bike the whole way, even up the big hill by Walgreens.  It's probably about a half-mile each way, so I was very proud of Zach for pedaling the whole way there and back, and not even whining about it.  It was great to get out and get some fresh air and exercise.  Sometimes I get a little obsessive about making sure Zach gets lots of physical activity every day, and going for bike rides/walks with the dogs is a good way to do that.  It gets us out of the house, and helps break up that really tough time of day between the end of the boys' naps and when Mike gets home.

I just finished making a pumpkin cheesecake with a chocolate graham cracker crust for our Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.  Yum.  I hope it turned out.  It's late, but I have to wait a little longer for it to cool before I can take the sides off the pan and put it in the fridge to chill.  I also prepared caramel rolls, because it's not a Zinn-family Thanksgiving without caramel rolls for breakfast.  It really should be served with souffle, but I don't think Mike, Zach, and I would eat enough of it to warrant all that work, unless I made a quarter recipe or something.  We'll just have scrambled eggs with the rolls, I think.  Can't wait 'til morning!