We have a zoo of sorts, not exactly close by, but a good day trip away.  But instead of having animals in cages, they are free to roam about the land as you drive through and feed them.  It was a very different experience from a traditional zoo, and didn’t leave you completely worn out upon completion.  You were actually required to drive in your car rather than walking five or six miles.  Not that I don’t enjoy walking.  I’m not saying this is the lazy person’s zoo, but let’s face it, walking 5-6 miles in 95 degree heat…it kind of zaps the fun out of it!  We got out of the car for about 20 minutes at the giraffe enclosure and couldn’t wait to jump back in with the A/C blasting!

My name is Buck.  Buck Teef.

Talk about smiling sheepishly.  See his little shy smile?

Charley was looking out the window too

The only “Martys” (Madagascar) we saw were smart huddled in the shade.

Some of their bellies were so huge they dragged the ground! Guess that’s what they mean by pot-belly eh?

If this picture doesn’t crack you up, I don’t know what will.

The animals just walk right up to you car and eat out of your hand.  In fact they wait along the side of the trail! (pardon my car antenna right through the picture)

This guy rushed, and I say rushed as only a water buffalo could, out of his watering hole (pit of mud that looked like quicksand) to our car for something to eat.

All he did was stand there, yet somehow we ended up with ‘directional spatter’ down the length of our car. (Yes I watch too much CSI)

And the crowning moment, the reason we spent the day in the car…

Caleb got to meet and feed a giraffe

“pppbbbttt”

This guy needs a girl friend, bless his heart.

Not exactly a prize winning picture, but look how close they are!

Look at the tufts on top of the baby’s head, how cute is that?!

This is what Caleb did every time we got in the car and drove more than ten minutes.

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It took us forever to get Caleb to actually play in the water…

…because he was way more interested in watching the train that kept circling around.

But once he got soaked, he made a game of “hugging” us to see how wet he could get us also

Above him was a bucket that filled up, and the water sloshing around plus the weight of the water tipped the bucket and poured water on you

He resumed his station waiting for the train, begging to ride.

And covering his ears when it came by

I managed to get him to play for a few more minutes.

Then he said “Okay, I played, now can we go ride the train?!”

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Caleb woke up with a fever two nights ago.  Yesterday he seemed to feel okay, but just not active.  He watched movies most of the day.  Today, he has not eaten or drank anything.  I finally got him to eat some graham crackers for dinner and a few sips of water and OJ here and there.  He has continually turned down milk all day.  If you know how much he likes milk, you know the gravity of this statement.  He would much rather drink milk than eat most meals.

After dinner, it was time for the bath I’ve been putting off all day hoping he’d perk up.  But his fever is coming back, he has goosebumps everywhere and is starting to feel like you could cook hot dogs over him again.  He didn’t want a bath, and I was trying to figure out how to keep him from freaking out and shivering the whole time with most of his body out of the water.  I didn’t want to fill up the whole tub just for 10-15 minutes trying to keep him warm and calm (he usually plays way longer in less water).  So here’s what I came up with.  Not only is he happy to be in the bath, he’s quite enjoying something different.

Oh the uses of rubbermaids…

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I’ve been waiting a couple weeks to write this post, because I wanted to give my readers one thing that I could not find online.  Pictures.  (Imagine that you say.)  I couldn’t find many pictures of the Baufix building sets.  Of course there are the typical product shots, but it wasn’t really enough variety for me.  I wanted to know what else I could build with the set.  Of course, the possibilities are endless.  But I’m a very visual person.  Which means the zero-word instructions work well for me.  Since the set has several colors, it is easy to tell which piece you need based on the picture instructions.

This is a good toy for Dad and son, not to say I haven’t had a blast with it myself!

Caleb wanted to build a fire truck first, I forgot to take a picture before we dismantled it the next day though!

Dad’s big helper

Then came a tow truck, which was a similar build to the fire truck.

Then a forklift

A motorcycle

And this.  The super crane.  I built this one.  Surprisingly, it was not as difficult as I expected.

I joked that I sent it in with my M.I.T. application

Hoisting up a load of Hot Wheels takes concentration

We took apart the big crane and it had a baby:

And built an airplane to go with it.  On the more simple designs, you may be able to build more than one model.  Obviously the super crane above used most of the pieces.

After putting the pieces back into the ziplocks 900 times and searching for the screw that always seemed to be at the bottom of the bag, I had an idea.

Instilling Neuroticism Within Your Child’s Core Values.  Classes offered this fall on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.  Instructor: Dr. Me

Pieces or airplane and mini crane are not shown in the box, but I *think* they will fit.

As you can imagine, this is a toy that will definitely grow with your child.  They can go all the way from part finder with a parent putting models together (practices colors, matching, etc) to building models themselves and creating their own inventions.  And of course, 75% or more of the pieces are made from wood according to European toy safety specifications (well above the USA’s).  If you’re wondering where you could find this for upcoming birthdays or Christmas, please take a look at Carl and Me.  They are an awesome family run online toy store with customer service that you just. don’t. find. these days.  I have exchanged several emails with Karen at Carl and Me, and I encourage you to do the same, should you have any questions.  Like I said, outstanding customer service and amazing European toys.  Right now, they are having a Father’s Day sale on Fagus trucks (which I can offically give a big thumbs up on, though I have not written about them yet).  Free shipping over $100.  Check out their whole site, you will not be disappointed!

