What does trouble look like?

But it is the cutest trouble I've ever seen...

Zoo in Austin

If you know me, you know I like to plan outings. I'm always coming up with something new to do - or so I'm told. Well, this past Thursday was spent on another one of my planned outings. Only, it didn't go like I planned. I blame part of it on being sick (bronchitis) so I didn't do the usual prep-work on the computer like planning a route, double-checking hours, etc. The other part can just be blamed on luck.

The day started off with a bit of a hitch. I had decided that since Remington naps around 1pm, we would leave as soon as we woke up. Dustin and I would wake before the boys and get ourselves ready. Then when they woke up, we would dress them and hop in the car. I had water packed and toasted some waffles to eat on the road. Dustin, on the other hand, had a different idea. He decided to stay in bed until the boys and I were ready. Then while we waited in the car munching on waffles, he got ready, got his camera equipment ready, packed his water, etc. We were in the car for 20 minutes. When Dustin finally got in, he said we shouldn't have had the car running that long. I had some choice words run through my head, but I just grinned as he started us down the driveway. Our next stop was McDonald's. What?!? Dustin decided he wanted McDonald's for breakfast... but by then it was after 10:30am. So we went to McDonald's anyway and bought lunch for later. Chicken nuggets are good hot or cold.

So we're off. And, while we were in the car waiting, I had programmed our destination into the GPS. The groupons I had bought for our zoo visit were at my feet. I should have gotten them out to find the address. But I was feeling tired/sick/lazy and just decided to look it up on the GPS itself. So I looked up attractions, then zoos, and it brought up the closest ones... NB Snake Farm, SA Zoo, Austin Zoo, Houston Zoo... Ah, must be the Austin Zoo. I knew we were going to a zoo in Austin. And there's certainly only 1 in Austin, right? That's all that came up on the GPS.

So we're driving... and driving.. and driving. Finally we make it to Austin. We exit for Slaughter Lane. We pull up to the stop light. When it turns green, Dustin turns left.

"Wait", I tell him. "You are going the wrong way!"

He looks at the GPS. "No I'm not."

"Yes you are. The zoo is out on the way to Bastrop."

"Um, the GPS says it's not."

"Well then what zoo did we see the signs for on our way to Bastrop a year ago?"

He looks at me. And keeps driving.

Oh well, I think. Can't argue with a GPS. We finally make it to the Austin Zoo. It was back behind some neighborhoods and down so many turns we think we might be lost. But we find it.

We pull into a parking spot, unload the stroller and the kids, get hats and sunglasses, purse, diaper bag, cameras, water bottles, etc and make our way into the gift shop. Whew! We made it! I hand Dustin the groupons, and uh oh - he sees that I bought 2 (enough for 4 general admissions). Time for a talk.

"Why did you buy 2 groupons?"

"Well, because I invited another couple to come with us but they said they didn't have any free weekends in June or July, and they couldn't come on a weekday."
"So why didn't we invite someone else?"
"Oh... I didn't think of that. I just figured it would cover us and Southern."
"But the adult prices are more expensive that the kid prices."
"Oh."

So with another forced grin, this time on his part, he handed the lady behind the counter our 2 groupons. She turns to the other lady and asks what to do for groupons. "Well, first of all," the other lady says, "those groupons are for the wrong zoo."

Dustin is dumbfounded. "See, it says Capital of Texas Zoo on the groupons," says the lady. "This is the Austin Zoo."

What do you say to that? Dustin said, "we need to talk." He leaves. The kids and I follow. We get back out to the car. There is some high blood pressure going. By then it was almost noon. Remington naps at 1pm, and we're on the completely wrong side of Austin to go to the zoo we had planned on going to. I suggested just paying and going to this zoo then coming back the next day to go to the other. Dustin suggested just skipping zoos altogether and going to Cabela's.

Poor Southern was so looking forward to the zoo. We just had to go! Remington fell asleep early and was able to get half of his nap in while we drove to the other zoo. This time we used the groupons with their address to input into the GPS. My job was to tell Dustin how to get there as we drove. I did a great job up until the last stretch. We were a couple miles from our final turn. Dustin was driving about 70 mph. I swear I just blinked, but I was so tired my eyes must have stayed shut longer. I opened them in time to see our turn. "There! Turn left now!" I say as we pass it up. Yet another forced grin. Dustin slows, makes a u-turn, and goes back. We get on the right road and continue driving. We pass pastures and trailer houses. The GPS says we have arrived. We see more trailer houses. We drive until the gravel road dead ends. We turn around. On our way back, Dustin says, "they should have a sign, right?" They did. It was a pink poster board with "zoo" written on in marker hanging up on the barbed-wire fence. Wow. We turn in another gravel road that looks like a driveway. We keep driving until it dead ends into a parking lot. Okay, here's the zoo! More wire fences, a Morgan building-type front office, and 3 other cars in the parking lot. We see ducks on the other side of the fence. Dustin decides to go in alone first.

