ShannonAlbert.com - June 2009

On Friday night, we headed to the zoo to camp out for the night with Bob, Nicki and Mia (kids under 3 or 4 aren't allowed so the twins stayed home w/grandparents). The event is called Creature Campout and involves some educational time in addition to the camping.

Parade of us loading our stuff in from our cars and making use of the zoo strollers to help lighten the load...


Setting up our tent. Blake was so excited about the tent setup process and was really helpful. Mia joined in at times too.


Our tents got setup pretty quickly and then a little football throwing to pass the time. Liz, please notice the Virginia Tech shirt that Andy's wearing...he had to turn toward the camera just so you'd see.


Time to walk to the area where we'd be eating our dinner. Passing giraffes on the way...



Papa John's pizza for dinner. I was thinking more typical camping food like something cooked on the grill but we were starving so the pizza tasted good.


Our guides explaining to us what to expect after dinner...


Walking to the amphibian building...


A good student would post lots of details about the animals and what we learned from our guides. However, I am not a good student and don't really like looking at animals in cages or behind glass so I wasn't paying great attention. Blake is just like me in his interests for the most part so he and I would sneak off occasionally where I'd try to keep him quiet.



One of the activities I gave Blake to keep him busy was to get the glow necklaces together and handed out to the rest of the kids. Mia joined in and they had them handed out in no time.


Yea, we get to escape the building and head back outside.


Our next stop was to head to the education building for a craft project.

On our way, passed a mama and her baby ducks...


And some flamingos...


And the ubiquitous peacock that made several appearances...


Once we got to the education building, we were given the supplies to make our "Toad Abode" that we could use at home in our gardens.





After craft time, the kids gathered around to see some animals up close. Blake did what I'd do and declined to touch the snake but Mia has no fear and did.


At this point it was getting dark so when we headed out for our next stop, the flashlights came in handy. We walked to an area next to some water where we were supposed to be listening for frogs but we didn't hear any. The kids all decided that they'd rather go back to the campsite so we headed that way.

There was a fire already started where we could roast marshmallows and Nicki brought supplies to make s'mores so we did that too.


The 3 kids hung out in our tent while Payton told the 6-year-olds scary stories and the adults sat outside the tent and chatted. We noticed all of the other tents were quiet and everybody seemed to be asleep. Eventually we got there too.

We weren't sure how the camping thing would go because our kids are a lot bigger than the last time we camped. It was a fairly tight squeeze especially with Blake who flops and turns and kicks a lot. The wind also kept blowing the sides of the tent in toward Andy and made a lot of noise with things flapping everywhere. I got very little sleep all night and then before I knew it, Andy was telling us we had to get up and said all other tents were already packed and gone. It was only 7 a.m.

Packed up, got some breakfast and walked around briefly before heading out. Stopped by the Farmer's Market for fresh produce, came home and unpacked. Collapsed back into bed by 9 and slept again. We were exhausted.

Overall, we had a pretty good time but since it's pretty expensive and Blake and I aren't into the animals too much, we probably won't do it again. The camping thing in general is something the kids really want to do more so we'll look into that but it will be somewhere cheaper, animal education won't be needed and we'll get to sleep past 7.

We routinely have the cheapest gas!

Map of gas prices

Blake always has the same blanket on his bed but apparently couldn't find it this night. I use over-the-door shoe organizers for many things but hadn't thought of this.

One of the things I didn't like in Texas was that we didn't have anywhere to swim in the summers unless we went to a large water park or joined a very expensive pool. Here, we don't have that issue. We can swim at our neighborhood pool (as soon as our name is taken off the "banned" list for not paying our HOA dues - oops...not used to paying those!) and many of the YMCAs have fairly large water parks. We went briefly tonight and Blake LOVED it. I can't wait to go back for longer.

Conscientious is the word to best sum Payton up. Andy and I have to admit to not always telling Payton things because she'll adamantly refuse to shop at certain places if she feels they are behaving unethically. So if we said "that store's clothing is made in sweat shops where children are overworked and abused" she would never, ever shop there again. No matter what. All of the persistence that annoyed me when she was a toddler may work out when it's channeled in a positive direction.

