Day At The Zoo

A trip to the zoo on a random sunny Friday in the middle of April...

No particular day at all. Well before summer break and long after spring break...

We'll get there when it opens and have PLENTY of time to see everything! No crowds to deal with. Just us and the animals.

What a swell idea for playgroup!

It was until we pulled up behind.... oh! about TWENTY or so school buses.

...with their hooligan children, pushy parents, and even pushier teachers, who had the same idea. Fine. We took our place in line between one group of rowdy, excited kids dressed in matching blue t-shirts and another.

"Umm, we're in a group... together," a mom in a blue t-shirt informed me, "You need to make way."

"Umm, no."

"Well, we have to stand RIGHT NEXT to one other in line," she said pointing to a similar group in front of us.

"Yeah, but there's only one line, three of us, and about a hundred of you... I don't think you'll lose one another. Now, stop trying to cut."

Once we pushed past the long lines, we barely made in to catch "feeding time"...

"Mommy, I want TEDDY GRAHAMS! Me, too! Me, too!"

Once the kids were fed and happily cruising in their respective strollers, the rest of our zoo visit wasn't too bad. The long-anticipated penguin exhibit finally opened to the public...

We got to feed the parakeets...

"Mmmm, everything is better on a stick"

...and see zebra butts.


We also paid a visit to this splendid gorilla, who looked about as pleased about the crowds of gawking humans as we were...


Upon closer observation, I noticed that he was actually eying a female gorilla with her lady bits "up in the air like she just don't care".

As I took this photo, a little grade-school boy charged the barrier next to me and started yelling, "Hey, look that monkey has two BUTTS!" Then, he turned to me and sweetly asked, "Why does that monkey have two butts?"

"Yeeeeeah, kid. That's two butts alright.... "

What? I certainly wasn't going to be the strange lady at the zoo telling him what's what only to have him go home and ask, "Mommy, what's a va-jay-jay?"

Okay, moving on... and next to the gorillas, we find the zoo's world famous "people exhibit"...

I'm only kidding. That's not where they keep the "people exhibit", Silly.

Birthday v2.0: Part-ies

If you missed the first installment, you can find it here. The second installment is here. For those of you rolling your eyes, I promise to find something other than my son's birthday to blog about soon...

So yesterday when I said that our ride on Thomas the Tank Engine with his six friends from playgroup was supposed to be my son's only big birthday celebration, I wasn't lying... exactly. In an effort to keep things simple, it was supposed to be the only thing...

Before I heard about "Day Out With Thomas", Hubby and I considered taking a family trip to SeaWorld in San Antonio over his birthday weekend. While it probably would have been just as expensive as throwing a party (or two parties in this case), it would have been LESS insane to plan for...

You see, I actually abhor the "bigger is better for birthdays" philosophy. We have just as much fun at parties held in a backyard or at the park as we do at Chuck E Cheese or the Wiggly Play Center. With so many parents turning their noses at big-budget kid's parties, it’s more of a statement if you don't have one too.

I feel absolutely no need to compete with any of the other parents we know. If anything, they would have to compete with us, because no matter how much we say that we want keep things low-key and small, we can't help ourselves. The word "simple" just isn't in our vocabulary.

We look at it this way... We have been blessed with so many wonderful friends and an awesome family, we LOVE throwing parties, and we adore our son. So what better excuse to invite all of our friends to a party for our son than his BIRTHDAY?! And that's where things start to unravel...

Next thing you know I'm stressing over the societal implications of our party favors, staying up late to mix party CDs, and antagonizing my local bakery...

Amidst the frenzy of planning and preparing, I kept asking myself, "who am I really do this for?" I mean, here I am dragging my son along to pick out birthday hats and balloon, instead of taking him to the park... "Is this really worth it?"

All it takes is this happy little face to know that it was!

"Thank you, Mommy. You throw a great party and have such shiny hair!"

But still... Next time when I promise to keep things smallish, simple, and low-key, do me a BIG favor and please hold me too it.

By the way, Gymboree did a FANTASIC job with the 12 two-year-olds, 3 baby sisters, 2 big brothers, and 1 five-year-old cousin that ended up making it to the party, as you can probably tell from the photos.

