Zoo Part 3,4,and 5

On Wednesday the day started off by cleaning barn stalls.  Me and a few other people had the sheep.  Most of the sheep's were easy to get out of the stalls except poopy who of course was pooping.  After that we went to the sea lion show where we saw the see lion do many tricks.  After the cool sea lion show we got to go to the alligator feeding.  The alligator loved to do tricks for food.  

The Alligators name was Wally and he was big.  This Picture is what he looked like with fish in his mouth.  After that we went to lunch and I got a cool pic of a large mouth Bass.  After that we watched the sheep and goats in the contact yard.  Then we got to go feed the pigs.  After that my teacher brought out this cool mini owl.  I thought the mini owl was really cool!  Finally we got to see the pelicans.  To end the day we got to see the birds.  It was a good day.

Thursday
Today all we really learned about was how to train the zoo animals and how to get trained.  We learned that some animals use clickers to train and others use whistles.  When you click the clicker or whistle the whistle it tells the animals they did a good job so they will get a reward.

Friday 
On Friday we got to ride the carousel one more time but this time I rode the baboon!  We also got to feed the parakeets and I was taking a picture of one on my arm when BUZZ, one of the parakeets flew strait in front of my camera so I ended up with a weird but cool picture of a parakeet right in front of my camera. Then we got to ride the Red Diamond Express Train.  It was a great tour. 

After the ride we went to see the tiger and he looked really cool.  Then we saw a wild cat but it was so tiny.  Then we got to see a Piranha and he had a lot of teeth.  After that we saw a tired wild cat and one of them was running around and the other one was sleeping.  Then we saw a star nosed mole.  Then we saw G's favorite animal in the zoo, the squirrel.  After that we saw the red panda.  After that we saw a turtle giving another turtle a back massage.  Last but not least we saw a gorilla eating.

The End

                                                                        
 

G's Birthday with Pics

 G had a LEGO celebration for his birthday....with some water play thrown in since Alabama in July is miserable (can't wait for August---I am sweating just thinking about it).
The party began with a craft project.  I had paint sticks already painted to sort of look like LEGO men and the kids added their own details to personalize.  Several baseball players and then some funny guys ended up being the cute bookmark take home craft.  I loved the way they peeked out of the goodie bags.

 Water play!  Nothing says Happy Birthday like being pounded with water guns and running in the sprinklers!

 LEGO cakes!  YUMMY!

 After the party was over we went inside and looked at all the cool cards G's friends made for him (we don't allow gifts; each guest makes a card or picture that G keeps in his birthday book).  Some of the cards were very creative.  G loves looking over them and displaying them on the mantle.

 On the true day of G's birthday we had a small celebration with cake, LEGO of course.

 And G's family scavenger hunt for gifts around the house.  His big gift this year was a Kindle Touch reader, so his other gifts were smaller tokens.

So hard to believe that G is already 8.  love and hugs, B

Zoo Camp Part 2

So today started off cleaning the animals cages.  Me and another group of boys got to clean out the stall of four sheep, It was a lot of work but we got the job done.  Then I had to shove a syringe and have half of my hand down a chickens throat just to give it medicine. [Now I get why my Mom had to sign a release form]  Then we went back to the classroom to see our three guest animals! They were a desert snake,gecko, and a lizard, I even got to pet a snake. Then I got to play with the hedgehog again!  Then we got to go to the animal hospital.  They had a lot of sick animals that were in quarantine.  Then we walked around the section of the zoo that has reptiles.  After that we did the afternoon round of cleaning the cages. After the cleaning the cages part we all walked to the primates part of the zoo. Last but not least after that I went home and was very tired.  Overall it was a fun day.

Zoo Part 1!!!

Hello everybody this is Eli blogging about my zoo camp experience.  I am here to tell you about my crazy twisted adventure of the zoo!  So on Monday it all started off in the car with my Dad at 8:15AM.  I had mixed feelings about the Zoo"was my teacher going to like me? will any of my friends be their."  As we edged closer I started to notice everything would be alright.  The day all started off with me getting two new shirts.  Then we walked around the zoo and saw many animals.  then we saw Lenora the otter!  She was so pretty                                                   
          
This picture is what she kind of looked like.  Then we got to ride the carousel.  Knowing me if any of you do, I am trying to find the weirdest animal yet!  I had to choose between an ostrich,manatee, or a baboon, and of course I chose the manatee cause they look like an elephant and dolphin mixed.[no offense to manatees]  Then we went to the animal diet and food center and we got a good old fashioned 50 cent tour!  While we where in there we got to go inside their giant pantry and their giant mega freezer, they kept it down at -20 degrees![brrrr!]  The worst part about the freezer besides it was cold was that it was really cold and that they had birds at the zoo so in the freezer they had bloody dead rats,bunny's, and baby chicks.  then I got to play with my Moms favorite pet, a hedgehog named Prickles! After that I got to got see a wildlife show and then I got to go home and I was so tired when the day was over.

Happy Birthday G!!!

Just a quick post to say a quick Happy Birthday to G and tell you pics of the celebration are coming and I had to post this particular picture.   Let me explain E and M's birth day's first.  Hospital policy where we had E  (emergency c-section) was that the baby was immediately removed to the nursery for evaluation and shots and vitals and I did not see him for at least 2 hours after he was born.  M (also c-section ---- all c-sections) was born at a hospital that would have let him stay with me the first hour, but I was so tired and so sick from the anesthesia that I was scared to have him near because I thought I would throw up on him.  With E and M I (obviously) formed a loving bond, but it took a bit longer. I missed that first hour that I couldn't get back.

This takes us to G's birth day. The hospital had a firm policy of baby stays with the mommy unless it was dangerous for either.  They were so firm about it that after surgery D was not even allowed to carry G back to the room, he traveled on the gurney with me.  And when we arrived in the room where we would spend the first hour this picture was the first picture D took of us together and it was just after I spoke to G.  And when I spoke to him he looked at me and had this wonderful look of recognition in his eye like he would have said "Oh! you are the one I have been listening to for all these months.  I know that voice!".   And in that moment G became my sweet little cuddler. 

Happy Birthday G!

love and hugs, B 

I'm Here To Say I'm Not Here

I am under the weather...really. In Alabama (like many places) when the weather gets extremely hot we get ozone warnings or air quality warnings which means people with asthma or other breathing issues should not spend long periods outside. I never gave much thought to these as my asthma only rears it ugly head around pet dander and the occassional seasonal episode. Last Friday began with some coughing and gradually upgraded to wheezing then spiraled Saturday and Sunday into full blown misery of coughing, wheezing, exhausted, feverish, delirious. Monday I went to the doctor and got a diagnosis of upper respitory infection. Monday and Tuesday were kind of a blur with the kids really doing a great job of managing the house and themselves and putting together meals with light supervision. Wednesday D was off and put things like laundry back in order and I started to come around a bit. While I am still making progress it is slow (is this what getting old is because I don't like it) so I am going to drop the blog for a week or so (more) and spend time getting my health and my house back in order. Will return when everything is more normal with updates on kids and such. love and hugs, B