Leading up to Independence Day this week, my daughter was anticipating a full day spent at my parents’ house swimming and fireworks later in the evening.   But yesterday she asked me, “What is Independence Day and why do we celebrate?”  Instead of giving her a boring and confusing American History 101 lecture, I just popped in my trusty Schoolhouse Rock dvd and played two videos from the America Rock series.  During the election of President Obama I blogged about other Schoolhouse Rock videos and how this incredible series helped me to retain my knowledge of complex and potentially boring subjects.  By watching  No More Kings and Fireworks, she was able to understand the foundation of American History and the cause of our celebration on July 4th in a catchy and easy-to-understand way.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY AMERICA!

If  you are a visitor to Atlanta this summer, you must make a point of visiting the Atlanta Botanical Garden; it is so lovely.   If you are an Atlanta resident then you are lucky enough to experience the garden many times throughout the year.  The garden has recently been renovated with a new entrance, new parking deck (no more free parking) and several new garden areas.  

I take my kids to the garden often.  The Children’s Garden is a great playspace for kids and even has a water play area; on a hot summer day many swimsuit-clad kids can be found cooling off in the sprinklers.  One of our favorite things to do is look for frogs in the garden ponds.  Today we found one!

And while the permanent gardens are always beautiful, such as the Japanese Garden

or Tropical Garden in the conservatory,

we have also seen many fantastic special exhibits there such as Chihuly in the Garden, Locomotion in the Garden, Niki in the Garden, Big Bugs & Killer Plants and Sculpture in Motion.  I have learned to expect nothing but the best exhibits at the Garden.

Today my daughter and I went to see the new Moore in America exhibit and just like the other exhibits, it was spectacular; we absolutely loved Henry Moore’s sculptures and the way they were displayed throughout the garden.

After a good lunch at the Garden Cafe (the food is catered by one of our favorite lunch spots, Sun in My Belly), we took a final mother and child photo in front of Moore’s Reclining Mother and Child.

Moore in America will be at the Atlanta Botanical Garden through October 31, 2009, so you have plenty of time to check it out.   The Garden also hosts Cocktails in the Garden every Thursday night through September, concerts, and many children’s programs; go to the website for more details.

Chili Dawg is still a young puppy, so he mouths and chews EVERYTHING: furniture, walls, baskets and worst of all, our body.  Right now I am on a mission to find appropriate things for Chili to chew.

Chili has a drawer full of toys, but this lamb that I purchased at Target is his favorite.  The toy makes a “baa” sound and at first Chili Dawg used to whine whenever it made noise; it was so funny!

Another favorite toy isn’t a toy at all, but a small clothing hamper that I bought in Target’s Dollar Spot.  He loves to put toys in the hamper and also get in there himself.  

These are rawhide chews.  They can be bought plenty much anywhere dog products are sold, but I got these from Whole Foods.  Rawhides can be dangerous if swallowed, so we have to really watch Chili when he’s chewing one of these.

These bully sticks that I bought at Highland Pet Supply are an alternative to rawhide and are supposed to be healthier as they are totally digestible.  Rawhides are the hides from a cow, but bully sticks come from a bull/steer.   A part of the bull that is shaped like a stick.  Remember that a bull is a male animal.  Did you get it yet?  Yes, you can be grossed out; I am.

If you didn’t know what it was, then you wouldn’t be so grossed out over the bully sticks because they really aren’t that identifiable.  That’s not the case with this cow’s tendon I bought at Iman Park Pet Works….it looks exactly like a tendon; ewww!

It smells awful too, but look how much Chili Dawg loves it.  The tendon also kept him quiet and occupied for a good hour, so that was golden, but I don’t know if I can take the smell.  Chili Dawg’s breath was kicking something terrible for days afterward and that just won’t do because I like to hug him.  

Call me a food snob, crunchy or crazy but I care about what I put in my body and that of family.  Whenever possible we eat organic fruit and vegetables, free-range/hormone free meat and I try to limit dyes, additives and refined food as much as possible.   But of course it is not always possible and just like everyone else sometimes we eat fast food–but only Chik-fil-A and NEVER McDonald’s, Burger King, Taco Bell or anyplace else.  Today I broke that rule and was reminded to never do it again.

We were coming home from a day of hanging in the sun and needed to quickly grab dinner.   Someone suggested that we try Kentucky Fried Chicken’s new grilled chicken; not a place that I frequent often (I think I last ate there about 6 years ago), but I was intrigued by all the latest media hype.   Our nearest KFC is not in our neighborhood, but in the hood.  And here’s the first bad news: they didn’t sell the grilled chicken because the store has yet to have the necessary renovations.   What do you want to bet that the KFC’s in the burbs are first on the list for renovations?  Because I’m sure that KFC thinks that people in the hood don’t care about eating healthy anyway.  It’s just another ploy by the man to keep the disenfranchised pumped full of fat and grease and therefore not energetic enough to stage a revolution!  

Anyway, by now we were really hungry so we ordered a bucket of original recipe chicken, mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese.   I admit that the chicken was good (I tried not to think about the hormones), but the macaroni and cheese was not even edible.  Not only did it taste disgusting, it was a neon florescent orange that I have never seen in the natural world.  My daughter took a look and said, “Wow, that looks like it has lots of dye in it!”   

The photo doesn’t even do it justice; it is the color of a crossing guard’s vest.

Kentucky Fried Chicken, if you ever read this, please know that I am OFFENDED by the nasty slop that you are trying to pass off as macaroni and cheese.  You ought to be ashamed!  I know that you are trying to provide an economic meal, but can you PRETEND to serve quality food?  How can you advertise grilled chicken–a supposed healthy alternative to fried–but yet continue to sell a side item as unhealthy as that couldn’t-possibly-be-real-cheese crap?  My daughter said, “It looked fake and tasted like someone didn’t care about their customers.”  

Yes, baby, that’s exactly right.

Chili Dawg, at 16 weeks old is finally vaccinated enough to be taken into the world and our first order of business was to find a groomer.  True to my nature, I obsessed over finding the right groomer; I read countless reviews on Yelp and Kudzu, got recommendations from neighbors and called each establishment personally.  Initially I had an appointment booked at a chi-chi Buckhead salon way across town, but then against my better judgement I took my obsessiveness down a couple of notches and made an appointment at a neighbor-recommended groomer closer to home.   Upon meeting the groomer this morning I had a long conversation with her, specifying that I wanted scissors used, not clippers.  We seemed to be on the same page.  Still I was very nervous about leaving him there.

This is what he looked like before leaving home today.  We wanted to keep him scruffy looking, but clearly he needed to be able to see better.

And this is what he looks like now; I didn’t even recognize him!  His face was shaved down too much.

Yes, he can see better, but the essence of Chili Dawg is gone; his expression is totally different now!  Waah!  It’s an outrage, a scandal!  

The next time he gets groomed (not at the same place!), I am going to be the crazy stage mom telling the groomer exactly what to do.  I will have these photos with me to show an example of what NOT to do.   As God as my witness,  nobody will ever give my puppy a bad hair day again!