groundspeed

Palm Beach Zoo

Yesterday was play around home day. Today I kicked it up a notch and my mom and I took the boys to the zoo.

Back when I was a kid it was the Dreher Park Zoo and I assume I went, but I have zero memories of this zoo. A few vague memories of Dreher Park and a few vague memories of the nearby planetarium but my brain calls up nothing on the zoo, so it was as new for me as for the boys. 

And now for 1,792 pictures of our day at the Palm Beach Zoo. (Give or take 1,770)

Toby was all about the carousel until it started moving. Then I had to take him off and just hold him. In my arms he happily watched the carousel animals around him, just didn't want on one.

Doing the Gator chomp by the alligator habitat.

 

My little chicks in a giant eagle nest.

Only at the Palm Beach Zoo will you come across a statue of some donor's beloved pet. Seriously. I wonder how they would feel about the fact that Blue walked up to this Samoyed and said, "Look, Mommy! A piggie!"

Waiting for the bird show...

Unfortunately this spider was not behind glass or in any sort of arachnid habitat. That guy looked bigger than my hand! Ewwwww.

Toby loved this turtle. He petted it. He talked to it. Super cute.

A little after noon we were at the tiger area. It was just the daddy tiger which we knew because I'd looked up the cubs schedule. On Fridays they don't come till 1pm. We moved on and made it back over to the tiger area at about 12:55.  Finally around 1:10 Mama and two cubs came out.  Fifteen minutes of waiting when we had been at the zoo since about 9:45 was an eternity especially for Toby. I was able to pacify him by singing Old MacDonald had a zoo... (And in his zoo he had a bear/grrr, tiger/growl peacock/caw etc. etc.) It was worth the wait because Mama and cubs came out playing strong and if you ask Kaden and Blue what their favorite thing at the zoo was, they will both tell you they liked watching the tiger cubs.

And then the boys were able to blow off some steam at the splash pad which we saved for last.

A very happy school-free Friday!

Day to Play

The kids have off school today and tomorrow because of Rosh Hashanah.  (Jewish holidays are observed by the school system here. In Texas? Notsomuch.)

For us gentiles it's just a day to play.

We started off by going to a friend's pool. (What? Are some of you experiencing fall weather already? Here in Florida summer it's about to give way to love bug season. Then we get summer-less-hot and then back to summer.)

Then we brought a friend home and continued... just playing.

So maybe they shouldn't be riding the bike that way. And maybe they should have shoes on, but THEY ARE WEARING HELMETS (so I am still a good mother).

They hit baseballs in the backyard until they hit it over the fence one too many times and I told them to move on to the the next thing. They raced. They played in the sandbox. Now, as I type, we are inside and there is a fierce game of Guess Who being played. (This followed a fierce game of Memory.)

Could there be a more quintessential childhood day?

Notorious B-L-U-E

At the birthday party Saturday EVERY mom I talked to who was a mom of someone in Blue's class told me her child is always talking about Blue. I couldn't say the same in return because Blue only talks about one girl who he's obviosuly in love with and one boy who I think he's made up as an imaginary scapegoat. He: "Guess what Pierce did today?" Me: "Uh, huh. Pierce, really?  Sure that wasn't you?"

But the best story I got was from one mom who told me that her daughter tells so many Blue stories that her son once insisted he go in the classroom with her because he had to meet this Blue kid. 

Yup, he's even famous with the siblings.

Behaviorly things aren't quite as bad as they were in the spring/early summer but he still resorts to his uh, behaviors. He peed on a rug IN FRONT OF THE TOILET (yes, on purpose) as recently as a week ago.

Most days he still drives me crazy and at night I just don't feel like blogging about it.

At least the other moms think he's adorable.

Birthday Party!

Blue went to his first birthday party of the school year yesterday.  It was on a horse farm so he wore cowboy boots and hat.

Ready to go:

The writing on those circles has five great things about the birthday girl (who turned five). 

And then off to the party for...

Pony rides!

(I have no idea why his helmet is like that.)

Bounce House!

Pinata! (No idea how to get a tilde over the n. Sorry)

Cupcakes!

Friends!

(Blue with the Birthday Princess)

And a lizard-eating cat!

No, the cat isn't eating a lizard here, but we did get to see him catch, play with, and then gulp down a lizard and this was the story Blue told Daddy first thing when we got home.

A good morning for me as I got to meet some of the moms of the kids in his class, fun for my mom who came along because she used to board horses at this stable and still knows the person who runs it, so then of course she got right to work helping out with the pony rides...

But especially fun for my 'lil cowboy:

To Infinity and Beyond!

Kevin's parents were here Friday night and most of today and they brought new pajamas for the boys. Kaden and Blue have been BEGGING me for Buzz Lightyear costumes. They love to play dress up and he's their favorite. I actually found a Buzz costume in Kaden's size at a recent consignment sale (7 bucks!) but I haven't figured out when I'm going to give it to him. In the meantime... they now have these pajamas.

