The Zoo... Again!
Today Bubba and I met up with an old friend at the zoo. Yup, the zoo for the second time in a week and a half. I've officially gone more often than I did in the last decade, I think. Hooray for awesome aunties who give little boys memberships! Of course, we didn't stop to think that today was a freaking holiday and that perhaps everyone and their mother was going to be there. I knew I was in trouble when I was running a few minutes behind and then saw a giant sign that said ZOO PARKING FULL - NEXT RIGHT FOR PARKING. Um, yeah, I didn't think so. Not only were they charging $5 for that lot (the zoo lot is free) but it was about a 1/2 mile hike from there to the front entrance to the zoo. I took my chances with the zoo lot, and managed to find parking in a far aisle.
Of course, I couldn't call my friend and let her know why I was late because I forgot my cell phone at home. Of course. Luckily the nice guy in the gift shop let me use their phone, which I used to call my husband (the only phone number I have memorized besides my own) who called my friend and told her where I was. I swear I have some serious talent some days.
My friend and I used to work together like a decade ago for GM doing roadside assistance in a call center. She actually is the one who introduced me to my husband. Bubba is five months older than her daughter. Aren't they cute?
I swear that boy has his father's exact facial expressions.
We didn't walk the whole zoo like we did last time. We did see some animals that we missed last time though, like the zebras.
This guy walked right up to the edge of the habitat and just stared at all the people staring at him for several minutes.
We also went to see the little monkeys.
It was crazy! They have this enclosure where they let you in and the monkeys are just in the trees all around you. They're climbing on vines over the walkways and swinging in the trees right over your head. Insane.
You do get strict instructions to not touch the monkeys and also to wash your hands when you leave because, as the worker said, "Monkeys pee on everything."
After the zoo we made a stop at Joann, and then grabbed lunch. Look at our big kids!
After that we stopped in a shop to look at some home decor. That's when Bubba decided that good behavior time was OH-VAH and proceeded to act like the biggest turd ever.
That's right. I called my child a turd. Hey, if the shoe fits, you know?
We had to beat a hasty retreat, which led to a full blown tantrum by the time we made it to the car. Today, my kid was THAT kid. Ugh. So embarrassing. At least he slept all the way home, which was probably the problem in the first place.
Oh! I wanted to share this picture we got at the zoo.
They were doing a milk promotion there and giving away free milk. They also had these milk mustache stickers that you could put on for a photo. Too funny!
It was taken with
one of these.
Okay, so I will admit I never have been a fan of Polaroids (except fake ones on my phone, hooray Shake It Photo and Instagram!) but I am so smitten with the tiny pictures this thing spits out. They're like the cutest things EVER!!! I need to find a way to make some extra $$$ so I can buy myself one.
It only took two years
But the Fehlings have finally gotten around to taking our off spring to the Phoenix Zoo. Of course it wouldn'tt have been possible without the generous gift of a Zoo Membership from my sister in law. My mother in law was in town for a visit this weekend so she came with us to be part of this experience. The first thing we saw were wallabys. There's a giant stone one outside of he enclosure that has a large belly pouch where kids can play and pose for photos.
Then we got to go inside the enclosure with them. A simple rope was hung to show how far you could go, but really, you would be about 2 feet from them. I thought that was pretty dang cool.
The zoo has some Koala bears on loan from the San Diego zoo. They look so very soft, and so ver bored.
Some little monkey showing off his business. Scandal at the zoo!!!
Dirty Beetles. I'm telling you people, it's an epidemic.
We came across some life sized animal sculptures that were fun for photos.
Babboon flea baths/snacktime. Ew.
Over in the kid's area Bubba got to ride a tractor.
He tried on some saddles.
He doesn't seem particularly impressed.
I have a photo of myself with this stone frog.
Big ass parrots are exciting!
The tiger hopped on that rock and started to mug for the camera.
They have a platform you can climb to see the giraffes from their height. Bubba was in love with all the steps.
Uncooperative giraffes, uncooperative Blogger.
Resting finally after a long day of walking!
Sleeping
When it came to the idea of watching someone while they slept, I always felt that it was a little bit creepy. Then I had this boy.
I just love him so much!
