TV Stars, Chehaw, & Dentist [Fun?]
So after I posted that we were thus far boredom-free...boredom set in. :-P It was due: we'd only left the house twice in several days, once for a blah storytime at the library (I need to give them "reading with gusto" lessons! geeze!) and then for our biannual dental cleanings - yippee. [Actually, Will & Annelise LOVE going to the dentist! It's like a TREAT for them! :-O I go with it & nurture their enthusiasm...that I have *never* shared. I have the softest teeth ever - I can brush after every meal & still need work. :'( Miraculously, the kids are both still cavity-free (how is that possible with my genes in play??? thank JB!!!) & they had a ball watching "Kung Fu Panda", "Nemo", & "VeggieTales" during their visit. :-D Praising God for dental insurance!]
Thursday, we decided to really get out of the house & go over to our awesome local zoo, Chehaw. This place is just so impressive for our small area, and buying a membership was one of our best investments of the year. We feel so blessed that it's barely 10 minutes from our front door! When we showed up, they had a few Junior Zookeepers by the alligator swamp with a corn snake & a ball python for people to touch. (That alone would have rocked our wannabe-herpetologist-family's day. ;-)) We got to see the red wolves being fed, and then we headed over to the train to use 3 more of our free tickets. (Anywhere there is a train, our family must ride.) The breeze was lovely, and we are officially BFFs with the engineer now, a Mr. Hamm, with whom we chatted for about 30 minutes. [No exaggeration! He's from MS, but lived a good while in NC; he's been awfully anemic, so his wife has been making him chicken livers for lunch rather often; he's a master mechanic & has rebuilt every inch of the train. I love the South! Where else do you trade complete life histories with total strangers and feel absolutely natural doing so?]
After our ride, we headed back to go through the rest of the zoo and saw a camera crew & reporter freaking out over the big Burmese python in the Reptile House. Will ran up, and we proceeded to inform them all about the invasive species issues with Burms in FL, (a la Python Hunters on NatGeoWild. :-P) The reporter asked Will if he wanted to be on TV: ummmm, YES!!!!! They mic'ed him up and asked the kids all sorts of questions about the zoo. After the *ONE* question they didn't respond to - "How do you think they keep the animals cool?" - I finally jumped in & said, "Well, we were wondering that, too," to encourage them. OF COURSE, in the editing, the news used *that* little bit. :-/ Oh, but I had an answer, Buddy. :-P When I gave him my African animal answer, I think he was a little dumbfounded that I made a logical connection. :-D
And with that, we ended up leading off the 5:00 local news!
[PS - I wasn't combating the heat with my hat; I just didn't wash my hair that morning. ;-) Take note people: the day you don't clean up is the day you can be seen on the news online around the world! HA!!!!]
It really was such a cute experience, and I'm so glad we were a part of it! (And the kids *STILL* think they are TV supastars. ;-))
Thursday, we decided to really get out of the house & go over to our awesome local zoo, Chehaw. This place is just so impressive for our small area, and buying a membership was one of our best investments of the year. We feel so blessed that it's barely 10 minutes from our front door! When we showed up, they had a few Junior Zookeepers by the alligator swamp with a corn snake & a ball python for people to touch. (That alone would have rocked our wannabe-herpetologist-family's day. ;-)) We got to see the red wolves being fed, and then we headed over to the train to use 3 more of our free tickets. (Anywhere there is a train, our family must ride.) The breeze was lovely, and we are officially BFFs with the engineer now, a Mr. Hamm, with whom we chatted for about 30 minutes. [No exaggeration! He's from MS, but lived a good while in NC; he's been awfully anemic, so his wife has been making him chicken livers for lunch rather often; he's a master mechanic & has rebuilt every inch of the train. I love the South! Where else do you trade complete life histories with total strangers and feel absolutely natural doing so?]
After our ride, we headed back to go through the rest of the zoo and saw a camera crew & reporter freaking out over the big Burmese python in the Reptile House. Will ran up, and we proceeded to inform them all about the invasive species issues with Burms in FL, (a la Python Hunters on NatGeoWild. :-P) The reporter asked Will if he wanted to be on TV: ummmm, YES!!!!! They mic'ed him up and asked the kids all sorts of questions about the zoo. After the *ONE* question they didn't respond to - "How do you think they keep the animals cool?" - I finally jumped in & said, "Well, we were wondering that, too," to encourage them. OF COURSE, in the editing, the news used *that* little bit. :-/ Oh, but I had an answer, Buddy. :-P When I gave him my African animal answer, I think he was a little dumbfounded that I made a logical connection. :-D
And with that, we ended up leading off the 5:00 local news!
[PS - I wasn't combating the heat with my hat; I just didn't wash my hair that morning. ;-) Take note people: the day you don't clean up is the day you can be seen on the news online around the world! HA!!!!]
It really was such a cute experience, and I'm so glad we were a part of it! (And the kids *STILL* think they are TV supastars. ;-))
well, for not cleaning up, you look super cute! yay for the zoo! i love going to the zoo as well - there is ALWAYS something interesting going on, isn't there? love ya!
ReplyDeleteAwww, thanks!!! :-) And you're right about zoos - they are NEVER boring to us! We can always find adventure!
ReplyDelete