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Crazy good things that happened:

  1. I got 2% milk for $2.09 a gallon.  I did a double take at the tag (because it was an unadvertised sale), then read it carefully to make sure it wasn’t the half gallon.
  2. I had a $1 off coupon for Country Time lemonade.  There were two containers, a 8oz container for $2.28, and a 29oz container.  For $2.28.  Guess which one I got?
  3. Toilet paper: BOGO.  Need I say more?
  4. I attended an awesome online photography trade show.  I didn’t get to see all of it, so I’m waiting for them to get the programs I missed on demand.
  5. Last but not least: We found crazy straws.

You know it has been a good day when you drink out of crazy straws.  Especially 3 or 4 at the same time.

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Sign me up!

Caleb took a short nap and woke up saying his tummy hurt.  I was in the middle of walking on the treadmill.  So like any lazy good mother, I set him up in the bed (the same room as the treadmill) with a movie on the laptop.  I put his headphones on for him, covered him up and brought him water.  He’s perfectly fine now.

Charley looks like he might just walk over and talk to me.

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Right up there with an Oprah baby shower.  Most shower events, you expect about 50-60% of the invited guests to show up right?  Well, 90 invitations were sent out.  A whopping 77 people RSVP’ed that they would be attending.  But wait, that’s not all.  How many showers have you been to where the number of people attending was actually greater than the number of invitations?  We know there were at least 91 people!!  And did I mention that our grand finale shower was the last of five showers total?  This is one loved little guy we are about to meet!  So without any further rambling, here are the pictures…

We scattered the middle of the tables with confetti, mints and papers for people to write thoughts for the new parents (which sadly were mostly overlooked, about 10 people wrote something!)

Preparations

The mother to be loves Snoopy

Teresa and her sister comparing ultrasound pictures…

…and bellies! Teresa wins!  Ginger is due in November.

My diaper cake masterpiece

The grandmother to be (my sister inlaw) and my mom

Caleb’s granny, the great-grandmother to be

A few gifts are actually missing from this picture if you can believe that.

There were some cuties there too!

Let the gift opening begin!

Isn’t she just gorgeous?!

Hugs from a mini gift-giver

This one…she is 13 months old, and has been walking running since she was 9 months old!

Caleb was a gift opening assistant.  He wasted no time.  When the wrapping paper was off, he said “Next!”  Very efficient!

Teresa’s parents, isn’t her mom just beautiful?  I see where her natural glow comes from now!

It’s the thought that counts!  Not guessing he will be wearing this one!

Adorable handmade Snoopy quilts

I had to get these eleven day old feet!

That look!  My mom is in the background admiring her little ringlets.

Definitely most creative/awesome gift!  How cute is this?!  The baby face is made of that craft foam, sewn together. His body was a baby sleeper stuffed with tissue, and he was in a laundry basket full of goodies, Burt’s Bee’s items, baby toys, all kinds of cute stuff.  LOVED this!

“Whew, we made it through!”

My balloon band (we came home with 18 balloons I believe…it may as well have been Christmas!)

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Ta-da!!!

Get it? We were still under construction yesterday… toldja to read carefully :)

Our train table has become a somewhat temporary jobsite.  I made this reasonably easy to store away when not in use.

The gravel yard: coffee grounds and sawdust

Construction work is serious business.

And no, the blue painters tape is not an accent piece…our train table actually has very small holes all the way around the outside for add on toys that we don’t have.  I’m a little bit crazy, but not plain stupid.  I covered up all those already dust filled holes.

We’re planning to go and collect some small rocks to add to our site, we just haven’t gotten to it yet.

I can’t take credit for this awesome idea though, you can read more about it here.  I borrowed the general idea, and then kind of went a different direction toward the end.  This guy made more of a rock quarry.  My patience with the project was wavering by the time it came to painting, so I gooped sand, brown paint and glue together and smeared it everywhere!  It definitely achieved the textured, yet not too messy appeal I was going for.  I do recommend his cutting technique for the styrofoam.  You know, unless an indoor snowstorm just appeals to you.  In that case, stabbing a bean bag chair will render approximately the same result.

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…there’s a warning somewhere on this thing that says “Not for use by children” and perhaps a “Use with care” notice. Maybe Black and Decker should have issued a special attention notice  for our family: “Dustbuster not intended as a substitute for bathing.  Please refrain from vacuuming child after meals and allowing child to vacuum his own hair while unattended.”

For those of you who, instead of laughing, are thinking to yourselves, hmmm maybe I should let my kid try that, I leave you with this.  He entertained himself for a full 12 blissful minutes.  I’m unsure of whether an extended life battery can be purchased, but I can look into it for you.

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