Now that Sadie’s all mobile and filled with energy, we’re constantly looking for new and interesting ways to entertain her. Last Saturday, we went to the Roger Williams Zoo in Providence, about 45 minutes away.

It’s a pretty good zoo, with one of the highlights being the brand new baby giraffe. He was very cute:

Sadie mentioned that the crowned crane should really try putting some ponytails in her hair. That will help with the slight sticking-up problem.

You’d be surprised how many things you can climb on at the zoo.

It’s all a lot for a little girl to take in. Sometimes she just needs to sit and ponder.

The new Natick Mall opens tomorrow. In case you were wondering, here’s the list of stores as of September 6th (I’m pretty excited about the Apple Store, myself…):

90’s Nails
A.T. Cross - Opening September 7
Abercrombie & Fitch
Abercrombie Kids - Coming Soon
Aeropostale
Aldimami - Opening September 7
Aldo
Aldo Accessories
Allen Edmonds - Opening September 7
Alpha Omega
American Eagle Outfitters
Amy’s Hallmark
Ann Taylor
Ann Taylor Loft
Anthropologie - Opening September 7
Apple - Opening September 7
Art of Shaving, The - Opening September 7
Au Bon Pain - Opening September 7
Auntie Anne’s
Aveda
babyGap
Bag n’ Baggage - Opening September 7
Bakers
Banana Republic
Bank of America
Bare Escentuals - Opening September 7
Bath & Body Works
BC Sports Collectables
BCBG MaxAzria - Opening September 7
bebe
Betsey Johnson - Opening September 7
bluemercury - Opening September 7
Body Shop
Bose - Opening September 7
Bottega Veneta - Coming Soon
Brighton Collectibles - Opening September 7
Brooks Brothers
Brookstone
Build-A-Bear Workshop
Burberry - Opening September 7
Caché
California Pizza Kitchen
Calvin Klein - Coming Soon
Champs Sports
Cheesecake Factory, The - Opening Soon
Chico’s
Children’s PlaySpace
Cingular Wireless
Claire’s Boutique
Clarks England - Opening September 7
Club Libby Lu
Club Monaco - Coming Soon
Coach
Cohen’s Fashion Optical
Coldwater Creek
Cool Waves - Opening September 7
Crabtree & Evelyn
Crate & Barrel
crewcuts - Opening September 7
CVS
D’Angelo
Delia’s
Dellaria Salon
Dellaria Salon & Day Spa
Easy Spirit
Ecco
Eddie Bauer
Everything But Water
Express
Express Men
f.y.e.
Finale Dessert Company - Opening September 7
Fire & Ice - Opening September 7
FIRST
Flamers Charbroiled Hamburgers
Fossil - Opening September 7
Friendly’s
Fruits & Passion - Opening September 7
Games Workshop
GameStop
Gap
GapKids
Geox
Glamour Shots
Gloria Jean’s Gourmet Coffees
GNC
Godiva Chocolatier
Gordon’s Jewelers
Gourmet India
Gucci - Coming Soon
Guess - Opening September 7
Gymboree
Hanna Andersson - Opening September 7
Hannoush Jewelers
Helzberg Diamonds
Hollister Co.
Hot Topic
Hugo Boss - Coming Soon
Icing
J. Crew - Opening September 7
J. Jill
Jacadi - Coming Soon
Jacob - Opening September 7
Janie and Jack
JCPenney
Jessica McClintock
Johnston & Murphy - Opening September 7
Journey’s
Juicy Couture - Opening September 7
Karen Millen - Coming Soon
Kate Spade - Opening September 7
Kay Jewelers
L’Occitane - Opening September 7
Lacoste - Opening September 7
Lady Foot Locker
Landau Collection of Costume Jewelry
Lane Bryant
Lauren - Coming Soon
LEGO
LensCrafters
Levi’s - Opening September 7
Lids
Lids Kids - Coming Soon
Limited Too
Lindt Chocolate
Links of London - Coming Soon
Lord & Taylor
Louis Vuitton - Opening September 7
Lucky Brand Jeans - Opening September 7
lucy - Now Open!
Lululemon - Opening September 7
Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics - Opening September 7
Macy’s
Madewell - Opening September 7
Marciano - Opening September 7
Marina Rinaldi - Coming Soon
Martin + Osa - Opening September 7
Massachusetts State Lottery
Max Mara - Coming Soon
McDonald’s
Melt Gelato & Crepe Café - Coming Soon
Metropark - Opening September 7
Metropolitan Bar & Grill - Opening September 7
Michael Kors - Opening September 7
Moonstruck Chocolate Café - Coming Soon
Na Hoku - Opening September 7
Neiman Marcus - Opening September 15
New York & Company
Nine West
Nordstrom - Opening September 7
North Face, The - Opening September 7
O’Kaidi - Coming Soon
Oakley - Opening September 7
Optica - Opening September 7
Origins - Opening September 7
P.F. Chang’s China Bistro - Coming Soon
Pac Sun
Paiva
Papyrus
Payless ShoeSource
Piazza Sempione - Coming Soon
Portrait Simple
Pottery Barn Kids
Prime Blue - Coming Soon
Puma - Opening September 7
Radio Shack
Rave
Regis Hairstylists
Ritz Camera One Hour Photo
Rockport - Opening September 7
Ruehl - Opening September 7
Salad Creations of America - Now Open!
Sarku Japan
Sarku Japan
Sbarro
Scene - Opening September 7
Sears
Sel de la Terre - Opening September 7
Select Comfort
Sephora
Shabby Chic - Opening September 7
SHI by Journey’s
Sleek MedSpa
Solstice Sunglasses Boutique - Opening September 7
Spencer Gifts
Sports Treasures
Sprint
Stil - Coming Soon
Stride Rite
Stuart Weitzman - Opening September 7
Sunglass Hut
Sunglass Source
Swarovski
Sweet Factory
Talbots
Talbots Accessories
Talbots Kids
Teavana - Opening September 7
The Sharper Image
Things Remembered
Thomas Pink - Coming Soon
Tiffany and Co. - Opening September 7
Tommy Bahama - Opening September 7
Tourneau - Opening September 7
Trade Secret
Travel 2000
Vera Bradley - Opening September 7
Verizon Wireless
Victoria’s Secret
Walking Company, The
White House/Black Market
Williams-Sonoma
Wok Kitchen - Coming Soon
Yankee Candle Company
Zales
Zara - Opening September 7