They were so imaginative, warm, and engaging. The best part? They took care of everything once we got there, which means no messy colored frosting on my walls and kitchen floor.

Birthday V2.0: Part II

If you missed the first installment, you can find it here.

As you smarty pants out there have probably figured out, there was just so much birthday stuff to blog about that I decided to do a series of posts versus one very long one. This is probably fitting since my son's birthday has pretty much consumed my entire existence for the past two weeks... at least.

If that sounds like the equivalent to other people's vacation photos to you, then please feel free to tune out this week. I will totally understand. Totally.

Now where was I? Ah, yes... So, guess what rolled into town but only for a very limited engagement?

Ummm, only an opportunity to ride on Thomas the Tank Engine ON my son's birthday.

We just HAD to go. I booked our tickets four months ago when I first heard about it and convinced my playgroup to do the same. It was supposed to be my son's ONE big birthday celebration with his friends. HA! (But more on that later....)

Planning that far ahead of time with a group a two-year-olds is always very dicey. I've been known to cancel outings the morning of, simply because my son woke up with a 'tude. Usually it's not a problem when the activity in question is playing in the park or dropping by a friend's house, but these tickets cost $60!

In my book, that's a lot of money to just say, "Pfff... I guess we'll just stay home if you really don't want to wear pants today..."

The ride itself was pretty uneventful. I believe the highlight for my son was being in a moving vehicle and NOT confined to a car seat. Frankly, he and his friends looked a little stunned to be there the whole time...

We were one of the last groups to get off the train, so by the time we got to the front there was a huge line to get your picture taken with Thomas. We braved it anyway, but just as we were about to take our turn Thomas had to leave for another "adventure".

This is Thomas pulling out of the station... and although, you don't see it, my son and I yelling and shaking our fists. "25 minutes until the next photo op. Peep! Peep!"

Bu-bye-bye, Thomas. You jerk!

In the meantime, there were other photo ops available. This Sir Topham Hatt with not-my-kid...

My son and his friends wanted nothing to do with Sir Topham Hatt. I mean, just look at the size of him in comparison to an "average" kid! I wouldn't want anything to do with him either. Furthermore, we wanted nothing to do with the line to take photos with him (especially not after our experience with Thomas.)

...and this is Sir Topham Hatt telling me to get back in line and stop...

ahem! ahem! "...causing confusion and delay...."

hehe! Yeah, I couldn't resist.

I'm a little embarrassed to admit this (to the whole Internet), but I think I was actually MORE excited about our adventure with Thomas than my son or any of his friends...

We eventually got our "official" photo with Thomas.

See, that's our family on that day our son turned 2!

Market Day!

After the fury over my ruined Sunday ended, I decided to reclaim my weekend by doing something FUN and positive for the whole family. Fortunately, this past weekend I was given the extra day to do so.

Ah, Labor Day! I'm not quite sure why we celebrate you, but I sure am glad for the bonus weekend and excellent sale merchandise nonetheless. Yea for Labor Day!

On Monday morning, my husband and I loaded our son and his bright red Radio Flyer into the car and headed downtown to the Dallas Farmers Market...

.... to peruse rows upon rows of the fragrant fruit...

... and hand-picked veggies grown in our home state!

The sellers were all too happy to offer samples from their crops and we were all too happy to accept them. (That's a slice of fresh cantaloupe my son is devouring in the comfort of his wagon.)

Several of the vendors took a deserved break for the holiday, so we weren't able to peruse the Market's array of meats and cheeses, nor the handmade goods that I've heard so much about. Oh well! I suppose there's always next time.

In spite of the humidity and possible threat of rain, it was a pleasant way to get some of the week's grocery shopping done AND support my local farmer!

A very satisfying day, indeed.

Halloween Comes Early...

Over weekend, my husband's friend was promoting his new book, Pantheon High, and a panelist at a major geekfest convention, which he invited us to attend as his guests. But not just any convention... it was A-KON (not likely to be confused with Akon)... 72 consecutive hours devoted to ANIME!!!! This friend, who was a groomsman at our wedding, actually credits my husband for introducing him to manga when they were in high school and now makes his living writing and selling it. Pretty cool, huh?

