Park and Jungle Boogie

Earlier this month, we enjoyed the beautiful weather at the park! We had a great time - swinging on the swings at the playground, skipping rocks at the creek and a little hike! Kaitlynn has such a great heart and love for Jesus! While on the hike, she had to stop several times to "Thank Jesus." What an awesome child God has blessed us with! I wish I had a heart like hers.

Lately, whenever Kaitlynn gets into trouble she tells us it's her "bad hand." I don't know how she came up with that, but it's so funny.

Dave, Kaitlynn, MawMaw and I went to Jungle Boogie. It was a pretty warm night. We rode the train and Kaitlynn had fun "taking pictures" with her camera. Kaitlynn and Dave rode the carousel and then we listened to the music by the sea lions. MawMaw and Kaitlynn enjoyed a Tiger's Blood snowcone and danced to the music. We ran into Teri at the end of the evening.

Ticket to the Beatles

Several weeks ago Kaitlynn, Nick and I met some moms and kiddos from church at Suson Park for a playdate. Kaitlynn and the other kids interacted a little. The kids had fun running around and playing on the playground while us adults got to know each other. We ate lunch and then most of us started leaving for naps and such. Kaitlynn and Nick tried rock climbing, then Kaitlynn helped Nick swing, Kaitlynn climbed the wall to the big slide and before we left Kaitlynn and Nick had fun swinging.

That evening Kaitlynn, MawMaw, MawMaw Tommie and I went to Jungle Boogie. Ticket to the Beatles was the band playing. It was really crowded. This band has drawn the biggest crowd so far. We met up with some friends and had a good night!

Charles Glenn

Dave, Kaitlynn, MawMaw and I went to the Zoo for Jungle Boogie. We met Hanna and Brandon there. We ran into some friends. The band playing was Charles Glenn. Instead of the big stage, they were playing by the lake under a roof because it was sprinkling a bit when the concert first started. Thankfully the rain stayed away. We ate dinner and listened to music. Dave, Kaitlynn, Brandon and Hanna went to Caribbean Cove to pet the stingrays and horseshoe crabs. Then we went to see the Big Cats, prairie dogs and sun bear. Kaitlynn and Brandon played by Lakeside Cafe. Kaitlynn and Brandon suckered Hanna into buying them stuffed animals from Build-A-Bear. Kaitlynn got a small penguin.

We had a great night, but look forward to the band being on the larger stage in the regular area.

Mid Rivers and The Usual Suspects

June 4th Kaitlynn, MawMaw and I went to Mid Rivers Mall for the MLM Playdate. I thought we were doing good by getting there 5-10 minutes early. I was wrong. The line to see Dora the Explorer was to the other end of the mall. The line to "check in" was outrageous, too. By the time we got up to the table, the kids bags were gone (given away). Bummer! We got in line to get a balloon, stickers and cookies. Kaitlynn got a Diego sticker, a Stride Rite sticker, a pink balloon and a couple cookies. We got in line to do the pretzel rolling, but Kaitlynn had to go to the bathroom. Perfect timing too - we were next in line! Oh well! After the bathroom break, we decided to skip the pretzel rolling because the line was ridiculously long (and not moving). We decided to decorate a cookie. While waiting in line, we met up with our friends Trisha, Kylie and Ava. Kaitlynn and Kylie decorated a cookie together.

After lunch, we went shopping. We also made a trip to the pet shop. Kaitlynn (and MawMaw) just had to see this little teacup chihuahua. Kaitlynn did not want to give him back and left the store crying.
Later that evening Dave, Kaitlynn, MawMaw and I went to the Zoo for Jungle Boogie. A band called The Usual Suspects were playing. Kaitlynn fell asleep in the car and stayed asleep after we first arrived. We decided to eat dinner while waiting for her to fully wake up. After dinner we ran into some old friends. Hanna and Adam also met us there. We also saw our friends Emily, Christopher, Ella and Beatrice. Kaitlynn suckered MawMaw into getting her a bear from Build-A-Bear, then suckered Hanna into getting her a penguin. Spoiled!! It was a fun evening with great music, fun company and good conversation.

Short trip to the Zoo

Last Friday at midnight, Kaitlynn woke up very warm and crying. The ear thermometer we use for her wouldn't work - dead batteries. And they are special batteries, so of course we didn't have any! I couldn't get the other thermometers to register under her arm because she was crying and they just wouldn't take her temperature. We gave her a dose of Children's Motrin and it took the possible fever away. later that morning the surgery center called to check on her and I told them she seemed to be doing well, but did wake up warm, but Motrin took care of it. Late that morning / early that afternoon, Kaitlynn complained of her head hurting, so she took some Children's Tylenol. It seemed to do the trick.
She was fine the rest of the day, bouncing off the walls, so we decided to pack up some sandwiches for dinner and go to the Zoo for Jungle Boogie. Kaitlynn said she wanted to see the giraffes first, so as we were headed over that way, she got distracted by the ducks. She likes to watch them in the water. When we were finally able to pull her away from duck watching, we went into the new Zootenial Exhibit. Dave and I thought it was pretty cool, but Kaitlynn did not and was ready to leave. I think this is probably when she started to feel bad, but didn't tell us. Instead she started getting cranky and we thought she was just tired and /or hot. It was a really warm day! We saw the big cats, zebras, giraffes and donkeys. When she saw the donkeys, she told Dave and me that Jesus had a donkey. We told her that Jesus did ride on a donkey. We went through the Flight Cage and she rode the carousel. Then she said she wasn't feeling good. She said her stomach and head were hurting her. Her cheeks were really red. The pediatric dentist said that her cheeks might get red / break out from the surgical tape (holding the breathing tube in place). It seemed to be a combination of that and probably more so that she was flushed. We decided to find a nice shady spot or a nice cool building to eat dinner at. Kaitlynn decided that she needed to go home. Kaitlynn wanting to leave the Zoo is a big deal. She loves the Zoo and would stay there all day and all night if she could. I immediately became worried and started thinking something must have gone wrong with the dental procedure and / or with the sedation.

