NC Grandparents visit the zoo

This morning, Sam showed Mum Gail and Pop Pop Earl his favorite things to do- go to Harlow’s Donut Shop and the Alexandria Zoo. We started the morning with a visit to the donut shop.

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From March 2012

Yes, Sam proudly wore his wee ball tournament medal. HA!

Then we went to the zoo.

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It was CROWDED! Travis and I were in shock. We actually had to park in a side lot. Crazy! The animals seemed to enjoy the crowd though- very few were hiding or sleeping.
Swiper (for the umpteenth time)

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Our favorite zookeeper (the lady who taught us about emus and their eggs) shared some info about the black panther today. Her name is Jabo and she is temporarily located in the dark place that we find her. She had to be moved because of the “Land of the Jaguar” exhibit they are renovating. She has been at the zoo since birth and is 20 years old! I know that she is a vicious cat in the wild but she is SOOO beautiful that I could stand there and stare at her all day.

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It was a warm day so all of the gators and crocs were sunning. Nice!

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The one in the picture below, is a female American Alligator. She was halfway under our walkway.

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When we were talking to our favorite zookeeper, Travis asked what she considered to be the most dangerous animal in the zoo. He and Trey had decided it was this ugly bird that has a sign on the gate “never enter pen alone” and in the description of the animal it talks about how they can’t fly but they jump up and use the hooks on their feet to basically slice and dice whatever they are attacking. This is the bird…

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Our favorite zookeeper agreed that this bird was dangerous and could “easily rip ya to shreds” (zoo lady’s words) but she considered the female American alligator that is by herself to be the most dangerous. She said that she was SO MEAN they had to separate her from the others and she doesn’t like having to clean her area. She just kept re-iterating how mean this gator is. Crazy! Therefore, the meanest animal at the zoo (in the eyes of our favorite zookeeper) is not the lions, tigers, panthers, wolves, etc. It is the female American alligator that hid under the walkway- guess I am glad she didn’t decide to bust through the walkway and have an early lunch!

Anyway, back to the other gators/crocs that were sunning themselves…

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The gator above was actually lying near a window. Here is what he looked like through that window.

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Last gator pic…

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Oops! I forgot about the Nile crocodiles! They are NEVER this close to the glass. It was kind of cool to see. I never realized just how green they are.

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I doubt the train conductor ever got a break today- he made trips every 15 minutes and had almost full trains each time.

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The turtle on the left is a red slider turtle. We thought it was funny that he was balanced on the log and sticking his legs out behind him.

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Look at this cute zoo creature!

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Look how big that owl’s foot is!

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We stayed at this monkey exhibit for awhile. She started swinging and performing so I made a movie and we all just watched. The video will be posted at the end.

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This peacock let me get very close before hopping off the fence and “running” away.

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The female lion was sprawled very lady-like out in the field.

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Before we left, we rode the train. Travis and Trey shared a bench that actually faced our train car. Travis made a goofy face at me- unfortunately, Trey ended up being what was in focus.

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The Wright Brothers

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I feel like I can’t go to the zoo without getting a picture of the crazy beached fish.

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To complete our “set” of pictures of Sam with various family members on the gator…

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We had a fun time even though it was very crowded. Below is the video compilation I made of our zoo trip.

Yay for family! Yay for donuts! Yay for zoo trips!

🙂
Steph

First wee ball games

Sam had his first and second wee ball games last night. He played a doubleheader as part of the pre-season Ward 9 wee ball tournament. He had a game at 6:30 and 7:30- HA! Two hours on the same field in the same dugout with the same 3-4 year olds was a bit much. By the end of the second game, half our team had gone home and half of those that were left were exhausted and emotional. Thankfully, Sam was still having fun because he discovered how fun it is to chase moths! HA HA HA! It was such a funny, highly entertaining game. Travis’ parents and Trey were able to go. We had so much fun laughing at the players (and cheering them on, of course.)

The first time out in the field, Sam played 3rd base.

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However, he didn’t like the other team’s players to stand on his base- you will be able to see this on the video at the end of this post. He also would stand there and chat with the runners.

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In wee ball, there are no strikes or outs. Every player bats every inning. That resulted in all kids batting twice each game. Sam practiced in the yard yesterday and Mum Gail taught him to say “swing that bat and bust that ball” and so while he was in the on deck circle he was standing there chanting that.

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His team’s shirts haven’t come in yet and so Sam was wearing his Harry Potter shirt. 🙂

When he got up to bat, Coach John had to be reminded that Sam bats left-handed. He is the only “lefty” on the team.

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Can you tell he takes his time running the bases?

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Whew! He made it to 1st. High 5’s to the first base coach.

