Texas Wild

Yesterday started off great with coffee at the bookstore, kept merrily rolling along with a trip to drop off some food for a new mama (I hope they could take their eyes off their beautiful little one long enough to eat it!) and ended with a perfect trip to the zoo with Husband and a perfectly frightful storm that made me think it was September in Sarasota. (It was my fault really. I made a pasta salad that is notoriously known as Storm Salad in our house since I only seem to make it in the spring and it is usually served with a side of wind sheers, rain and sometimes hail.)

The children really enjoyed showing Husband all of their favorite animals at the zoo. First stop was Meerkat Mound, with a swing by the African Savannah, a stroll past the sharks in the Great Barrier Reef and a quick saunter through the snake house. The majority of our time was spent in their favorite area.We stopped by on our first trip of the year hoping to see some wildflowers. There are so many we haven't had a chance to get up close and personal with! We see them as we drive here and there, but it isn't the same as getting to explore them with our senses. I think we might have to resort to poaching some soon. Don't worry! It isn't illegal. While a DPS officer might issue you a citation for impeding traffic, they would sooner give you a ticket for selling Limburger cheese on Sunday than for picking wildflowers. Anyway, there were no wildflowers to be found, but plenty of other beauties to behold. Bald eagles, bobcats, jaguars, mountain lions, coyotes (in between the jaguar and mountain lions acting very skittish...hmmmm... wonder why?), roadrunners and of course hornets, bats, bees and rattlesnakes.

Poor Husband! I know he loves me and he loves our life, but if we could move somewhere else without my mother hunting him down, he would in a heart beat. He has lived all over the continental U.S. so he speaks with a good amount of certitude when he says: Never have I lived somewhere with so many dangerous creatures everywhere you turn. You step outside and there are things trying to either eat you or kill you!

Sorry sweetie!

We visited Sea World last November, so the Gulf Coast area was of particular interest to my kiddos. You can touch a sea anemone (thank goodness for spell check), a sting ray (or just get splashed by one) and a sleepy slipper lobster.

Of course, we had to go see the Texas Wild Weather Show, again. It is super fun for everyone except BigBoy who doesn't like all of the loud thunder and flickering lights. The rain and golf ball-sized hail (plastic ones) was a little intense the first time the big kids saw it, but now they think it's a hoot! When the show is over there is a very nice (read: air conditioned) area that shows how good land management is our responsibility which fits right along with teaching our kids that we try to be good stewards of the earth.

However, this display was the cause of some amusement for Husband and a little embarrassment for me.
The yellow wrench has the word "contraception" on it. The first time we saw it I was furious! The Fort Worth Zoo isn't like other zoos where they try to make you feel guilty for sucking up all of the air and depriving the animals of homes with your very presence. Why have they changed now? What are they trying to say? How dare they suggest a thing like this in a place mostly enjoyed by children! I called Husband to tell him of my frustration and anger.

In his oh-so-calm, cool voice, with just the slightest hint of a chuckle (never condescension) he says: I think they're talking about... for the animals.

You know..."Neuter is Cuter!", Bob Barker and all that?

Tee, hee, hee! Silly me!