It's all happening at the zoo.

Someone told me
It's all happening at the zoo.
I do believe it,
I do believe it's true.
(10 bonus points for whomever can name the group that sang it)

I Love the Zoo. Whoever came up with idea to gather a bunch of animals from all over (Recurring Noah theme) for everyone to gaze upon at their leisure, was a smart cookie.
Once a year my dad would take off work and we would skip school and go to the zoo, and I treasure those memories and when my kids are in school will encourage my husband to do the same with our kids. Yes, Yes, school is important. But I'm pretty sure that nothing that I would have learned in school that day has had as much of a lasting impression on me as going to the zoo with dad. Why must you skip school and work, because that's when you have the whole zoo as your playground, there's no waiting in line to see the glimpse of a tail, you can stand and discuss and examine at your as long as their little attention spans can soak it up.

So Friday I packed up the kids and we headed to the zoo.


Here is a little bit about that day:

(Andie Rule #22)If there is any sort of turtle statue around the children absolutely must have their picture taken on it.


Why are Flamingos pink?
What does a bearded Lizard eat?
Wow! Mom, did you see me touch that humongous shark!?

Biscuit and Cricket both enjoyed touching the sharks and stingrays the most that day.
We probably spent 45 minutes in that area, and Biscuit touched 8 sharks, Cricket mostly splashed in the water and did her best to get as much water on herself as possible, so
she could...

Stand under the hand dryer. She thinks this is hilarious, and the giggling of passersby only encouraged her more. Oh to be 3.


THE GIFT SHOP

I grew up with the idea placed firmly in my head that the gift shop was an evil place, where
everything was overpriced (dad) and would immediately break on you after you left the store (mom). I now consider this a good money saving lesson to have learned. But now that the time has come to impart that same wisdom on my little ducklings, I've decided to take perhaps a less shall we say abrasive approach. Offering the olive branch of, "We can go in and look at the the neat stuff, but we aren't going to buy anything today, just look." After all the other terms of said "Look Not Buy" agreement have been negotiated and accepted by both parties in front of the White Armadillo exhibit and before making our way to the car, we made our way to the GIFT SHOP. And once we get there, I know all too well, she will be there too. My arch-nemesis, the ying to my yang, the mother who will not say "No".... Yep there she is, arms full of stuffed monkeys, a lion shaped sippy cup, a hat with cobra on it, plastic star fish, and a giant sucker. I am met with 2 sets of eyes giving me "But everybody else's mom is buying stuff" look. I remain firm on my side of the contract. And I can see the wheels in my 5 year olds head turning. "We'll Mom, I think your right, we won't get anything this time, but next time when we come we can save up our money and get 1 thing each." I now begin scanning the potted plants for a camera crew or Ashton Kutcher before I realize YES, YES, this whole value of money thing can be taught in a calm and orderly fashion!!! We walked out of the GIFT SHOP that day without any tears, tantrums or teddy bears. And just as I was feeling good about the lesson I had taught my little hatchlings, the first of an endless stream of questions was dropped. "Mom, when can we come back to the zoo, so I can buy something?" "Can we come back tomorrow?"" How about the day after that?" "How about next Friday?" aaaahhhh.... another day another lesson :)

New Years Resolution

We've made it to 2010, another holiday season gone by in the blink of a jolly old elf's eye.
The only traces of Christmas that remain in our house are a plate of crumbled sugar cookies and a wilted poinsettia.
Sounds depressing when I reread it, but it's a time to look ahead to all the new adventures and old traditions this year will bring.

This is my new years resolution, I'm going to try and do this once a month. Only 12 times a year, that's do able right??? I'll give it my best.

I feel like the 2 bundles of joy I just brought home from the hospital are growing too fast. I know I'm guilty of wishing away time and saying it'll
be sooo nice he can hold the bottle, when she can sit up by herself, when they are both out of diapers. And now here I am with 2 potty trained
children who are much closer to being school agers then babies. As the days roll on it's the memories of my babies that become a little hazy. I'm hoping
this blog will be something our family can look back on fondly and remember when we all were young :)

A little bit about the babies:

Biscuit
Weighing in at 6lbs 12oz at birth, he stole our hearts. In the first few days, Brian and I would fight over who got to hold him on the couch at night.True to his Scorpio sign, his temperament can turn on a dime, and true to his gender, he's all boy, anything with wheels, sharp teeth or has some sort of engine holds his attention for endless periods of time. Both of us being saddled with the role of first born, I already see shared traits developing. He overly worries, about being his sisters keeper, about whether his peers will like him, about making mistakes. How can these things weigh so heavily on someone has only been on the earth a 1/2 decade? At the end of the day though, he will still come and snuggle with you on the couch, or give you a bear hug when your feeling down. At 5 years of age he already grasps the concept of empathy, I hope he holds onto that forever.


Cricket
Taking my cue for her birth date prediction, she made her grand entrance at 7:14 am on 10/10/06. And she was not at all what I was expecting. I had in my mind the image of a little, petite, delicate flower of girl, who was meek and mild, you know like the ones in the Norman Rockwell paintings.
This girl was strong and vibrant and came into the world hitting an octave above high C. She has a presence that attracts your attention like something shiny in a store window. Cricket, lives every day with indomitable effervescence, simply put she at 3 years of age she gets what most of us in our 30's are still struggling with, "The world is your oyster, yours for the taking, TAKE IT ALREADY!" But make no mistake, if you hear crickets chirping you better go find her, she was born with the mentality of it's better to ask for forgiveness then permission.