Zoo Day before School Day!

Because the weather was so great yesterday, and it was the last day of the Christmas break, we went to the zoo.  Nathan's leg was bothering him too much to go, and Daniel chose to stay home.  (He was probably hoping to watch Netflix, but I didn't let him.)

It's kind of nice to live in an area that the zoo is open year round.  Most of the year, walking around outside in Florida doesn't really appeal to me.  But yesterday was really nice!

The zoo has an area for feeding birds.  The seed sticks are $1 each (unless you have a coupon for free sticks, like we did).

There are also some lorikeets that drink nectar from a little cup, but I was busy feeding birds instead of photographing them.

The zoo has an interesting and impressive art display on right now (through May, I think) of sculptures made from trash collected along beaches.  These pictures don't do the artwork much justice, but I hope you get the idea.  The colors of each piece come from the actual trash; nothing has been colored to fit the sculpture.

Wow, we went to the beach AND the zoo!  

We walked around and saw several animals.  The zebras were easy to see, but the giraffes were in hiding.  The meerkats were busy and fun to watch.  We skipped the monkeys, but did see the camels and ostriches close up on the train ride (that we also had a coupon for).

Joseph and Sarah had made plans to smash a penny and brought their quarters in anticipation.  Then Rebekah thought she'd like one, too.  Luckily, I had the right change on me.  (And now that I think about it, she owes me money!) Leah decided it wasn't worth 50 cents to smash a penny.

Beautifully smashed pennies.

I caught a glimpse of this flower blooming from a big, tropical plant outside of the zoo.  I don't think blooms are common and it was worth a picture.  Beautiful!

We traditionally stop at the Wendy's outside the zoo for frostys on our our way home to help ease the sweating from being outside in the heat.  We didn't have a drop of sweat among us yesterday, but the kids pretended they were dying so that I would stop.  It doesn't really take that much drama to talk me into a frosty, but I let them go on a bit.  The half hour ride home is pretty nice with a frosty in one hand!

Mormon Terminology

I told Rebekah to get ready to go because we were going to the zoo for Family Home Evening tonight.

Five minutes later, while I was brushing her hair, she asked where we were going Visiting Teaching at the zoo.

No offense to the sisters I visit. She's only 3 1/2 and all those phrases and responsibilities are hard to sort out. I'll really worry when she starts to think she's going to Primary at the zoo. ;)

Shoes Optional

For the past two years, we've had a zoo membership. It's been a great $$ saver for us when we've traveled and given us something "free" to do here at home. The membership always expires at the end of May. We were late getting a new one this year but I finally decided to "bite the bullet" and pay the $75 today.

I told the kids we'd go on a picnic if they could get the downstairs cleaned. Things got really loud about then. Can they do anything without fighting? Sleeping you say? Nathan and Leah have both yelled at Daniel in their sleep. So that's a "no."

Anyway, we were FINALLY ready to go. I told everyone to go to the bathroom and get in the van. After we've been driving 10 minutes and I'm on the freeway, Leah says from the back seat, "Mommy, Nathan doesn't have any shoes on!"

!!!!

Now, I've accidentally gotten in the car with my slippers on, but never just socks. And I never actually drove away. But, I've never been a 7-year-old boy. I got off the freeway at the next exit and drove back a little ways to a store and bought him some croc-a-likes for $6. Better than wasting up to 30 minutes going back home.

The shoes are a bit too big as I didn't have much of a selection in boyish colors. Daniel was jealous. I told Nathan they weren't his. (Because I'm not rewarding him for forgetting to get dressed!) They can go in the laundry room for use when someone has to go outside for something.

We eventually made it to the zoo and had a late lunch...of which Joseph wouldn't eat once I wouldn't give him more cookie. Kids.

TaVaci at the zoo...how appropriate

Yesterday was the Saturday after Earth Day. That made it the day to officially celebrate Earth Day in the neighboring city. The weather was nice and I'm sure the entire county turned out. I hate crowds.

Leah and Daniel's TaVaci group performs at the zoo every Earth Day. I guess a lot of the kids look forward to going because they get in free. We have a membership and go whenever the kids can talk me into it. (I think we go a lot, they feel zoo-deprived.) So I wasn't looking forward to fighting 30 people to catch a glimpse of the tiger.

Chad and his dad were working on the fence yesterday and would not be taking time out to enjoy such marvelous entertainment. I couldn't imagine the zoo with 5 kids, two of which would be wearing costumes equalling $100.

So I struck up a deal with the kids. Nathan stayed home to be in the house while Joseph napped, Rebekah went with me (because I couldn't talk her out of it) to watch Leah and Daniel perform. Everyone was of the understanding that we would go there, listen, clap, etc., and then double-time it right back out. Rebekah actually lacked a bit of understanding on that but didn't break down when it was time to go. The reward for their sacrifice would be a trip to the zoo one day after school when the crowds would be gone. We're waiting to see what Thursday is like.

