zodiacs & zoobilee

late-afternoon on thursday found us waiting outside the zoo. we examined the chinese zodiac bronze sculptures:

grant the goat/ram/sheep:

me and hazel, the dogs:

and lucy the rat:

it's surprising how each of us match the personalities of our zodiac to some degree. grant: intellectual, artistic, sympathetic, worrier. lucy: tenacious, intense, charming, self-destructive. hazel: sociable, affectionate,  sensitive, stubborn. me: cynical, lazy, cold, attractive.  

we sat by the lake for a little while before heading into the zoo for zoobilee:

we hurried our way through, collecting stamps as fast as we could. i had a book group that night and since we had read one of my absolute favorites, i refused to miss. but don't worry, i didn't feel bad about rushing the wee ones since we go to the zoo fairly often, if you hadn't already noticed.

thursday was special because the girls were given little books to collect stamps from various animals (the animals didn't give the stamps out, people stationed by the animals did). it was also special because it's the first time we've seen the tiger move in at least a year:

and who says cats don't like water:

proof that stereotypes can be broken.

once we reached the main exhibit, our quick progress was halted and we waited with half of houston in an epically long line: 

to see the dinosaurs (and flying reptiles):

hazel loved them:

lucy, not so much (surprise, surprise):

she told me yesterday that she didn't want the scary dinosaurs to come back because they might eat her.

more love:

more not-so-much:

after we collected all of the stamps and hazel and lucy received their prize poster:

we booked it outta there and i was only about 20 minutes late to one of the best book group discussions ever.

friends @ the zoo

when a friend invited us to go to the zoo, we went of course:

hazel and lucy tend to have more fun when they have their buddies to run around with. and i actually allow them to wait for and watch the sea lion show:

it was really hot outside. the kids were grateful to spy the misting-fans:

by the red pandas we found some more friends:

and in the natural encounters exhibit, the kids were silly:

and adventurous:

until they got stuck:

they enjoyed the tiger massage chairs:

and the animal skulls (left to right: zebra, grizzly bear, and tiger):

hazel played hide-and-seek:

and lucy hitched a ride in the stroller:

i gave hazel the camera for a little while and she took this great picture of william drumming (as well as a few butt shots that i'll spare you from):

i asked hazel if she was having a good time and she said:

the kids played on a small playground for a bit:

before we visited the reptile house:

 and ended on a cool note:

heh heh heh! see what i did there??

almost a week with grandma

brace yourselves, folks. this is going to be long . . .

grandma came to visit us on feb. 22. we had some belated birthday cupcakes ready for her (hazel gets credit for that. she wanted to eat cupcakes surprise grandma):

they were vanilla with chocolate buttercream. tasty.

wednesday morning, grant took the girls and grandma to a park (i stayed at home so i could attempt to finish my book club book for the meeting that night [it's an excellent book. i highly recommend it]):

a monkey on the monkey bars

a monkey with hair!

hazel takes the reins

self-portrait #2

self-portrait #3

a monkey plays in dirt

 saturday, we decided to dazzle grandma with the alligator park:

first, was lunch:

then it was on to the main attraction:  

unfortunately, due to the rainy, chilly weather and a noisy water pump, the 'gators were scarce. after our first sighting, the only animals we saw were birds: 

hazel spent her time complaining about how she was "soooo tired and just couldn't walk any more":

lucy spent her time breaking the law by picking every wild flower she saw:

in hopes of spotting another reptile, we struck out onto a new path:

and we did see this guy:

but i'm pretty sure it was the one from before.

by this time we were wet and cold so we headed indoors to pet a baby 'gator:

a king corn snake:

hazel wowed the ranger by knowing that a snake's tongue smells

and a tarantula:

*shudder* yes, it was real. and alive. at least she didn't want to keep it as a pet. ewww.

on monday we headed to the zoo. first to ride the train:

and then to visit the animals:

the meerkats. (grandma treated us to lollipops)

grant's favorite bald eagle. (no, grant. you will never live that down. mwahahaha!)

 we were impressed with this ankole's ability to use it's horns to pull branches down to scratch it's back.

a maned wolf

eventually we made it around to the african forest (the only part of the zoo grandma hadn't seen):

drums:

chimps:

and a couple of ostriches with the giraffes:

who weren't getting along:

somebody wasn't happy that day...

the lions were much more affectionate:

and finally, a flock of flamingoes:

 that night grandma unveiled a delightful surprise:

snow! or fake snow, rather. start with powder:

add water and presto chango!

diaper guts! i mean: snow!

the girls had a ball playing in it and it was amazingly containable, thus easy to clean up.

tuesday morning, grandma watched hazel and lucy while grant and i hit up the temple:

awww!

 and once we got home it was time to take grandma to the airport.

we were all sad to see her leave (even oliver, who only took 4 days to [kind of] warm up to her). thanks for coming to visit us, gail! we loved having you here and only wish that you could have stayed longer.