to the zoo (for my 39th birthday)

I've officially entered the last year of my 30s.  To ease the pain and utter disbelief, Cammy came to visit!  I hadn't made any big plans because I wasn't sure what Cammy would feel like doing, though I knew for sure that a big Mexican dinner would be involved!  We had already planned to take our Christmas card photo on Saturday morning, so we decided that since the afternoon was free we'd go to the zoo.  We haven't been yet, and the temperatures dipped down into the high 50s and low 60s, so the day was perfect.

First stop was the giraffes - they were chasing the ostrichs away from the snacks the trainers were handing out! Once the lettuce leaves ran out, they begrudgingly hung out with each other.

Barrett loved these longhorns...

The reptile house was fantastic, and we met the Anegada Island Iguana, whose slight smile just tickled me.

This Meller's chameleon reminded me of the cranky old chameleon from the movie "Sing!"

The Komodo dragon, just napping and peeking out at the gawkers...

There is a central koi pond, with jack o'lantern buckets hanging from the trees.  This place was so serene and would make the perfect place for family portraits.  

The hubs jokingly claimed to need to see this animal - the tapir, solely because he wanted to keep saying the word "tapir"!  We found them snoozing in a huddle.

Next door to them were these giant rats.  I had flashbacks of the rodents of unusual size in the fire swamp in "The Princess Bride."  They gave me the willies, and I moved on pretty quickly!

My favorite animal - the Asian elephant.  Elephants never disappoint, and this one was just chowing down, meandering around the pen.

This cougar, the University of Houston mascot Shasta, was snoozing away, when he spied his trainer, who was standing next to us outside the enclosure.  He started stalking her, and she explained that he thought she had treats for him!  She said the treats are goats milk and horse meat, because it's lean.

Can one ever tire of the gentle meerkat?  That simple standing pose, hands resting on the belly, and constant vigilance for any threat.  I love these meerkats.  One meerkat had only three legs - the zoo keeper said he had injured a leg and it didn't heal correctly.  The meerkat didn't seem to notice, as he got around very well!

Even though we were tired from trekking around the zoo for hours, we went to dinner at Uncle Julio's because I require Mexican food on my birthday!  Plus, Cammy hadn't had Mexican food and it is a must in Texas.  We came home afterwards for singing and cake - I'm not a "celebration at the restaurant" kind of person!  A beautiful day, with my family, made ringing in "39" a bit better!

harry pumpkin

Every year Britton's school library has a pumpkin decorating contest.  The rules are simple - the character must be from a book, and no carving the pumpkins!  Last year we made Cinderella's coach, and it was awesome.   I just realized that I never posted about last year's pumpkin, so here it is:

This year's pumpkin character was a no-brainer because we are currently halfway through the sixth book, and yes, that my friends is our old pal Harry Potter.  

This pumpkin took a while to paint, because we had to paint in stages.  First the peach paint, then another coat (drying thoroughly between), then the black glasses, pupils, and hair.  Britton had the great idea of making the hair edge uneven to look more like real hair, and I think it looks fantastic.  We painted the pumpkin stalk up top black, since Harry Potter's hair is always described as sticking up and being unruly.  And despite Daniel Radcliffe's eye color in the movies, Harry Potter in the book is described as having green eyes (just like his mother, sigh), so we stayed true to that detail too.

I sewed the scarf out of scraps, then hot-glued it around the "mouth" section of the pumpkin.  I printed out the words that bring the Marauder's Map to life, and a phrase known to Harry Potter fans well - "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good" - and we modge-podged it onto the back of his head.  The backs of the pumpkin aren't displayed, but it was a fun little nod to the book.

I made the wand out of a chopstick and some hot glue, then painted it and added gel stain.  Of all the parts, this turned out way better than I expected!  I just propped it up next to the pumpkin, so hopefully it won't be swiped in the library.

Once we were finished completely, Britton congratulated herself on a job well-done with Nella snuggles on the couch!

all fired up

Our local fire station had an open house today, and the kids were excited to stop by.  We were woken this morning by thunderstorms, so I thought we might get rained out, but after lunch the sun came out and we decided to check it out.  The rain kept the crowds small, so we were able to walk right up and get a good look at the fire station and trucks.  Barrett insisted on wearing his fireman costume, of course!  And adorably, he wore his Paw Patrol "Marshall" socks - yes, the dog who is a fireman!