So we got to the BIG city park where the zoo is and all the other Earth Day events were being held - ABSOLUTELY NO PARKING. I circled twice, letting Leah and Daniel off after the first trip. (I was hoping they'd be able to make it in on their own. I'm just the right parent for teaching survival skills to my 8 and 5-year-old!)

I eventually made my way out of the park and found parking in an adjoining parking lot belonging to the 4-H people. That parking was actually a little closer than some of the spaces I couldn't get in the park. And the really bad part? We passed that parking lot on our approach to the zoo. "Something" told me to park there. But, NO, I am smarter than the the "something" and thought I could find something closer. When will I ever learn?

So here are some pictures of the incredibly cute singers. The other kids are nice-looking, too. They did a really good job, considering the llama thing next door tried to share a dust storm with them and the bird on the other side tried to drown them out. Their Spring performance is May 16th. That's a Saturday. It's at 4 pm and it's free. It lasts about an hour. Any who would like to come are welcome.

For those of you following the kitten saga, here is a picture from last Monday when there were still two kittens. (I'm in my pajamas, so please focus on the kittens, not me.) The one partly off the towel is the one surviving baby. It's eyes opened yesterday. It seems to have survived the huge DUMPing of snow we got this morning. Each day I find it still breathing, I have a little more hope for it. I may let Leah be the one to name it, should we get that far, because she's been praying for it the most.

Bossy Turkeys

How was every one's Thanksgiving? We had a very busy trip south to visit with my family. My mom recently moved an hour closer to us, so the trip was pleasantly shorter, but that meant that we had more traveling to do to visit with other members of my family.

The kids bore the trauma and abuse of the road fairly well. However, we were nearly done in around the last 45 minutes of our trip home. I thought Joseph might head up a mutiny when we
got into the van for church today, but he was thankfully calm.

We had a big feast on Thursday. We had a nice prayer by my brother-in-law (thanks, Roy) before eating. I felt a little disappointed that nothing more than the prayer was said in regard to thanks and blessings. I have been more apt to notice my blessings recently and had been looking forward to hearing some others express sentiments, too. Oh well.

After the dinner, the kids went out to play and the remaining grown-ups played a couple of games of Imaginiff... Apparently, I was voted to be a sheep dog. My sister was thought to be akin to a Turkish Bath. Chad and I seem to be viewed in a certain light by my family as both of us often got unanimous votes from everyone at the table.

The next day was very busy for our little family. We stopped at the This Is The Place Heritage Park and took a train tour of the park. It was cold and misty = why did I bother with the curling iron? From there we drove 45 minutes to my sister's house for lunch (VERY yummy...thanks, Amber!) and a game of Settlers of Catan. We left there about 5 pm and drove an hour to my dad's for a 90 minute visit and dessert. We had another good drive back to my mom's and rushed the kids through a shower before putting them all to bed.

My dad and the kids

This isn't the best picture I got of this, but I had to laugh at Nathan's eyes. There's always something with this crowd!

The next morning was my niece's baptism, so we left the house at 9:01 (11 minutes late) and drove almost an hour to get to the church. After the baptism was a lunch at my sister's (thanks, Andrea!) and from there we drove to Hogle Zoo. (Tonight, while we were writing in journals, Daniel asked how to spell "Hoo-gi-lie." Everyone got a good laugh!) We walked around and did our best to stay warm for 2 hours. We returned to my mom's to clean up a bit, finish packing, lighten her leftover load and got on the road just after 6. We arrived home at 8:45, much to the relief of Joseph, Rebekah and Leah (and everyone within the sound of their crying).

Sunday truly is a day of rest, for which I am Grateful. It's nice to be home.

As with any family, ours has it's quirks. Sometimes I struggle with the things that happen more than others. As we were driving home, I was thinking about little things that affect me and trying to figure it all out. I decided I am part of a bossy family. The people in my family are all the smartest ones in the room. (Some are louder about it than others.) So no one in my family really ever asks for advice from anyone else. I mean, if you are already the smartest, who is left to get any good advice from? Right?

We're all so focused on being the toughest and smartest, that we fail to really talk to each other and get to know everyone.

You think you have it bad? Let me tell you about my experience...
You don't have that problem figured out? Let me tell you what you should do...
That's not any thing. Once I....

You know how it is. It goes on like this until everyone has gone home or gone to bed and then you really ARE the smartest (and only) one in the room. I would like to just sit down and have someone Ask me something and then listen...no advice, no competition. A little sympathy would even be better, but not required. I would like someone to feel like they could confess an insecurity or dilemma because it helps them talk to someone they trust. Period. I have many friendships like this, but none in my family. Well, maybe with my dad.

Anyway, this is my family's quirk. (OK, we have more than that, but who only has one?) So there were a lot of bossy Turkeys at Thanksgiving. I was one of them. I am a product of my environment. But I hope that there is a better future for us.

And having said that, here are some family group pictures of the turkeys in my family. We're only missing one cousin. (I hope they remember I need a picture of that missing poult before this Saturday!)

Mom and Michael

Us

Andrea and her family

Amber and her family

Aaron and his family