There was a time a couple of years ago where she refused to wear clothing with words because she didn't want people reading her clothing but now she always has a message, a cause, something to stand for. I have been taking pics of Payton's shirts-with-a-message recently but I'm sure she'll add more and I'll add to the picture collection.

If you're in Kansas, it looks like Thursday is shaping up to be a potentially dangerous day. Watch out for tornadoes!

http://www.kansas.com/news/local/story/424100.html

On the brief car ride from Mia's house to the zoo this morning….

Blake: Somebody put toilet paper on our tree at our house.
(Silence)
Me: (Joking) Mia, did you do it?
Blake: (Joking) No, I think Aunt Nicki did it!
Mia: No, it was probably Bob.
Me: Bob…like your dad?
Mia: Yeah, you know how Bob and Blake don’t like each other.

The night Barack Obama accepts the nomination for the Democratic Party (August 28) will be the anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. We've come a long way.

Tonight was Payton's first tennis practice. The class is for 13-18 year olds so Andy and I had conjured up images of tiny Payton playing tennis with a bunch of big 18 year old boys. No need to worry. She was about the same size as everybody else and nobody was any more skilled at playing than she is.





Final chat with the coach before leaving practice. Brief sliver of shade probably felt like a nice break from the hot, hot sun.

This week, Blake and Mia are taking classes at the zoo in the morning so I drop them off and Nicki picks them up. Blake is spending the afternoons with Mia's family and then we pick him up after work. They seemed to really enjoy their first day and today they get! to go! on a boat! ride! They were excited about this and hopefully they learn something about animals in the process.

Running, primary mode of transportation.


Picking up their buttons w/their names on them.


First ones there!

I've been making these fajitas for years. It's pretty easy and healthy and it got my dad to start liking fajitas. We're only home 1 evening this week and I have to be quick if I want to cook dinner so the onions and bell peppers were purchased pre-cut, the guacamole was store-bought and Payton had started the chicken marinating before I got home. As a result, dinner only took about 15 minutes to get together which is good because our A/C is broken and the temp in the house reached 86 at dinnertime.

Chicken fajitas, Weight Watchers cheese, wheat tortillas, sides of guacamole, pico de gallo (made by Andy over the weekend), baked Tostitos and taco rice.

Is it normal for parents to be nervous before their kid's game? Because I was. The kids had only practiced once, didn't really understand the flow of the game and were antsy when they did practice. Also? We happen to have a child capable of monumental meltdowns especially if people are laughing at him. So the game begins and we hope and pray Blake doesn't *gasp* get laughed at.

Blake and Mia were both playing a second base-ish type position. I could have set my camera on a tripod and walked away and still caught Blake in the frame. He never really moved from this spot.


After watching the team bat for 4 hours (maybe less), it was our team's turn to bat. Mia was the first batter for us.



She got a hit and eventually made it around to home...


Moments before this pic, the other team's third basemen (who looks cute in this pic) was giving Mia the stare down. She would later do this on second base to the other team.


Score!


Eventually it was Blake's turn to bat. Please Dear God let him hit the ball...



He did hit the ball and made it to second base but the inning was over at that point so it was time for the other team to hit for 4 hours again.

Side note: the other team had a kid with a temperament just like Blake's except that kid didn't hit the ball. He declared that he hated baseball and then covered his ears when anyone would try to speak to him. I was all "look at him...we don't have the only hot head!" That kid eventually rebounded after a cooling down period and was quite a good player. Thankfully we didn't have to witness that this game with our child.

When our team returned to the field, somebody thought it would be a good idea to put our ball-fearing boy at the pitcher's position. He actually did field one ball which is exactly one more than I thought he would. And he looked super cute doing it.


Payton tried to join in the baseball festivities but didn't blend in with the 6 year olds very well...


11 hours later, the game ended. I don't know what the score was but just glad we made it through...


I asked Blake about the game afterward to see how he thought it went. He said he didn't know what he was supposed to be doing like "who do I throw it to after I get the ball?" and "was I suppose to put my bat down after hitting?" because they really didn't have much practice. Now that we've had 1 game, I'm sure the next will be even better. And hopefully shorter.