Trip to the Zoo

On Tuesday in Abilene, Jarrod took me and the kids to the zoo!

I have to say--the fact that they have a zoo is a major selling point for possibly moving to Abilene. Lubbock does not have one, which I have always found disappointing.

Anyways, Tuesday Julia had to go back to work but Jarrod still had the day off. He has a year-long pass to go to the zoo, so he called Emerald and had her meet us up there. We took a stroller for Benjamin and a two-seater wagon for the bigger kids, which left Emerald walking. That is okay, seeing as she is four years old and we don't need to be dragging her all over the place.

When we got there, it was pretty chilly but not bad. The wind had a bit of a bite, but overall it was decent for a January day. Right outside the zoo they have a little lake full of different types of birds, and that's where we went first.

One of the sensory things we do with Gabe is deep pressure--a good way to accomplish that is to get him to push heavy weights. So while we were going across the grass, I had Gabe push the stroller. Jarrod laughed because Julia dislikes the stroller because it is too heavy (which it is, comparatively to an umbrella stroller) but there Gabe was just trucking pushing it and Ben as well!

When we got inside, Emerald was there and she brought her daughter Lily, as well as two of the children she watches during the day--Taevyn who is 2 and Kelton who is 5 weeks. I kept worrying the kids would be too cold, but everyone seemed just fine--they were really enjoying themselves. Because we got there early and the weather was less than ideal, the zoo was pretty deserted--the kids could all walk between us, except the ones that were too tired to walk and rode in the wagon.

Emerald's favorite part of the zoo was walking around with Lily. She doesn't have any little girl friends to play with, so it was fun having more than just boys around. Every exhibit was fun for her, and she just overall had a great time.

The only downside was when it was nearly time to go--Ms. Emerald took the little girls to the bathroom, but I could hear my little Emerald in there screeching so I went to help. Apparently, she did not want to try and go potty and was having a meltdown because of it; more than likely, she was just reacting to the stress of transition, and did not want to leave the zoo to go back to Jarrod and Julia's. Anyways, I was helping Emerald go potty and she pushed me of the stall, slammed the door closed and locked it, yelling "I said I was NOT going to go potty! Go away!". I had to slither on my stomach on a public restroom floor to get under the stall--Emerald was not a happy camper after that :-/

Gabriel seemed to enjoy himself as well, but far and away his favorite part was feeding the giraffes. There is this steep bridge and at the top there is a cracker cart; there are two giraffes that eat the crackers at the top. It was so cute--Gabe would hold out the cracker, but as soon as that long black tongue would reach out to get it, he would squeal in terror and drop it, laughing as the giraffe used his freaky almost-prehensile tongue to pull the cracker to his mouth. Of course, that was a big hit with all the children, but I had fairly convinced myself that all Gabe was going to do was attempt to eat the crackers and run off while we were distracted.

The other part that he really enjoyed was the train ride--it is a train that goes all around the zoo, reeling off facts about the animals as we drive past. Gabriel, Benjamin, and I were in one train car; Emerald rode with Uncle Jarrod and Andrew. Trains are a favorite of Gaby's.

After the zoo, we loaded up and went to Schlotzsky's for lunch--I got a pizza and potato soup and both the kids had ham sandwiches. Gabe just ate the ham and tried to eat the cheese off the bread, but overall they behaved themselves and had a good time.

That little cutie is Taevyn--he is the most sociable little boy I think I have ever met; he is just darling.

We had such a good time at the zoo; I hope we can go again sometime soon!!

--Andie--