While I'm not into amine AT ALL, my son and I accompanied my husband and his friend for the "amusement factor". I fear that it was probably the first of many comic book convention for both of us.

In case you haven't figured it out yet, my husband is a geek. Okay, fine. I'm pretty geeky too... but like wine and ice cream, "geekiness" comes in a wine variety of flavors to suit a wide variety of pallets.

For instance, while he's into comic books, rants about Open Source, and remembered that last week marked Star Wars' 30th Anniversary, my husband doesn't participate in any...


He doesn't own any of this stuff


Nor does he dress up like this...

With the exception of Captain America, I don't have the slightest idea who or what any of them are and I'm okay with that.

From what I could tell, it was mostly high school and college kids that dressed up. Lots of weird and skanky things that they probably only get away with wearing because it's a "costume". It got pretty gross to see "grandma" dressed up too... and there was quite a bit of that as well.

The convention distinctly smelled of fried food, B.O., and sweaty, pimple-poping desperation was crowded. I heard they're quite the spectacle, but I wasn't prepared for what I witnessed. The hotel was booked solid all weekend. The exhibits, panels, workshops, gaming tournaments, contests, retail, and banquets took up the entire lobby and every ballroom, meeting room, bathroom, hallway, and closets that the hotel could offer... and it was wall-to-wall costumes!

Although we were actually having a good time, my son and I didn't stay long. We took separate cars so that I could get my son home for naptime and my husband could hang out with his friend well into the night...

As least, he called to say, "good night" and "don't wait up".

We're with Him

I am not even going to pretend that we're VIP enough to be invited to watch a Texas Rangers game in the style and comfort of a private suite on Memorial Day weekend on our own...

Nope, we have our son's connections to thank for that...

His friend's parents had some extra tickets for the game today. The first baseball game for both boys, by the way. The suite was generously provided by the dad's company and I suspect it was supposed to be a team-bonding event. There were a few of our friend's co-workers, their families... and us, but no one seemed to mind that we tagged along. Everyone enjoyed fussing and playing with the kids and our son's little pal seemed to like having a playmate.

It was sort of odd making small talk within a work environment that wasn't my own, but with a few years of schmoozing under my belt, I managed. I probably could have made more of an effort to socialize, but having an active and curious toddler makes that rather difficult...

As for the game, all I know is that we were playing the Boston Red Sox, I got to eat my obligatory ballpark hot dog, and the Rangers were ahead when we left... and that was fine by me

What? There's a baseball game going on... I thought I was just having to feed and take care of our son in yet another location.

Seriously, though. I was perfectly content just hanging out with my friend and seeing how much my son was enjoying himself. He had fun hanging on to the railing, dancing to the music, and watching the people below from atop his luxury view. I occasionally had to knock the half eaten peanut shell or sunflower seed found on the ground out of his hands, but that's just a typical active and curious toddler at work. I wonder if this is just a "boy" thing, or if little girl toddlers are the same way...

He was very well behaved for the first half of the game, but by the bottom of the fifth inning, he was nearing the edge of his stamina. I decided to take our "seventh inning stretch" a little early and walk the concourse with him. There, I was shocked to learn (although I don't know why...) that imported beer was a mere dollar more than water. How is that fair? There was also a little makeshift bar, where some Red Sox fans with thick Boston accents were heckling people and shouting some rather "colorful" things to say about someone's sister...

I was almost tempted to get an ice cream sundae (to share with my son, of course...), when we ran into our friends and my husband who had been looking for us. Apparently, their son had had enough baseball for one afternoon, thankyouverymuch, and was quite ready to head home. Although they offered to let us stay and enjoy rest of the game, we decided it was a good idea to do the same...

That was the best call of the game since our son was fast asleep in his stroller before we even reached our car.

Even though we had to leave early and I missed the entire game, I must say that it was a Sunday afternoon well spent.

Rain, Rain. Go Away. We're Going to the Zoo Today.

In spite of the 60% chance of rain...

... and that it rained all afternoon yesterday...