Technorati Tags: Natick Collection

We’re pretty much grounded for the foreseeable future (not mentioning any names … little baby). To make up for it, we’ve been watching a set of Reader’s Digest DVDs detailing trips around the world and made the list of where we want to go when we can leave our Holliston cocoon.

Where to? Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Alaska, Hawaii, Seattle, drive up the Pacific Coast Highway, Disney World, Park City, Nova Scotia, Montreal, Quebec City, Chicago, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Tibet, Japan, Nepal, Angkor Wat, Australia, (back to) New Zealand, Kenya, Egypt, Israel, Iceland, England, Ireland, France, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Patagonia, Costa Rica, Antartica.

Someday…

I’m continuing to update all my old galleries to the new look and feel of the site (as well as getting them into some sort of content-management system, instead of just flat files.)

I updated two today. First, my Habitat for Humanity project in New Zealand. Second, my time working at Fenway for a job fair.

Hope you like them. Next, I need to update Tanzania, then actually write some stuff for China, Guatemala, Thailand, Niagara Falls, Jasper & Banff, etc.

I’ll be at BarCampBoston this weekend. It looks like it should be a fun gathering, and I look forward to learning from my fellow campers and sharing my own experiences (for what they’re worth…).

If you’re going to be there, drop me a line and we’ll try to sync up.

Technorati Tags: BarCampBoston

On Sunday, Sadie got to spend some quality time with Auntie Karen while A. and I got out of the house, all the way to the Colonial Theater to see Spamalot, a Broadway in Boston show based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

The show itself was good. The quality time with my wife was outstanding.

Most entertaining movie review quote I’ve read in a while:

[Gigli rhymes with really.] As in really, really silly, which is the kindest way to describe this hopelessly misconceived exercise in celebrity self-worship, which opens to nationwide ridicule today…

[Lopez] threatens the apparent ringleader with a baroque martial-arts torture, which involves gouging out the eyes and also removing that part of the brain that stores visual information, so that the victim will not only be blind, but will also lose all memory of what he has seen. Having seen “Gigli,” I must say that the idea has a certain appeal.

We took a daytrip to Newport on Saturday, highlighted by a trek through the Cliff Walk, three and a half miles (each way) of rocky goodness. If you get down there, this is definitely a fun way to spend three or four hours.

The only downside is that I’m now sunburnt beyond recognition. It should be fun trying to explain that in today’s morning meetings…

We saw Whale Rider last night. It was pretty good, and it was interesting to see Maori culture up close again.

Plus, as a special bonus, downstairs from the theater was the Museum of Bad Art, which is always a treat.

We went to see The Producers last night. Outstanding show!

I think I may have to renew my Broadway in Boston membership.

My ears are still ringing. Last night, I went to my first Bruce Springsteen show. It was amazing.

We were standing in the General Admission Floor section, about 30 yards from the stage. Bruce played for a little over three hours, including three encores. The last encore brought Peter Wolf up to the stage, where the band played an amazing version of “Dirty Water”.

It’s fun to live in a city where you will have 20,000 people expressing their civic pride by repeatedly screaming “I love that Dirty Water.”