The kids and I are waiting in the car again. We wait... and wait... and then I see Dustin's head poke out of the front office. He yells, "honk the horn!" "What?" "Trust me. Just honk the horn." Turns out no one was in the office, and a sign inside suggested waiting guests to honk for service. Another wow.

But we're here, and the kids are excited. We unload and walk up to the front office. The stroller would not work here, so we just leave it and most of our stuff in the car.

The kids immediately start shopping.

Hard to have a negative outlook with this little face looking up at you :)

And it turned out to be fun!

It wasn't anything like the San Antonio Zoo, but it took a lot of hard work to set this up. While it was more on the "homemade" side, the kids couldn't tell the difference and that was enough for me.

Some of the exhibits were not "typical" when thinking of the San Antonio Zoo. The strangest to me was the huge guinea pig pit, and the large fenced-in pony exhibit. With one pony.

But, again, the kids loved it. Remington's favorite exhibit was the pot-bellied pigs. We stood there for at least 10 minutes while he stared and stared. Southern's favorite was the tiger even though she (he?) was sleeping.

My favorite was the lion. Most of the time, male lions in zoos lose their manes. This one had his. He was so beautiful and majestic sitting there.

And of course, Dustin was in his element as long as he had his camera with him.

I count this trip as a success! (for the most part)

Swim Lessons - Summer 2012

Southern recently completed his final day of a 4-part session of private swimming lessons at the local park's aquatics center. It was so much fun, and we got so many compliements on him - from other parents, lifegaurds, instructors, and even the manager. Most people couldn't believe he was only 3. Most people couldn't believe it was his first set of swimming lessons. We took many pictures and videos, and the 4 short video clips on this blog were taken his final day.

You can see in the video above, he is already swimming in short bursts without help.

He is a great kicker!

He can dive to the bottom (with a little push), grab "Mr Fishy", and come back up without help. Melissa, his swimming instructor, would keep her hands nearby just in case he needed help but would try to let him do most things on his own. She was great with him and said he was such a good student.

 

And, the final part of the lesson - crazy jumps. She would help him out of the pool, and he would run back to the edge and jump in. He had a blast! (In fact, he asked me again today if we could go to swimming lessons.)

Summer Reading Program 2012

The boys have completed the summer reading program offered by our library. They had to read (or have read to them) 20 books. We finished that quickly and waited for the deadline to turn in our reading lists. Each boy got a certificate with his name on it signed by 4 people including the Governor of Texas.

They also each got to pick out a small toy from a treasure chest. Southern picked out a horse head finger puppet (which he is showing the camera in this photo). He picked out a little rubber tiger for Remington (you can kind of see it in Remington's left hand).

And they both got to pick out a free book. I picked a small board book on Texas for Remington. Southern picked out this book about dolphins and sharks.

I love reading, and I love that my boys love reading too!! It's great to live in a town that has such a fun and active library for these guys to grow up with. As you know from previous posts, you can find us here at least once a week! (Oh, and the choice of reindeer socks in June paired with Crocs was all Southern...)

13 Months Old

At 13 months old, Remington, you are a handful.
- You love to play with big brother. You guys can chase, play peep-eye, look at books, play with toys, swim in the backyard, splash around in the tub, and laugh at and with each other for hours. Southern has learned how to say, "gimme some skin" and stick out his hand. You give him a high five each time, and you both laugh.
- Your favorite toy is a noisy little Noah's ark that you got from Cindy Edwards for your first birthday. We keep it in the car, and you look at it and push buttons on it almost every day without ever tiring of it.
- You can "cheese". As soon as we bring out a camera, you are ready with your toothy grin :)
- You love to eat with a fork. We have to help you stab things with it, but you can put the food into your mouth by yourself.
- You like to wave and say "haaa" to tell people hi.
- When Southern tells you "night-night, Remington", you wave at him. When Mommy puts you in your crib at night and says "see you in the morning", you wave at her.
- You still don't want to sit still long enough for a diaper change.
- You like to clap and will do so after Southern or Mommy sings to you.
- You like to pray. You will put your little hands together before each meal, even before touching your food. The other day, I set out a snack of yogurt bites for you and brother to share, and you even wanted to pray then.
- You wear size 5 or 6 shoes depending on the brand.
- You are in size 4 diapers and size M swimmy diapers.
- You wear size 18 mo - 2t tops and size 12 mo - 24 mo bottoms.
- Your 24 mo and 2t pajamas are tight on you.
- When Daddy lays on the ground, Southern will tackle him and you join right in too.
- You would rather hold hands and walk than be carried somewhere.
- You're not quite ready to give up breastfeeding. We are down to one meal at night before bed, and we tried going without it for two nights in a row. You were really fussy and sad each day, so we are back at it. We'll wait until you are ready.