Kaden gave me a big hug and thank you when I pulled these from the drier. I reminded him they were from Gran and he immeditaly said, "I love Gran." Then he and Blue ran off while discussing which Buzz they were (I'm from Toy Story 1, I'm from Toy Story 3...)

Toby's fit the theme but weren't the exact same.

When Kevin grabbed him he said, "To infinity!" and Toby finished, "And beyond!" then Toby ran off and found the Buzz toy that says this. Typical 2 year behavior and believe me, anytime my Xer exibits typical age appropriate behavior it is not lost on me. Happy moment.

Then I was on the ground lifting the boys on my legs so they could soar like Buzz, but when I was done Kaden and Blue attempted to keep going.

It didn't work so well.

Especially not when Blue tried to lift Kaden.

(I don't think Kaden's feet ever left the ground.)

My boys went to bed very happy tonight most likely drifting from pretending to be a space ranger to dreaming of being one.

Buzz Lightyear to the rescue!

Q: Why Is Toby on Top of the Fridge?

A: Because Kevin is his father.

The problem with this is that Blue, who wasn't around at the time, saw this picture and with awe and jealousy in his voice asked how Toby got up there. As he was asking you could just see his brain kicking it into high gear trying to solve the problem so that he too could end up on the top of the fridge... the land of confiscated toys and sometimes brownies/cookies/ and other sweet treats meant to be kept away from little fingers.

Great, just great.

(But if Blue finds his way up there I promise to post a picture of that too.)

Cozy

Yesterday morning, K was still here.  Everyone was ready but we had time and I was still packing up Kaden's lunch.  As I worked in the kitchen it occurred to me that I haven't been doing a good job of using Kaden's vocabulary words (as we are asked to do) mainly because I couldn't remember what they were, so I went over to check his agenda. One of the words is cozy and then I look over and see this:

"You all look so cozy."

Check.

Mr. Distraction

We our housing two big kids tonight because their parents, our pastor and his wife, are across the state for a wedding he will perform in the morning. Toby is excited about our guests because he loves K, but maybe after today K won't be loving her some Toby. He proved quite the distracting force when she tried to get her homework done.

Cracked. Me. Up.

First Day Round Two

Friday, September 9th, we got a surprising letter.  A letter that said a spot had opened up at the school where we've had Kaden on a wait list since he enrolled in the St Lucie school system his kindergarten year. The letter said we had till Tuesday, September 13th to decide.

There's nothing really wrong with the school where Kaden was attending (Manatee) but the new school, Windmill Point, is closer to our house and it's a traditional elementary school instead of a K-8 and I won't let Kaden ride the bus at a K-8 (My little kid on a bus with middle schoolers? No thank you.) By enrolling Kaden in WMP we guarantee Blue's spot there for kindergarten. Friends from church go to WMP...

I wasn't thrilled about pulling Kaden when he was already adjusted in his class and three weeks into the school year, but then again it was only three weeks... I called WMP the same Friday the letter arrived and asked if they did tours or anything to help me decide.  We scheduled something for Tuesday, deadline day. First impressions matter and my first impression of Manatee hadn't been the best. (A class running in the hallway instead of walking in line. Crayon all over the desk where Kaden was to sit. Parent pick up was chaos.)  My impression on tour day WMP was positive. I liked that the halls were lined with creative projects and each 2nd grade classroom had created a banner.  It reflected a unity to the department that I hadn't seen when we went to parent night at Manatee. And thus far Kaden hadn't done anything creative that I had seen. It's only 2nd grade. There should still be some glue and glitter, ya know?

We decided to move him and we chose today as his start date. Kaden didn't want to make the change so we made it special by going out to celebrate Sunday night, letting Kaden pick the dinner restaurant and also going out for dessert after that.

This morning I asked Kaden if he felt excited. Yes, he said. Nervous? No. He adapts so easily.

One day down. So far so good. (No running kids, no crayon on his desk and parent pick up was organized!)

becoming a ballplayer

Spring season, Kaden's first season of baseball, if you asked him whether or not we wanted to play baseball or any other sport. He'd choose any other sport.

Then he did a Mets camp at Digital Domain Stadium this summer and I think he was in awe of the whole belonging on the field experience there and baseball gained some coolness in his eyes. There also seemed to be a camaraderie factor because some of the boys from his team did the camp too. He was gaining interest.

And now he's played his first game where he was positioned in the in field.  And he MADE PLAYS.

And he played his first game where he got hits at BOTH at-bats.

And he never got out, making runs both of those innings as well.

And it felt good.  

And now we have a boy who talks about how much he likes baseball.

Just his second season. Who knows where this will really go, but so far Kaden's having way more fun this season already.  That's what it's about,right?

That's not my boy at bat. That's not my boy as catcher. That's my boy on third base getting a high five from his third-base coach Daddy.