And It Only Took Me Six Months To Finish!

I'm not much of a decorator-- I have no style-- or maybe my style could be called College Dorm Chic. (I admit it, I have a thing for posters.) Anyway, I'm in the mood to make some changes. Move stuff around. For my first project I  blew up some of our better Zoo pictures last summer and framed them over the weekend. Again, not stylish, but it's a favorite place of ours and the pictures make me happy. Now, to figure out my next project...

Just a Passing Thought

We went to the St. Louis Zoo Sunday.  It was a beautiful day and I wanted to see the new Sea Lion Arena before the shows end Labor Day weekend.  I can't believe I'm the only one that thought a shark was an inappropriate decoration since they are Sea Lions' #1 predator.  Maybe they do that just to remind the Sea Lions how lucky they are to be in a shark-free environment!

St. Louis Zoo, January 2012

I was looking through some old video this morning and found this that I hadn't edited.  We went to the Zoo back in January.  It was so mild we didn't need heavy coats. We went on that day with the sole purpose to see the Penguin Walk, which they do on select Sundays, weather permitting. It was actually almost too warm! Screwy, screwy weather this year!

Morning Coffee Happy Easter!

Now that the kids are grown up and I no longer do the Church thing, we don't do much for Easter. But today just happens to also be our 24th wedding anniversary, so we are going to St. Louis and spend the day at the Zoo. Picnic is packed and the weather is supposed to be pleasant. The birds are singing and the flowers are blooming. It should be a good day!

Reptiles!

Since my daughter is still home we went to the Zoo last Sunday. It was a little cool, in the low 40s, but clear with no wind. We don't normally go in January--actually I'm not sure we ever have. But it was nice. The crowd was minimal at best. There were more animals out moving around than I expected. And we could actually spend time in some of the buildings without hordes of people. I want to "redo" some of my walls and since I'm not much of a decorator my plan is to take some of our Zoo pictures, blow them up and frame them. I didn't have any reptile photos because the reptile house is always so crowded I can't get close enough to take pictures. This time we were able to take the time to get some good pictures. I want to get my frames out this week and see what sizes I have and how many so I can decide which pictures to use. I have so many good ones now, it's going to be hard to decide!

Bird Sitter

Because the weather was so hot this Summer, we hadn't gone to the Zoo since April. That's unusual for us. Normally, we go 3 or 4 times a year. We're behind schedule this year! So we headed to St. Louis on Labor Day. It was the first fairly cool day. Normally, we wouldn't go on a holiday just because of the crowds, but we all had the day off and we decided to chance it. We left early and got there a few minutes before the doors opened. It was nice because the crowds didn't hit until later. This Peacock family reminded me of a time when I was a kid and we did some peacock "sitting". Friends of ours lived in the country and raised the birds. Some eggs had just hatched and there was one born with a twisted leg. They asked us to "babysit" the young bird while they were out of town for a few days. We did, and the poor thing died after a hand full of days. I know, not a happy ending. My brother and I were naturally upset, but Mom told us that it wasn't our fault that the bird died, sometimes these things just happen. I guess the point of the story isn't that the bird died, but it's more the fact that we got to babysit a Peacock once!

St. Louis Zoo, April 2011

The husband and I went to the Zoo last month--without kids. It was a nice day and I almost didn't take my camera, but it seems like there is always something that we've never seen before. So I'm glad I did, because I've never seen the Penguins put on a show like they did and the Elephants were doing behaviors I had also never seen. It was so sweet, because the elephant that made the mud hole, instead of pushing the others away, actually went over and rubbed her head on them, like she was hugging them. You hear that they are very affectionate to each other and I believe, with all of the times we have gone, this was the first time I've actually seen it. There is a new baby Rhino I was hoping to see, but apparently it wasn't out yet the day we were there. Hopefully, we will get back soon. The St. Louis Zoo really is one of my favorite places!

Pre-Holiday

Life has been incredibly hectic the last couple of weeks, and is going to get only more so for the next month. I love it, and every year I think I will get a jump on things and have things half done before December even gets here. I used to, when the kids were younger and I was only working part time. Now, not so much! My daughter turned 21 a few weeks ago, and since she doesn't drink, she wanted to invite some of her friends from Indianapolis and some of her high school friends for the weekend and go to St. Louis to the Zoo. Only problem, we don't have enough room in our house to have a dozen girls staying the night. But my Mom does! Since my Step-dad was going to be gone for the weekend (hunting season) she said "sure, bring them out!" She has a big walk-out basement with two bedrooms and a full bath, so the girls camped out down there and I took one of the bed-rooms upstairs. We had a perfect day--overcast but not cold, small crowd. And the animals were all out. My daughter is majoring in animation, so her friends are all "artsy". Very diverse bunch of girls! I always enjoy being with them. She's planning on moving to San Francisco in January to finish school. I've gotten used to her being home, it's going to be hard to let her go--again.

