Mother's Day at The Zoo

I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do for Mother's Day - and the Dallas Zoo won the mental list. It opens at nine, which gives us the most hours before naptime (compared to The FW Zoo). A brunch is just too much of a risk - you never know if going out to eat with these two will be a good time or not. The weather turned out just perfect for this today. It was overcast and 69 when we got there. We had a great, great time.

We always ride the elephants in the parking lot first.

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The gorillas were eating breakfast and very active this morning. We really got to see them up close!

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This one just sat down and stared right back at us.

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We rode the 1980s monorail. I love this little monorail - I always feel like I'm in that amusement park episode of the Brady bunch. Maybe Mike will jump on at any moment looking for his lost plans.

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Of course, the Shrek crocs were there.

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They love to pet the bunnies in the Children's area.

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We fed the birds today - Leo and I actually went in first, but somehow I didn't have the camera. This is Leo's FAVORITE thing to do at the zoo, and they landed all over him today. He was thrilled. Henry had a good time, too, but didn't want them to land on his arms. So I held the feed stick most of the time down where the birds would be near him. Then he was eventually brave enough to hold the stick.


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The zoo has a new exhibit called "Ghosts of the Bayou" that has albino alligators. We saw it for the first time today. Pretty neat!

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We always ride the carousel just before we leave. The boys wanted to ride in this spinning nest for the first time today - they loved it!

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Little Bits about Henry

Some things I want to remember about Henry. He is now officially 2.5 years old!

*Whenever we go to Costco, Henry always wants to go "where the wind blows." He is talking about the big open cooler where they keep the fruit. When you walk through the entry, you get hit with a big blast of cold air. He loves to walk back and forth through that and go "brrrrrrrr!" He is a berry hound - any kind of berries - and I really could go broke trying to keep him in berries. He also loves to get all the samples at Costco.

*I love to watch the Golden Girls, and sometimes he'll say..."I want to watch the old ladies."

*He calls Gatoraide...."alligator."

*When he wants to eat, he says..."I want something else." Even if he hasn't had anything yet. And then it's my job to suggest things and show him things until I hit on something that suits his fancy.

*Yesterday morning when I got home from my run, he said..."I go for a little walk." He shuffled all the way around the block and in front of the school in his too big crocs, checking out all the little mundane things that are so fascinating to him. Bird poop splatters, flower bed statuary, trails of ants, bugs, squirrels, and the best...dogs that bark at him from their little wire-covered fence windows. Then we came home and had OJ.

*One of his favorite things right now is "Hot Buttered Toast," b/c that is what Mercy Watson eats.

*He is very, very persistent. When he wants something, there is no dissuading him. Often even after I have agree, he continues to say.it.non.stop until it happens.

*Henry can swing in a regular kid swing - no seatbelt. I can't believe it.

*He still loves shoes - particularly plastic shoes. Crocs, etc. And most of them are too big b/c he commandeers them from Leo's closet.

*Henry still sleeps with a paci and the crocheted blanket that GG made for Leo. And the paci had BETTER be orange. No other color will do.

*Henry loves to go up to Leo's school, and they always have some sort of yard blow up decoration right outside the office. For St. Patrick's day, there was a leprechaun...Henry was FASCINATED with this. After St. Patrick's Day, I had to tell him the Leprechaun had gone back to Ireland when Henry demanded to see him...so now Henry wants to go to Ireland. He tells me that all the time. Yeah, you and me both, kid. Right now they have several flamingos and palm trees. One of the flamingos is in a blow-up baby pool, so I told him the flamingos were "at the beach." So...you guessed it...Henry demands to go to the beach now. Maybe next summer.

*Henry has been obsessed with "pausing" for some time now. I paused "barney" once so I could change his diaper, and he latched on to this. He wants to control the remote and "pause" everything...but he really can't control it very well, so it turns into a big meltdown b/c he's not patient enough to wait for it to unpause...so he hits it again and it pauses again, etc. I never thought I would say..."No, we're not pausing. We're just not going down that road today."

Neighborly

I opened our front door one afternoon recently and found this! A nice gesture. More for me to take to Goodwill...but a nice gesture, nonetheless.


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"Leo and Henry, The toys at your door are yours now. I brought you airplanes."

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Homemade Sushi with actual raw fish!

We decided to be brave and make sushi at home with actual raw fish! We went to a sushi market in Carrollton to get the fish. It has to be sushi grade fish that is handled just right. Just for comparison...I roll at a sushi place is usually $9-$12. We spent about $30 and it made seven rolls. So...it does save a bit of money. We made Spicy Tuna Rolls and also Salmon and Avocado Rolls.

And - no ill effects!

Tuna

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Spicy tuna mixture

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Spicy tuna rolls

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Salmon

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Salmon rolls

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Leo loved the salmon

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No bonnets required

At our house, you can hide your own Easter eggs and then go find them yourself. On a Saturday morning. In your pajamas. And, yes, this was our "formal" family Easter egg hunt. I have visions of them being all dressed up...but, hey...this was when they wanted to do it. They were much happier than if we did it in their Easter finery. I have to remind myself that that is more important - happy memories!


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