Happy Halloween!
Today, we loaded the boy and his Halloween costume into the car and drove over to his Godparent's house.
There, we dressed him up so that he could go out trick or treating for his first time!
I made his costume this year. I have this photo of his father at about the same age that I used for inspiration.
I found the pattern on sale for $2 at Joann. The fabric was surprisingly hard to find. It wasn't until about my 7th or 8th fabric store that I located it, and even there it was on clearance!
I didn't bother making the hat because I knew the boy wouldn't wear it. I left off the rick rack on the sleeves because I forgot to buy some and didn't feel like going out again. I did add the pom poms on the front because I liked them.
The pattern was really hard and made me say a lot of bad words. It was sized for a ten year old child, and then you had to add length to make it for an adult and subtract length for a toddler. I had a hard time figuring out from where I was supposed to subtract, and I'm not very good at taking measurements. The legs ended up a little short because I didn't take his diaper into account properly.
We just went up and down the street where they lived because I really didn't think he needed that much candy. Even though we just did that one block and not every house was handing out stuff, he still got a good amount of loot.
I made him a treat bag from the leftover fabric. I didn't have a pattern for that, but I've done a simple lined bag before so it wasn't hard. He refused to carry the bag though, so I had to do it. He did a good job of saying "trick or treat" when prompted (although sometimes all that came out was "treat!") and also saying "thank you."
I think he liked getting to touch everyone's cars in the driveways better than getting candy. One guy was dressed as a pirate complete with a real live parrot and that was a hit too. He didn't even get scared of the animatronic monsters in one woman's driveway! He did such a good job for it being his first time out.
When we got back to the house he had a sucker while we watched some football and the grownups helped themselves to some of his candy. Not a bad end to the night!
A Day at the "Patch"
Today, we took the boy to pick out a pumpkin for our jack 'o lantern.
One of the
moms in our playgroup posted photos of her two boys in these adorable bow ties last week. She made the observation that while moms of little girls get all sorts of cute things like tutus and oversized hair decorations, moms of boys pretty much get robbed in the cute department. She set out to find some cute thing (besides hats, of course) for her boys and came across this pattern for bow ties. I just loved them and she was nice enough to help me make one for Bubba.
Nothing says "Autumn" like Palm Trees and Pumpkins!
As you can see, around here pumpkin patches are just bunches of pallets full of pumpkins that have been trucked in from somewhere. Most of them are in the parking lots of various stores (and are later converted to Christmas tree lots) but this one was on the front lawn of a nearby church.
They had wagons there for you to load up with your selections. Bubba was a fan.
You like my snazzy new houndstooth scarf? Just two dollars at the Goodwill, baby! It wasn't cold enough to actually wear one though. I just put it on for the photo and then carried it in my purse because I'm a cheater. I think it was over 80 degrees today.
We stopped off by his godparent's house to visit them before we headed home. They were nice enough to lend us carving tools when I mentioned we were going to stop and buy some on the way home.
His job was to put the seeds in the bowl.
He tried scraping the pumpkin but decided he did not like the way the guts felt on his hands.
The finished creations! Yeah... the one on the right was supposed to be a cat but ended up looking like a raccoon. Whoops.
I set them out on the steps. I found some fake votives at the Dollar Tree. They even flicker like a real candle. There were two in a package for just a dollar! Gotta love that, and also, gotta love knowing I'm not going to set the building on fire, you know?
I swear that boy has his father's exact facial expressions.
We didn't walk the whole zoo like we did last time. We did see some animals that we missed last time though, like the zebras.
This guy walked right up to the edge of the habitat and just stared at all the people staring at him for several minutes.
We also went to see the little monkeys.
It was crazy! They have this enclosure where they let you in and the monkeys are just in the trees all around you. They're climbing on vines over the walkways and swinging in the trees right over your head. Insane.
After the zoo we made a stop at Joann, and then grabbed lunch. Look at our big kids!
After that we stopped in a shop to look at some home decor. That's when Bubba decided that good behavior time was OH-VAH and proceeded to act like the biggest turd ever.
They were doing a milk promotion there and giving away free milk. They also had these milk mustache stickers that you could put on for a photo. Too funny!
