Springfield Zoo

 
We had a friend invite us to go down to the zoo in Springfield, Mass to celebrate her son's birthday.  It was a fun little zoo and we were happy to have a reason to go down and explore it!  We ate lunch, saw the animals, and then got to pet one!  They brought out a baby lizard and they were all excited about it...even Clara.  After the party they handed out food to feed the animals.  Kate had no fear but Sawyer was very cautious.  He loved it though!  Afterwards, since we were in a town with a real movie theater, we stopped and saw Madagascar 3 and then ate at Red Robin.

Zoo

Ryan not only had his birthday off this week but he also had the day after. So we extended the birthday celebration another day and headed to the zoo. The weather here in Houston has finally started to be bearable! (It is in the 80's! And the humidity level has been pretty low on some days.) It turned out to be a perfect day and we saw a lot of the animals being active.

This is what everyone was staring at...who can resist a baby elephant?

They weren't too sure about this guy

After the zoo we went on the Hermann Park train and both kids (but especially Sawyer) were really excited. When I was buying the tickets at the gift shop I saw these wooden train whistles 2 for $5 and I bought them. This summer for the library summer reading program the kids earned a train whistle. To my disappointment (though I shouldn't have been surprised) they were the cheapest things ever and they didn't work at all. When we were in Tucson in August my mom had one and Sawyer blew into it and it gave a loud "toot" and he was so proud of himself that he was smiling from ear to ear. He kept trying to blow into it again but his smile was so big he couldn't do it and we were all laughing. Finally he would get a little "toot" out and we would all burst out laughing and the whole process started again. The kids were really excited to have their very own whistles and every time the train went "toot toot" their faces lit up and they grabbed their whistles and tooted back. It was a fun ride.

playgroup at the zoo

Today playgroup was at the zoo and it was the perfect day for it. We walked around and saw the animals and talked with our friends. It has been a while since we've been and it was fun to hear Sawyer making the animal sounds. My favorite is the elephant!

Sawyer couldn't get enough of the big boys and was trying to do everything they were doing...including laughing hysterically at the funny things they were saying.

My kids loved it and I need to take them more often...even though I come home a little worn out!

baby pains and the zoo

I don't know what is wrong with me right now. Fall has always been my favorite season and I have always loved the first day of school. I have loved hearing from parents the fun stories of their kid's going back to school and I love seeing all the fun pictures. But for some reason this year it has gotten me all sappy. I seriously can't shake it! I have cried a couple of times just thinking of my Kate going to school....(one time was in front of friends....I apologize if you had to witness that!)....and she is only 3!! What is wrong with me? I've gone back to blog posts from when we first moved here (bad idea when you're feeling sappy!) and it is obvious how big Kate has grown in this last year. But when I beg her to stay small forever she refuses. What is a mom to do?
So in the spirit of my sappy mood, I decided to take advantage of my few days I have left with my kids and we went to the zoo. We saw some animals, ate lunch, and had fun at the splash park. Actually, Kate had fun running around the splash park and Sawyer watched longingly, wishing he was brave enough. Every now and then he would take a few steps out and then run back to me. It was pretty cute. And in case you can't tell, he's started pulling his cheese face out as soon as he sees the camera. I am 100% in love with it!

Zoo Christmas lights

They had a Santa beside the hippo area...kinda a ghetto Santa I think...but when we went to get the boy's picture taken with the mall Santa earlier in the week the line was CRAZY so we left. We had them matchy matchy so we decided to give it a try.

Ethan wasn't a fan....

Kate LOVES zoo kettlecorn



In the zoo parking lot they had a little train that drove in 2 big circles that had Christmas lights all over it. Kate loved it...but I don't know why she looks like a statue in this picture

In N Out afterwards.

we're so glad when daddy is home!

I can't believe I haven't posted about it earlier, but Ryan has this week off! This is the October break we have been waiting for ever since school started! After a LONG and HARD week of finals (last week) he is now home with us with nothing to do all day long! He started off Friday with a lazy day around the house playing "Feed the Fish" on the computer and other random things. Kate is just in Daddy heaven and wants to be near him all the time. Yesterday we got out car registered in Texas (we're official!) and there are some other things on our to do list. But really, number one is just to enjoy each other!!

We decided to make sure we did some of the things that we've always wanted to do but haven't yet because Ryan is too busy. One is riding the train at Hermann Park. We went last night for FHE but it was closed so we tried again today. Kate was SO excited and she loved it.

Then we headed over to the zoo, which is right next door. We spent most of the time in the air conditioned buildings (even though it wasn't THAT hot today....we just hadn't seen most of them yet!) Here are some of our exciting finds:

(From the top left, clockwise) 1/ Sawyer checking out the fish! 2/the fish Sawyer was looking at! 3/ Kate hugging a python in the reptile house (I seriously got shivers just looking at it!) and 4/ daddy and Kate in the python tube. She LOVES that tube! Now if I can just get her to venture into the ones at McDonalds!

The orangutans were celebrating halloween a little early ( I LOVE orangutans! But I can't see them without singing "I wanna be like you-ou-ou")

Funny mokeys that were really close and reaching outside their cage for some autumn leaves to munch on

We were all pretty tired when we got home! But it sure was fun.

After dinner I took advantage of Ryan being home and went to the gym for 2 full classes!! (the gym daycare only lets you abandon your kids for an hour and a half so this is impossible with them.) I LOVE Tuesday night classes and tonight, for the first time (since everyone stayed at home because of the debate and there were only 4 of us in class) we did a double step class...2 steps at the same time! I've always heard of such a thing, but haven't ever tried it. SUPER FUN!

sigh....its nice not being a school widow for a week.....I'll keep you updated on the fun we have

and can you tell I'm really digging collages?