CapyBabies

I've expressed my love of capybaras before. We are so lucky! The zoo has 4 new capybaras, 3 males and one female. We saw them on Sunday! New friends for Caplin Rous! Here are 3/4ths of them.




The zoo has a video of them on Facebook. I wonder what their names are.

I was so happy to have the company of my Beloved Niece and Great-Nephews. Mr. Thomas does not like creepy crawly bugs, but he does like snakes. McQueen is partial to the snow leopards. We had a fun time, while Ernest went to a meeting. Next Saturday is Princess Day (a thinly disguised frog appreciation event). Ernest usually has to play a frog. I wonder if he gets kissed?

Pooz

I do believe this is elephant poo on his pants. LAUNDRY TIME!

Snooze Nooz

He didn't take pictures, darn it.

But at 9:00 this morning, HE SHOVELED ELEPHANT POOP!!!! Seriously, how many people get do that??? Each poo clump was "as big as a toddler's head," he said. I saw an elephant poop the other day -- I agree!

In prettier news, I have some lovely butterfly pictures... but I am not allowed to can't upload them right now because they are WoWing.

Why I Made My Son Say What I Made Him Say

I. I drove Ernest to the zoo this morning (leaving the house at 9 a.m. on Sunday when I should have been SLEEPING) and...

II. at 10:30 remembered that he didn't have lunch money and interrupted my arts&crafts walk (wishing there was food -- less artsy, more fartsy as Homer Simpson said) to bring him some money...then...

III. as I was on my way to pick him up at 1:00 heard a phone message garbled by too much background noise... "CITs sleepover...can borrow sleeping bag...call me back..."

IV. spoke to him in person and found out details...Zoo Snooze from 6 pm to 10 am. Intense negotiations follow:
A. Yes, he can come back early after we're done with our visit to the museum of not live animals (I wonder if there is a rivalry between the places).
B. Someone will loan him a sleeping bag.
C. I've been driving forever! I don't want to drive again tomorrow morning.
D. So he'll be a CIT (counselor in training?) volunteer tomorrow, and his dad can pick him up after work. (Long day for Ernest but he's OK with it.)
E. I think he needs a jacket. He is too long and tall for the jacket that's in the trunk of my car. After we finish our family time somewhere else, we find the perfect jacket at Old Navy -- On sale!

V. Knowing that I totally HATE HATE HATE last minute planning like this, after it was arranged I made him say "You're the best mommy in the whole wide world."

VI. And he did.

VII. And he added "I love you." And "Thank you so much!"

VIII. And he pushed my dearest friend around the other place in a wheelchair. He was so nice. She was amazed that a 13 year old could be so sweet and patient. (But Frank was also a sweetheart at 13, too. Thirteen has not been a problem in our house!)

So my youngling is sleeping at the zoo tonight. I loaned him my camera -- hope he takes pictures. Do you think they tell scary animal stories?

Like this one time, when the Cabybara escaped?

Animal Handling

Once Ernest accumulated 200 volunteer hours at the zoo, he was eligible for animal handling training. The TGW kids who do this will be able to handle animals at the Junior Keeper shows. On Monday he got to handle some of the "Eew" exhibit creatures (all photos from Wikipedia):

fox snake



tomato frog




blue tongued skink


Skink? SKINK??? As a small child he was obsessed with skinks at the various zoos we visited, so life has come full circle for him.

And here's the Broadway version.