Cute vs. Cute: Rumble in the Concrete Jungle!

That's right. The time you have all been waiting for on the edge of your keyboards has finally arrived. It is time for BATTLE, my minions! I mean, readers! I give you:

LEONARD VS. ELIZA:

In the war of cute, everyone wins.

As you all know, I spend my days entirely surrounded by cute. Boatloads of cute. Nauseatingly intense amounts of cute here, people. I am finally starting to be desensitized to it, but I figured I'd better share the joy with all of you before I lose the ability to see adorableness and instead see only tiny creatures who have little to no control over their bodily functions.

So here's the rules: I took my camera with me to two very typical afternoons, one at work with Eliza (with the boss's permission) and one with Leonard and Sam (who had no say in the matter). If you're feeling up for a little interactive blogging, vote for the winner in the comments, and at some point I will post a photo montage of said winner enjoying a tasty treat and looking lovingly into the camera. Who doesn't wanna see that??!!

(Wrestling announcer voice.... go!)

LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Aaaand in this corner, weighing in at about 22 pounds, a drooler bruiser, the crawler who's a brawler, iiiiiiiiiiiiiit's Baby Eliza!

Contrary to what this picture implies, Eliza is not actually terrified of me and my horsey smile.

See! She lurvs me. And the shiny, shiny camera.

Eliza, at the time of these photos, had just entered the teething phase. Now she has become a slobbering, chewing beast, and I yearn for the halcyon days when a few minutes of this toy (named "the piglet star" by her mother) was enough to take her mind off things.

"Those bug toys just out of my reach are clearly the BEST TOYS EVER. I wants them!"

"Amy, don't move that round thing, I was talking to my friend! How rude."

This is one of my favorite pictures, because this is Eliza's default expression. She's really that happy of a baby! I could go on and on about how I have the best day job in the world, but after these pictures I don't think anyone would disagree with me. So I won't. On to our other contender!

(again, wrestling voice)

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand in THIS corner, weighing in at, um, somewhere under 40 pounds, the whale with no tail, Scary & Hairy, iiiiiiiiiiiiit's Leonard the Dog!

Ok, yes, there is no dog in this picture. Let me explain: this is the park down the street from us, with its awesome wading pool fountain that Sam, Leonard and I were sitting by to cool off on the appointed afternoon. I had the brilliant idea that Sam should take his best buddy Leonard over for a drink, since they were both hot and thirsty. This is what Sam thought of the idea:

Aw, he loves me so much.

Leonard seems up for the idea, though! And yes, he did lick the camera at this point.

After cleaning off the lens slobber, Sam continued to try and talk me out of my apparently crazy idea. I didn't want to hurt their epic bro-mance, but in the name of science I demanded that they sally forth in search of brave new worlds... and cute photo opportunities.

Off they go!

Aaaaaaaand that's as close as they got. Sam thinks he's funny. Don't worry internet, he'll be punished.

After I "scarred poor Leonard for life" by suggesting he slake his thirst, he got some comfort from his one true Sam love. Can't you just see the love?

Oh, and Leonard now loves Sam so much that he lives in Sam's closet. Seriously. We had to clean all of Sam's shoes off the floor and move the dog bed in there, cuz Leonard just kept weaseling his way in and laying down. It's a little disconcerting at night to have those shiny eyes in the depths of the closet, but otherwise its kind of amazing.

Ok, that's the ballgame. Now I do realize that the Leonard portion of this battle is really a tag team of Leonard and Sam, but since they're attached at the hip there wasn't much I could do about that. I think together they make a pretty decent showing, though. Vote for your favorite. Or not. And I shall soon declare the winner. Or not. Either way, I think we can all agree that I have a very cute-filled life at this point, and that I'm going to need to do something very gritty and urban to keep from turning into a carebear or something.

Love to all!

Penance

Here's the dealio, internet followers: I kind of feel guilty for the extreme degree to which I geeked out on y'all last post. It was fairly epic, even for me. So when, on Tuesday, Sam and I decided to have an adventure on my last day of vacation, I vowed to bring the camera along and document it for you, the voracious voyeuristic public. So I did.  And what adventure could possibly be manly enough to make up for musical theatre? Oh, I dunno, how about.... DINOSAURS! ROOOAAAAAAR!

Yep, we went to the American Museum of Natural History aka Dinoland. This is a trip I've wanted to make since the moment we landed in New York because, lowly creature that I am, I have never seen a real dino skeleton. Or an even remotely realistic approximation. Having watched Jurassic Park on a wall-sized television a few nights before had only added to my dinolust. I took waaaaay too many pictures of our adventures, but I've broken them down into simple, easy to follow along categories. I'm sorry the pictures are kind of small, but do you have any idea how long it takes to upload photos to this thing?! Feel lucky you have images at all, lowly readers. 

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

For the first time here at NewCoast, we have a special guest extra special extra post! That's right, see the post below this one for a surprise feature that I guarantee will tickle your funny bone in all the right places. But now, on to the main event! 

DINOLAND

First Stop: Awesome Stuff!

This is a fossil of a tiny flying dinosaur. I think it looks like a cross between an angel and a dragon, and the color is beautiful to boot!

I had to sneak past a security guard to get this picture, since the hall was closed. What security guard, you ask? You know, the teeny-tiny little white dot under the dino's tummy. Lesson we learned: dinosaurs were really freakin' huge.