Gone Batty

Several years ago we noticed bat houses at the zoo. My husband found a pattern for them and built one and put it on the garage. Further research said it could take 4 or 5 years to actually attract bats. I think it's probably been 7 and I had given up. But I noticed droppings this week and upon further investigation it looks like we have three! I'm guessing that losing a big part of the tree that is between the house and the garage is the reason we finally have bats. I imagine the tree was simply in the way. Too cool!

State of the Union

My husband had yesterday off and the weather was beautiful, so we decided to go to the St. Louis Zoo. Altho I've already been there twice this year with the kids, the husband hasn't. The boy started school this week and is in a less than happy mood and wanted to stay home and have some alone time. Off we went! I mentioned on the way there that we haven't gone to the zoo by ourselves since our honeymoon! That was 21 years ago. We had a dandy good time and it's nice to know we still can. We had some rocky times when I wasn't sure we would make it--times when I wasn't sure I cared if we made it. But I'm so glad we held on. I know people who have nothing in common once the kids move on, but I think if we make the effort to not get into a rut, we can have a really good life--just the two of us!

Follow Up

My son and I made it to Indianapolis as planned, but the trip got cut short. The boy is a worrier and he decided he was getting sick (I think it was lack of sleep) so the whole stay was only about 24 hours. But we did alot in those 24 hours (and spent alot of money in the process)! We went shopping and out to eat on Sunday evening. Then headed to the theatre to see the new Harry Potter movie (our whole reason for picking that particular weekend) and then we headed down town in the middle of the night to see the fountain. Way past my bed time, but it was worth it! If you are ever in Indianapolis, go downtown after dark! Then a couple of hours of (bad) sleep and up and out for breakfast. Afterwords we went to the Zoo. We are so used to the St. Louis Zoo that the Indianapolis Zoo seemed rather small. But it is really beautiful and the exhibits impressed me. The animals were all out and moving around. We really enjoyed it. But after we left there the boy decided he wanted to head home instead of travel around Indiana. I even offered to get us a hotel room instead of spending another night with the girls but he was adamant. He just didn't want to be away from home if he was getting sick. I don't blame him, except I don't believe he was sick--just tired. But it saved me from spending more money, so that's okay!

Oh, and Lucky showed up for a bit Saturday afternoon. Then she disappeared again. I don't know where she is going!

The Zoo and the Roommates

My daughter and her roommates came home for the weekend for the sole purpose of going to the St. Louis Zoo. She goes to school in Indianapolis and her three roommates are all from Indiana, so this was new for them. I think I have mentioned that the Zoo is one of our favorite places to go. My husband and I went there on our honeymoon and we started going regularly when the kids were still babies. When my daughter decided to go to school in the opposite direction I didn't renew our Zoo membership because I didn't think we would be going again for a few years. But we all immediately missed it--or maybe just missed the thought of not going since it hadn't been that long since we last went! I renewed! I decided even if we don't get to go very often, I would still like to give the Zoo our support. I think good times were had by all, even though it was extremely crowded and extremely hot on Saturday! It's been so cool this Spring, but it got up to nearly 90 degrees that day! My husband and son both tend to be a bit antisocial, and don't like other people in their "territory" so I wasn't sure how they would do with 3 extra girls in the house for two nights, but they did well. I know I really enjoyed the girls' company! It brings back alot of my own memories from my late teens, my own college years.

Favorite Places

One of our very favorite places is the St. Louis Zoo. We went several times when I was a child, the whole extended family--aunts, uncles and cousins. We would always take a picnic with cold fried chicken and potato salad and the sweat bees would buzz around our sodas. My husband and I spend part of our honeymoon in St. Louis and the Zoo was our first stop. Somehow, when the kids were still babies, we started a tradition of taking them to the Zoo. It's not quite an hour and a half drive, especially if we go on Sunday. The Zoo is free, but parking is a bit expensive and most of the "extras" (the train, the children's zoo) have an extra charge. I began to purchase a family membership and we have generally made the trip 2 or 3 times a year. It's hard to find an activity that parents can share with teenagers (especially teenage boys!) but this one works for all of us. It's been our tradition, our "place". So the fact that my daughter is going to school in Indianapolis now, meaning the total opposite direction, has affected my decision to renew our membership. I figure if we have a free day, instead of heading west we will probably head east. Except, I'm noticing we are all suffering withdrawal! Especially my 16 year old son! I admit, I'm really surprised about that. I knew he enjoyed it, I guess I just didn't realize how much. I realize I'm blessed with kids that actually like to spend time with their parents. Hallelujah!