...and that it actually started raining on our way there, we went to the zoo today... again. Except this time, we took an excursion to the other side of the Metroplex to visit the Dallas Zoo with our mothers' group.

Why? Because we said we would, gosh darn it.

The rain let up once we arrived and stayed away while we waited for our group to assemble. Once we were merrily on our way, it came down in a downpour. A group of us huddled beneath a poorly thatched (so, this is what's it's like to live in a grass hut) roof in front of the penguin exhibit deciding whether we should...

A) Demand our money back and go next door to the zoo-themed McDonald's... (no refunds)

B) Call it a day and just go home, where it is safe and dry... (too easy, no)

C) Wait out the storm beneath the shelter of a nearby covered walkway.... (ding ding ding)

The kids didn't mind the rain. Heck, they were having a ball playing in it. Ah, to be young and carefree again!

I, on the other hand, was mentally chastising myself for forgetting to pack our umbrella and a towel like the other mommies had. Surely if I had thought to do that, it wouldn't have even rained. That's just how it works for me...

Fortunately, the mom we carpooled with thought to bring two.

As I waited for the rain to end with my son and the other moms, I wondered if this was going to worth it.

It was.

TGIF

Wow, there was a time when that phrase meant something to me...

"Whew-hew, it's the weekend. No more work. Two days to lay by the pool, go out, do nothing..."

These days the only difference between Saturday and, let's say Tuesday, it that my husband is home (which is very exciting) and people expect us to do stuff with them. Otherwise, my days pretty much run together. Especially since I tend to live life one play date at a time...

There are a few other instances of things of which I've become blissfully oblivious. For instance, last week, I was driving home from my parents' house and going along the highway at an even clip, until traffic came to a complete and total STANDSTILL.

What?! There was no construction. No accidents. No emergency vehicles speeding by.

I eyed the clock on the dash, which read 4:30. It was a bright and sunny Friday afternoon and the standstill was from the thousands of cars suddenly flooding the freeways. It was RUSH HOUR...

"Oh yeah," I thought to myself, "I forgot all about rush hour!"

That's what happens when you never really have to leave the suburbs... or your house, for that matter. An hour and a half and three detours later, I made it home from a trip that usually takes about 45 minutes non-stop.

Then, there are the things that I've sadly forgotten, like the luxury of the business lunch. Earlier this week, Self-Made Mom touched on one of the downsides to lunching with colleagues (one word: "Crackberry"). I admit that I once found business lunches with the likes of media reps and publishers to be tedious and an infringement on my precious time, too. Well, I'm here to tell you about the alternative... lunching with your toddler and his colleagues.

This week, my friends and I took our 1-year-olds to the Wiggly Play Center. (What? I TOLD you I was going...) After a very exciting and exhausting morning of "shaking our sillies out", we decide to forgo dining at the "Yummy Yummy Cafe" and grab lunch at one of the many, many other dining establishments nearby.

We chose a suitable location, called ahead for a table for "four adults and three highchairs", and took our mommy-mobile caravan on the road. When we arrived, we found that they had placed us in the very back corner (very smart). We situated ourselves and the kids immediately began taking turns going postal.

After receiving plenty of compliments on how well he ate his table food, my son thought, "I'll show them" (ha-ha) and proceeded to throw his food every which way but in his mouth. Little People were also flying in the air. (I should clarify they were Fisher-Price Little People, not actual people) Nearing nap time, the kids were restless and wanting to be anywhere besides the confines of a highchair.

Shortly thereafter, my friend's husband who works nearby joined our group. Fresh from some very important business meeting with "the consultants", he was completely taken aback by the sight that greeted him... Three disheveled moms and three little boys making baby small talk with one another at the top of their little lungs.

While I tried to distract one of the other kids with a game of Peek-a-Boo, my son took a spoon off of my plate and used it to eat some food off of the poor guy's plate. Then, my son became quite fascinated with the cell phone hanging from his belt and tried to STEAL it from him... and all this man wanted was a quiet, peaceful lunch with his wife and his kid. He hardly expected their buddies to tag along.