They had a house set up with "fire" boards you knocked over with the fire house.  Barrett loved this part most of all, because he could then feel like a real fireman!

Barrett and Britton wanted nothing to do with touring the ambulance, but they did hop up into the hook and ladder truck.  When we were arriving, a couple of trucks were leaving on a real emergency call, but they returned about 20 minutes later and all the kids clamored onto the returning trucks!

They had this great trailer, where you could see, through a large window, how quickly a curtain or sheet would go up in flames.  They then put the fire out.  But it was a fantastic demonstration to remind us how quickly fire becomes devastating.  So often our weekends become the routine of gymnastics, birthday parties, grocery store runs, and the like, that we could go weeks without interjecting something new.  This quick trip to the fire station was a nice addition to our lazy Sunday!

barrett: 53 months old

I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again - this kid is just a light!  His smile is infectious, he's rambunctious and sweet and loves swinging and some days it seems like all he'll eat is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  I rarely get sass from this one, but when I do, whew, he erupts until he's finished.  Mostly though, Barrett is content to follow Britton around, play with Paw Patrol toys, watch videos on his Kindle, and chase Nella through the house.  

He surprised us with the "There are Seven Days in a Week" song AND sang the days all in order!  At school they are learning about calendars, days of the week, and weekdays versus weekends.  Despite learning about calendars, Barrett is convinced Christmas is next week, if only because he really wants some Paw Patrol Sea Patrol toys and I had him write them on his Christmas list for Santa.  He insisted on writing the list himself, and in the end the list consists of his name written a couple of times, but it's fun to cheer this guy on - he's firmly in the "do it myself" realm.

He loves wrestling and being tossed around, and evidenced by his fun with the hubs this morning!

His beloved Paw Patrol Look-Out, Paw Patroller, and various trucks and figures.  There are some "Cars" vehicles in there too, for good measure.  

Likes:  hot dogs with cheese/mustard/onions, running laps at the park (I set my stopwatch and time him and Britton - the competition wears them out!), Thomas the Tank Engine books

Dislikes:  eating dinner (he's either famished or not hungry at all - there's no in between these days)

parade of cultures

When we moved to Texas, we knew full well that it'd be the most diverse place we've ever lived.  The most common route for U-Haul rentals is California to Texas, and while we've met a ton of people here, not many originally hail from Houston.  In Britton's elementary school, over 32 languages are spoken in the collective students' homes!  And the amazing thing is, people are overwhelmingly accepting of different cultures, languages, customs, and appearances.  Differences are celebrated, and that includes Barrett's preschool's "Parade of Cultures."  This is also a great chance for the kids to learn about different countries/regions.  Barrett's class represented China!  They exited the building exclaiming "Ni hao!" ("hello" in Chinese).

Barrett spotted us amongst the throng of excited, cell-phone-at-the-ready parents and gave us a big smile!  We were encouraged to walk with the kids to the "parade route" (a sectioned off part of the back field).  I think the teachers wanted us to get the kids moving!

The boys in the class made pellet drums, while the girls made fans (all out of paper plates).  The other classes represented Brazil, Antarctica, Italy, Mexico, USA, India, and Australia.  Each classroom had activities and food from their area!

Barrett was definitely hungry, because he sampled the Chinese noodles, nachos, pizza, meatballs, and naan bread!  We toured every classroom in order to get a sticker for the map, then Barrett got to pick out his reward - some play-do and fruit snacks.  

He was so proud of knowing how to say ni hao and knowing about China, and was excited to show us the other classrooms too.  The Parade of Cultures was a success!

98 months old

This smiling girl is loving being 8 years old!  As we get back into school, and move towards the trifecta of holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas), Britton is busy as ever.  She's starting Robotics Club on Thursday, since the math clubs were too full.  And she's still taking piano and gymnastics weekly.  One thing she hasn't been doing lately - bike riding!  Poor thing's back tire split, so until she gets a replacement tire, she's walking the neighborhood to friends' houses.  

Britton is doing multiplication and division in math, forms of matter in science, and plurals (-s, es) and -ing in spelling.  We are a mere 50 pages from finishing the fifth Harry Potter book (whew, all 870 pages), and Britton is ready to steam forward on the sixth and seventh books of the series.  I love that she still wants me to read to her every night, and I'll keep doing it until she kicks me out.  

Likes:  candy corn, Kidz Bop, the banana floatie, picking out scrap fabrics for her quilt for Nella

Dislikes:  Nella running away from her