Best part about this picture? The dino's tail kept going another good five feet over my head, getting thinner and thinner as it went. Also, gotta love artificial footprints. Such authenticity!

The T-Rex speaks for itself. Look at those arms! Oh wait, you can't, they're too tiny! Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!

I found myself wondering if this guy just carried around whole tree trunks... in case he needed a snack or something.

DEATH FROM ABOVE!

Second Stop: Sam Reactions

"Those jaws perplex me on many levels. But I can't move, or he'll eat that kid!"

"Run, lady with the camera! Save yourself!"

"What a noble and handsome beast.... hmm? What giant elk? What are you talking about?"

Third Stop: I Don't Know What That Is, But It Really Wants To Eat Me

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Nooooooooooooo!

Ok, at least this one is big and ridiculous enough for me to...

Aaaaaaaah, it has a baby! Run for your life!

If.... I don't move.... it'll just.... keep... climbing............................... right?

The whale duck! The whale duck! It can swim, it can walk, it can fly, NOWHERE IS SAFE!!

Fourth Stop: Fun With Signs

Alas, no one remembers Tyrannosaurus's older brother: Albert.

Sam had spent 15 minutes the day before explaining how big dinosaurs had two brains. He found out the hard way that the internet is a dirty, filthy liar.

I mean, when would that NOT be handy???

Ah yes, the noble Patriotus NewEnglandus

Ponies are also dinosaurs! Little girls of the world, boys may no longer make fun of your pony obsession! Take to the streets!

Wow. Bunnysaurus. I want one... don't you?

Last Stop: Random Town

For some reason I had a really strong mental image of these slathered in BBQ sauce. I grossed myself out real good with that one.

Ah, my favorite kind of dinosaur: fill in the blank! I shall name him Imaginosaurus.

Ok, this picture didn't turn out very well. Allow me to explain: the little white piece of paper explains that the actual skeleton that's supposed to be here is on loan to another museum, so the drawing is temporarily replacing it. And what is the drawing of? An eagle. Eating a pony. Let me repeat: An eagle ... eating ... a pony. Science is awesome.

And with that, our adventure drew to a close. We wandered around Central Park for a bit... what's that? Why yes, you can see some lovely photos. Here ya go!

All in all, a most glorious adventure. I wish there was a way to show you pics from the amazing planetarium they have there, but maybe I'll save that for another post. Don't forget to scroll down for the Extra Special Extra Post! You know you wanna. 

Love to all

Sam, Sam, Diorama Man

Here we have the special bonus of today's post: Sam's Diorama Extravaganza! 

Now all of you ought to be aware that Sam and I have been together for quite some time. I mean, when we started dating Pluto was still a planet. So it's not very often that we surprise each other. Today, however, I learned something very new and pretty dang surprising: Sam has a real thing for dioramas. You know, those weird little "nature windows" full of stuffed creatures that are creepily lifelike, but juuuuuuust off enough to constantly remind you "yep, I'm dead. No comin' back to life for me!" I kind of assumed we'd be skimming over that part of the museum, cuz we're wussy wusses who don't like looking at dead things. Well, Sam really really likes them. In diorama form. Apparently. So I decided to hand the camera over to him for awhile, to introduce you all to the wonderful world of dioramas. 

Take it away, Sam!

I never knew that my love of dioramas was an uncommon love.  How could these little vignettes  of nature not be awesome?

This is a kind of vole native to Africa.  It might have been my favorite part of the Museum.  It was hidden in some tall grass right between..

... these defensive Ostrich parents...

... and this group of egg seeking Warthogs.  Does the vole know he is in the path of imminent danger?  Did he happen upon that branch?  Or is he perhaps some kind of peace keeper?  Is he there to make sure the Birds and the Boars Suspend Hostilities?  We will never know, but I salute you, small African Vole.  I salute you.

It doesn't really come through in the picture, but this is a large pack of Wild Dogs staring intently at a heard of Zebra painted on the wall.  They seem to be maybe a mile away, but these guys are ready.

This guy gave me a bad feeling.  He was just sitting there, looking around like that.  I thought that he might be up to no good.  Then I saw his buddy.

Yep, they were definitely bandits of some kind.

This is a falcon nesting in the cliffs on the New Jersey side of the Hudson river as it was one hundred years ago.  They almost left the area entirely, but they are now making a come back.  They are building nests on apartments near Central Park.

The noble turkey.  He was so close to being our national bird.  Oh for the America that could have been...

See Below...

I was disappointed that these were not some kind of flying duck/dog.

These Bald Eagles are fighting over some particularly fake looking King Salmon.  They remind me of home.  Fighting off raptors for my next meal...

(hehehehe... this is amy. I made him keep this one. Sam is apparently running out of things to say.)

Amy has always said that if she were an animals she would be a goose.  I felt obliged to photograph these elegant wonders of the natural kingdom.  Their babies look really funny.

This bird was trying to hide at the very top of the window and I had to photograph it from a funny angle.  Tricky tricky tricky bird.

This is a male impala.  I took the picture because this is exactly how Leonard lays down.  Back legs a little to one side.  One front leg straight out and the other with the paw tucked under.  It's eerie.

Aaaaaaaand now I, Amy, have reclaimed the blog. Hope you all enjoyed the guest star... who knows when that'll happen again?

Love to all