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."

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


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


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Komodo Dragon

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Statue of Komodo Dragon

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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.


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Photo by Leo:

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Milk break:


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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.


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We always feed the birds...

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Now it's Leo's turn...

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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?


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Another kid picture...

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

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

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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.


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They played while I finished.


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Our lunch entertainment.

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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.

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My Napper

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(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.