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Two batters later, Sam made it to 3rd base. On the way home, he collided with one of the other team’s players.

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Thankfully, Mrs. Mandy (Coach John’s wife) was there to help him up and send him on his way.

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Sam then thought home plate was another bag to stand on and so he wouldn’t move. HA!

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The next inning, Sam played 2nd base and wasn’t as possessive of this bag.

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When it was Sam’s turn to “stay in the circle”, he enjoyed chatting it up with one of the coach’s daughters. Sam calls them “his girls.”

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Once their conversation was through, Sam’s bat because a horse.

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He lost focus when he saw me trying to take pictures. He had just shouted “hey mommy” when I took this picture.

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He has the arm pumping thing figured out. Now we just need to work on speed.

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Another High 5.

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Learning how to “shake hands” with the other team.

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“shaking hands”

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The second game…

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Oops!

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This one was a good hit. I like his nice “follow through.”

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Getting ready to run to 1st…

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and deciding to run a funny route to the bag…

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Yay! He made it!

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Once Sam would make it to second, he would unbuckle the chin strap on his helmet. He then would “run” the bases pulling it like a train whistle and yelling “chugga chugga choo choo”- HILARIOUS!

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His next time out in the field, he played first. I do believe he looks like a natural for this position.

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(small FYI- the lady in scrubs in the background had just given her son inhaler puffs. He told her he needed “a breather.” HA!)
Apparently, Sam’s “ready position” was just to get him ready to play with the sand.

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Not quite sure how he is going to catch a ball with his glove on backwards.

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Focused.

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As you will see in the video, while he played 1st he chased moths around. He looked like he was having some kind of pentecostal experience out there in the infield. I laughed so hard I almost cried. I think we should avoid late night games. HA HA!

His last time in the field, he went back to 3rd and “his girls” stood with him.

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After the game, they received their medals for participating in the tournament.

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Sam was more interested in his “snack”- capri sun and sour warhead strips… two things I am pretty sure he has never had.

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We celebrated his first games by going to a REALLY late celebration at Splurge. FYI- our little ball player didn’t go to bed until after 10:30pm. YIKES!

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Close-up of his medal.

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Here is the video I compiled of the various things that happened during the game.

It was a fun game and I am definitely looking forward to the next. I am also glad that it shouldn’t be a doubleheader! Whew- that was rough!

🙂
Steph

Ron Paul visits LC

Yesterday, I took advantage of Travis’ parents being here and went to hear Ron Paul’s speech. It was during nap time so it was extremely nice to just escape for a bit and listen to “adult” talk. Ha Ha! I took along my trusty phone and big camera so that I could blog about the event. It was obvious, he was targeting younger people. He showed up in jeans and a button down shirt without a tie. Honestly, I kind of liked that- he didn’t look like a stuffy politician. He also didn’t have notes, just just kind of “winged it”- which had its ups and downs. He seemed to go off on tangents at times but would always circulate back to what he was saying. I also like how he didn’t seem to use political “jargon” and was easy to understand. I am not a big fan of politics and so I hate listening to one talk and it sound nice and great and then when it is over I am left wondering what exactly they were talking about. Anyway, I made a couple of videos and took several pictures so here they go…

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Rabbit trail moment- does anyone think he looks like a cross between Gandalf and Dumbledore in the picture above? I do…

The auditorium was PACKED!

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Dr. Ron Paul!

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Speaking of “Dr. Ron Paul”- does anyone find it kind of funny that an OB/GYN is running for President? (Can you tell I have random thoughts while trying to listen to political events?)

I think he has some supporters at LC…

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(I also think he doesn’t stand a chance… but I am not a political analyst-unless you want to talk about movie look-a-likes and former presidential careers)

One of his platforms is that if elected he wants to celebrate the 100th birthday of the federal reserve system by repealing it. Frankly, I don’t understand how it would work but he seems to think it would. Anyway, the video below is of him talking about the federal reserve…

Since he is an OB/GYN AND was speaking at a conservative Baptist college, he was asked about his view on Personhood. Basically, he said that he believes life begins at conception (YAY!) but, to me (and I cam be completely off base here,) he said that he feels like women should have the right to choose because we live in a free country. I only recorded a SMALL snippet of him talking about Personhood so this is what I got…

Anyway, that is all I have to share about Ron Paul. We did notice that he didn’t seem to arrive to all the pomp and circumstance that Newt Gingrich had- we think he arrived in an unmarked Dodge Durango (which is nothing compared to Newt’s “Newt Bus”.) I enjoyed it- didn’t understand all of it but, I really like that I was able to go.

🙂
Steph