Did I mention that we were completely surrounded by large groups of business-attired folks, making uninterrupted adult small talk and nibbling daintily on their food. No one was looking for a speedy escape or begging the waiter to make theirs "to go" and the check, PLEASE!!! No messy bibs. No toys in tow. No noses to wipe. Just nice people taking their time and trying not to disapprovingly gawk at us.

I would gladly fight rush hour traffic on a Monday to get an hour or two in the middle of the day to lunch at the "big kids" table...even if it is with a media rep.

Photo 1 by traveller2020
Photo 2 by Jenblossom

Things I've been doing...

...instead of blogging this week.

I wish I could tell you that I was stricken with spring fever and have spent my days romping around the great outdoors with my son...

On the contrary, the first part of the week was rainy and damp. Ick! The closest I've come to "romping" was mowing the front lawn during my son's nap time (strictly under duress by our Homeowners Association, mind you). I also took my son swimming yesterday afternoon because it was just that much easier than actually cleaning the fruit smoothie off of him. (Don't ask.)

We made up for our time indoors by taking a "field trip" with our playgroup today. The mommies collective thought it would be an excellent morning to take our kids to the Fort Worth Zoo. Unfortunately, so did about TWENTY local ISDs...

I arrived at the zoo just as it opened and just in time to fall in line behind all of them ...

My son and I were surrounded by a sea of sights and sound. The summer vacation-bound kids wearing their matching hats, shirts, and/or name badges and the "cool teachers" chaperons sporting their Hawaiian garb and too-short shorts. Everyone was screaming. Everyone was hyper. Everyone had been assigned a buddy.

We were eventually joined by the rest of our playgroup, and off we went into the "World of Primates"- a stroller-parade with toddlers, sippy cups, cameras, and snacks for the day. We moved quickly through the crowded exhibits, clamoring for our turns to point to the furry animals and say to our sons, "Look it's an orangutan!". Then turn to one another to ask, "That is an orangutan, right?".

My son was fairly interested in the animals, but at thirteen months, honestly didn't know what to make of them. The rest of the time he was content to sit in his stroller and people watch. He even kept his hat on... most of the time. After two hours in the sun and the insanity, we decide to break for lunch. My son and I took off to visit the grandparents, who live nearby.

I really didn't mind all the little kids being at the zoo with us. For the most part, they stayed in their groups and were considerate of the babies. It was the middle school kids who were being tedious. First of all, I don't really understand the point of taking a class trip to the zoo when you're in JUNIOR HIGH.

They couldn't have been playing hookey since they were there with their matching shirts, name tags, and chaperons. The girls would run gossip back and forth through the various cliques and try to get the boys' attention by shrieking and acting oh so terrified of the bugs.

Um, heeeee-llo. We are at a ZOO. Of all the creatures here today, that FLY would probably be the least harmful. You think?!

Then, there were the boys, who were obviously too cool for zebras. They couldn't be bothered with bugs or...well, anything. They mostly hung back, listening to their iPods and watching the girls freak out. Each posturing for one another.

Of all the animals we saw today, I must say they were the most fascinating to watch. And to think, we actually descended from these monkeys...

Photo by mailliw

But they're so lovable and happy.

We were out to dinner with a larger group of friends (mostly other parents) this past weekend when I announced to everyone that I couldn't get The Wiggles out of my head. Before we knew it, all of us were singing a few lines from each of the songs on the CD all of our kids seem to have...

There is nothing sadder than 10 adults singing "fruit salad. YUMMY. YUMMY." and "You gotta shake, shake, shake your sillies out..."

in public...

when they're supposed to be on a "date night"....

with other adults.

Our Wiggles CD was gifted to our son for his birthday a few weeks ago and while I thought it was getting on my nerves, I got nothing on the "veteran parents" who've had to endure the past three or four years of listening to it...

Stay Strong!

One of the other moms told me that there's a WHOLE playcenter devoted to The Wiggles just a few miles north of where we all live. From what I can gather on their website, there are theme rooms for each of their songs and real live people act out the words...

You would think I'd avoid this place like the plague, but I'm actually intrigued and planning to pay a visit in a few days.

I know... Sick, right?

...and, yeeeeees I'll be taking my son. It's best to bring along a buddy when entering unknown, scary situations.

photo by Godverbs