We got her home and she wanted to take a shower. She stayed in the shower for about 30+ minutes, just letting the water hit her. Her tummy was a little hard. She was complaining with her stomach and head hurting. We took her temperature and it was 102.1, so we gave her some Children's Tylenol. Almost an hour later and her temperature was 102.5. I called her pediatric dentist's cell phone and told him what was going on. He said that he didn't think her symptoms had to do with the procedure, especially since she wasn't complaining of her teeth or ears hurting. He said she probably caught a virus and prescribed some Amoxicillin. Within a half an hour we had the Amoxicillin and gave Kaitlynn her first dose. Her temperature started coming down (100.5) and she was able to get some sleep.

Henry Shaw and The Mighty Big Band

On Friday Kaitlynn, Olivia and I met Emily and Ella at Botanical Garden. It was Henry Shaw's birthday so they were offering free admission to the Garden, including the Children's Garden. We had a nice time, but it was just so flipping hot. Emily looks so cute with her baby bump!

That evening Kaitlynn and I met daddy at the Zoo for Jungle Boogie. We rode the train as soon as daddy arrived. We didn't want to miss it like last week.
After the train ride, Kaitlynn rode the carousel a few times. She likes riding the puffin now.
We ate dinner by the sea lions and listened to The Mighty Big Band play. They are a Blues / Jam band. They were pretty good.
We went to Historic Hill, where Kaitlynn was following these birds around. We think they were young peacocks, but not sure.
We had a fun family night at the Zoo.

Double Dose of the Zoo

Friday July 17, Kaitlynn, Olivia, MawMaw and I went to the Zoo. MawMaw had the day off from work. We didn't see many animals because we were only able to stay for a few hours. Kaitlynn enjoyed seeing the tortoises. She had fun playing in the drinking fountain.

We stopped and talked to Heather and Trisha with momslikeme, who were there doing a registration drive.

Later that evening, Kaitlynn, Dave and I went back to the Zoo for Jungle Boogie. The Jazz / R&B band, The Charles Glenn Band was playing. We ate dinner while listening to them. Kaitlynn rode the carousel. We walked around the Zoo and looked at the animals.

Jungle Boogie - J Rob

Friday Dave, Kaitlynn and I went to the Zoo for Jungle Boogie.
The penguins were the first animals we visited because of Kaitlynn's recent interest in "Happy Feet".
Kaitlynn loves seeing the penguins, but doesn't like being inside because she gets too cold. Although she didn't want to leave the puffins.

We were heading back into the Penguin / Puffin exhibit because Kaitlynn said she wasn't done with "her turn" to see the puffins when she spotted the Carousel. Daddy and Kaitlynn had a nice ride on the bench.

Kaitlynn loves to see the flamingos and ducks. We were looking for the turtles that are sometimes with the ducks, but didn't see them.

On the way to the Herpetarium, we stopped to listen to the band and watch the prairie dogs. Kaitlynn didn't want to spend too much time with the prairie dogs because she heard the sea lions. It was great timing because we watched them getting fed. Kaitlynn is so very caring. One of the sea lions (a female that has some problems with her eyesight) didn't eat one of the fish the keeper tossed to her. Kaitlynn was very concerned about it. She refused to leave until the keeper got the fish out of the water.

We finally made our way into the Herpetarium to see the turtles, but there weren't as many as they used to have.

We headed over to Big Cat Country and saw a lioness, a leopard, and all 5 tigers.

Jaguar

Kaitlynn wasn't too interested in seeing the zebras, camels, or ostrich (that is in with the giraffes). The giraffes and donkeys weren't out. Kaitlynn said "Donkey where are you?"

We dropped a few pieces of popcorn (poppy as Kaitlynn calls it) and this peacock came up and started eating it. I wasn't sure what the peacock was doing at first when she started approaching us and just kept coming closer and closer. Kaitlynn had no fear of her. We had to remind her to keep some distance and not to try petting her.
We headed back towards the band and hung out there for a bit while watching the small brown bear.
A trip to the Zoo for us isn't really complete unless we go through River's Edge. As we were walking through people passing us told us it was a waste of time because none of the animals were out. We really didn't mind, so we just kept walking through. The hippos weren't out, but Kaitlynn liked looking at the fish.

I have never noticed these after Hippo Harbor. Aren't these awesome?

We did get to see the hyenas and one elephant. So, of course, I told Kaitlynn that the elephant was waiting to see her. She thought that was pretty cool.

Dave and I noticed this really neat tree by the elephants.

J Rob was a good jazz / blues band. We liked a lot of the music they played and it was really neat to be able to hear the music as we were walking around the Zoo.

Kaitlynn cracked us up. While we were walking, she said to me "hold me. Hold your daughter." She likes to remind me that she is my daughter. She got on this kick from watching "Happy Feet."