FW Zoo Member Appreciation Days

We have memberships to just about everything kid related in DFW, just in case someone hasn't figured that out. ha! During June, they have early entry on Mondays to the FW Zoo with talks by the keepers. (Confidential to the FW Zoo - Dallas Zoo has 9am entry EVERY.DAY. Just FYI. Everybody talks about how awesome the FW Zoo is....but we really like Dallas better.)

On M June 7, they boys and I went to the zoo. We really had a great time.

FW Zoo has a great new exhibit called the Museum of Living Art. This is a code name for "New Reptile House."

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

There was a zookeeper talking about the Aldabra Tortoises. They are huge! The zookeeper had carrots for him, but he really wanted a neckrub.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Leo made sure that Henry got to pet the animals. I can't remember what they petted, but that's not important.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Komodo Dragon

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Statue of Komodo Dragon

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

At this point in the trip...the boys discovered that they could (a) use the camera and (B) pull the cooler. Someone took a lovely picture of me pulling the cooler.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Photo by Leo:

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Milk break:


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing


This is my Summer 2010 invention....using a hand truck to pull coolers. I saw this hand truck at Costco for $20, and I put it in my cart as quickly as possible. It has been great for pulling different sized coolers all over the place this summer. While we were at the zoo, the boys loved pulling it. That has its own issues, but it was briefly positive.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

We always feed the birds...

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Now it's Leo's turn...

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

I took this clandestine picture of this mom's getup. She was with another mom friend...she had at least one preschooler...and she was in a silky dress and these sandals....for a day of walking at the zoo???? Honestly, how do they do it? I am greased from head to toe in sunscreen, I have on a hat, shorts and a breathable shirt, and the most sensible shoes I own. I just don't understand how this is possible?


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Another kid picture...

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

I took this picture for Allie b/c there is ALWAYS a gorilla here. He was MIA today.

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

"Take our picture here." Aren't they adorable. ha.

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Lunch. Whatever we carry has to be strapped to ME in some form or fashion. I couldn't figure out plates today, so we used cloth napkins. Worked great.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

They played while I finished.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Our lunch entertainment.

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Getting on the train to ride back to the gate. Man, it was hot by this point. We were all tired and tired of each other.

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

My Napper

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

(Henry on the first afternoon of summer vacation. We swam until really late in the afternoon, so I told him no nap today. So he just crawled up on the couch and went to sleep.)

Some of this will not make sense if I don't preface it with this bit of family history...We have a joke in my immediate family that if you're a Brooks (my dad's side)....you don't nap unless all your work is done. If you're a Dawson (my mother's side)....napping IS your work, and that comes first. Work can wait.

For the first six months of both of our boys' lives, they didn't nap well. Then, magically, at six months....they began to nap easily and on a regular schedule. They both took great afternoon naps well into their threes, and I could count on that time to get housework done, finish a lingering Master's degree (ha!), or take a nap myself.

Henry is now 3.5...he will be four at the end of October. Leo happily gave up the nap at this age. Henry is nowhere near interested in giving up the nap. If we do absolutely nothing all day (translation: I let him watch TV), he will not ask for a nap. But if we step foot outside the house or even walk out to the backyard swing, he needs at least three hours of beautyrest in the afternoon to recover. This is a minor annoyance these days b/c Leo is home for the summer, and we'd love to not be hamstrung by Henry's timeframe. But...he starts asking for a nap every afternoon. And if it's slow by 11am or so, he'll start begging at that point. So we need to get him home in the early afternoon, or he'll nap from 4-7. And woe be unto you if you wake him up!

Last week, I had a nasty cold. Henry was fascinated by this b/c I made the mistake of saying I caught a bug. A BUG? Did you catch a bug in your mouth, Mommy? Was it a rolypoly? Was it a spider? What did it do when it got in? After all this questioning, he pondered for quite awhile and finally said...Mommy, you just really need a nap. You will feel all better if you get a nap.

Yep. No worries. The Dawson genes live on.

Forest Park Miniature Train

This weekend, we went to downtown Fort Worth and rode the Forest Park Miniature Train. I needed to make a quick run to the zoo to pick up new membership cards (they won't MAIL THEM! ugh), so I decided to come up with something else fun to do while down there. We are going to a special members event later this week at the zoo, but I know the members office will be crammed with others getting cards....so....I wanted to get it done early so we wouldn't have to worry with that.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

It was hot, hot, hot, but since the train is covered and moving, it really wasn't unpleasant. It is a roundtrip ride with one stop at a little depot close to a park where you can get popcorn and a drink. We had planned to get off at the depot with a cooler for a picnic....but then we decided that we might get in trouble if Henry had a 3-year old moment and we needed to get to the car fast. So while on the ride, we decided to do the whole round trip and then drive back to the park.

Here is another train that was not in use. On really busy days, they run two trains.

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

It is a 20-minute round trip.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

The boys had a big fit that they wanted to sit by themselves on the train. Um, no. We have enough emergencies with almost suffocating supervision.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

I am pretty much the crazy-floppy-hat lady all summer because I just want no sun on my face, neck, etc. If I could figure out a way to have a big tent attached to myself, I would


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Henry is really interested in "the forest," so he liked this part.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

We stopped for popcorn at the little depot. Henry refused to pose at all today.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

So nice to have a kid who is old enough to take pictures!


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Look at this sweet face! I had to make silly noises to trick him into looking at me.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Then we went to the park and had a picnic. Chicken salad sandwiches, crudites and hummus, and fruit. I have to buy the hummus in the 100 calorie packs now b/c I just cannot be trusted.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Henry had been playing and playing on this, but he ran when he saw me coming.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Sprayer. That's the Trinity River in the background.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Down by the river.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Henry refused to look at the camera, but Todd talked like a duck to make him smile.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Memorial Day...in a nutshell

Leo played with neighbors all day. We had all the boys over in the morning, and he went swimming next door in the afternoon. (We have a first grade boy on one side of us, and then triplet first-grade boys on the other side. Very convenient!)

Henry went to LA to stay with Brooksie. She is already out of school.

I made this bag. I had cut the pieces last year and finally got around to sewing it up.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Todd did this. (This is his fun project....not for work. He told me what it does, but you know....in one ear... Ha! Just kidding, it's some sort of file system for our family files that we need to save and access easily, such as photos.)

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

We grilled burgers for dinner! That's about it! A good day.