Zoo again

I read a story in school called "The Scarlet Ibis" and never knew what a scarlet ibis was. I don't even remember to this day what the story is about. But now I know what a scarlet ibis is, and they are really, really scarlet. And pretty.

Who goes to a zoo and only takes pictures of their kids?

We do. This red truck is another favorite of the play area. Here the kids are doing their "camera faces." Rose's is really cheesy, with her eyes squeezed shut. Ellen tries to be pleasant, and Jack Jack doesn't really care. He's off in his own world.

This candid shot shows more of my kids' personalities. Ellen is clenching her teeth and brushing her hair out of her face in preparation to give an order. Jack Jack is still out in his own world somewhere, dreaming of driving trucks, monster trucks, dump trucks, school buses, and trains. Rose is at the wheel, and who really knows what's going on behind those eyes of hers? She's probably planning something devious.

Going to the zoo, zoo, zoo

How about you, you, you?

You can come too, too, too.

Going to the zoo!

-Raffi

The Caldwell Zoo in Tyler is not too far to spend the day, and a membership gets you into zoos across the country offering reciprocal privileges. It's actually a good-sized zoo, too.

A big hit with the kids is the tractor at the play area just past the petting zoo.

Look out! Cheetah crossing!

Oh. That's just Daddy taking our picture.

Summer fun

Our public library sponsors fun activities to promote the summer reading program and spending time at the library. We would go to the library anyway, but this makes it more exciting for the kids. They never know what's going to show up there!

Jack was pretty excited about the petting zoo we found on the front lawn.


They even provided food for the animals so you could feed them. Jack actually wanted to feed them. Shocking, I know.


Most of the pictures are of me feeding the animals. I do not get excited about petting zoos or animals licking my hand.

Since I had my hands full (literally), I asked Ellen to keep Rose from running into the street. She did a pretty good job of keeping her near. Then Rose realized that she actually recognized those animals and loudly yelled "Baaaaa" at me, until Jack, who was taking pictures, got my attention with, "She's trying to talk to you." She was even more excited that I was listening and responding to her yelling "Baaaaaa" over and over and over again. It's one of the words she can actually say, in addition to her awesome dog imitations.

Dallas Zoo

During Jack's break between summer terms we went on a little mini vacation. We left on a Tuesday after Jack got out of work and drove to a hotel in Dallas. We got up Wednesday morning and took the kids to the Dallas Zoo in the morning, met one of Jack's friends (who is working in Dallas for the summer) at Chipotle for lunch (yummmmmy), stopped for a quick visit to Jack's sister in Kemp, and then went on to Gilmer to Jack's parents' house, where we stayed for the rest of the week.

Yeah, we only took the camera out once the whole time: at the zoo.

There were cool statues and fountains of animals everywhere.


What is that, mom?


Look at the camera, Jack. Where's Daddy?


That was the last time we captured Jack's face in a picture.
Checking out his shoes:


We rented a "double stroller" at the zoo. This thing was amazingly easy to push. Hooray! We probably walked a mile at least.


At the petting zoo:


And after we walked most of one half of the zoo, we walked under the Interstate (yes, you could see and hear cars whizzing past because this zoo is really on -- or under -- the highway), and took the sky tram to see the rest of the zoo. We went under a waterfall:


And we completely wore them out. Jack never did get that shoe back on.


Why, hello, Rafiki. It was nice seeing you here.

A day at the zoo

While we were visiting in Waco for Easter, we took the kids to the zoo.



Once we convinced her to try the otter slide, Ellen wanted to go again
and again and again. Here we are waiting our turn.

Good thinking, Ellen. Don't take your eyes off the jaguar, even for a photo. That fence looks awfully thin.

The giraffe looked like it was coming right for us. Ellen's response? "No get you, get you get you! No!" But now that we're looking at this photo after the fact, she's telling me, "Ver mas fifafas." See more giraffes.

Jack wasn't sure about the tepee.

Over all, the kids loved the zoo. Ellen wanted to see the monkeys over and over, and it was really fun to see her making the connection between the little illustrations in her books and these giants. Jack found the fish fascinating and loved just being along for the ride.
I hadn't been to the zoo since I was in high school, and it was worth it. Who knew Waco had such a good zoo?