More zoo shots and stuff....

So I got to spend yet another day at the zoo today. Unfortunately the weather wasn't as wonderful, but it was still decent. It was hot, then cold, then hot, then cold...a few sprinkles, lots of wind, you know - typical Kansas stuff.

What's not typical is that although it was in the mid-80s for the past couple of days, it's going to be below freezing again tonight and tomorrow night. Blah.

So.....random zoo shots from today...

Excited to get there!

Excited to be there!

Are they..... SMILING at me?

I vant to.....oh, nevermind. Too cliche.

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Another red panda sighting!

Obligatory self-portrait - but he was getting tired.

This just makes me giggle.

If I had 1/10th of the energy that these three had....

Yeah. We were both pretty wiped on the way home.

In other news....

Came home to bloomin' irises.
Too bad they're going to FREEZE.

The Dude has been diligently working on a plan to get my van fixed - using his connections and whatnot to hopefully get it done for a fraction of the original quote, but we'll see what happens. Nothing is definite yet, so I'm still driving the chariot until we get the van done - and hoping and praying that his plan will work...

Winning the lottery would definitely help, but well, you know....

And last but not least...... if you haven't had a chance to donate yet, PLEASE DO. The walk is on Saturday and we need your help. Rumor has it that Ashley might be beating me in the donations, but I could have a few bucks stashed up my sleeve to throw in at the last minute - so if you want to see me strolling through the streets of Wichita in whatever ridiculous get-up she has me wearing - you'd better throw some more money in her direction. Or share the post. Whatever works to get the word out there and find a cure!

Too much fun for one day

I took entirely too many pictures today. That's all there is to it.

Daniel and I went to the zoo - along with roughly 60 other kindergarten kids from his school. We got to spend the majority of the day there, and I only had him and one other little girl with me so we were able to really enjoy it. I even got to ride the school bus, which brought back some interesting memories from *cough* 20+ years ago.

I managed to narrow down the 300+ pictures that I took, and here are a few highlights....

Love the otters - they're always so playful, but hard to capture
with the camera.

Red Panda - only the second time I've actually seen one - they always
seem to hide from me.

Sad gorilla.

Timon!

He was a little worried about the hippo.

Obligatory dorky self-portrait.

Didn't even notice the heart at first.

She was a 'take charge' kind of gal.

Who wouldn't want to examine the poop???

Baby!

What's up with the hearts?

After we got back to the school, I ran home, grabbed the truck, grabbed The Dude, ran a couple of errands with him, got the boys from school, took The Dude home, ran a few more errands, dumped the boys at The Dude's house, and went to Sarah's track meet.

This girl....she amazes me. Seriously. She kicked some serious booty tonight.

Cruisin' 

Absolutely loving the green. Finally.

She ended up with 5th place in high jump...

4th in long jump.....

They got 2nd place in the 4x100 relay....

...and thanks to her amazing lead they got first in the 4x200 relay.

The weather was glorious and amazing and almost hot and sunny all day long - I even got a little bit of a sunburn. It's a good thing that I got to enjoy it today, because I get to go back to the zoo tomorrow with Alex and the rest of the 1st graders.....

.....when it'll be barely 60 degrees....

.....with a 60% chance of thunderstorms.....

.....and the possibility of snow tomorrow night.

The day started with wildlife and ended in jail

Hey, guess what? We had a crazy day!

I know that's shocking - but it happens occasionally sometimes all the time.

So....as usual, we were up before dawn in order to get all of the kids to school on time. At least during this time of year, I don't have to drive straight into the rising sun - although I really dislike leaving the house when it's still dark outside.

I do like to have a little bit more light while I'm driving so that I can avoid things like this.

There were actually about 6-7 of them, just taking their time and strolling across the road - but by the time I came to an almost-stop and stuck my camera out the window, I only caught the last 4.

The boys had their parent/teacher conferences this afternoon - and of course there was the obligatory book fair at the same time. We wandered around the book fair to kill some time before we went to the conferences.

Both of the boys are doing great in school. They haven't had any major behavioral issues and their teachers love them. They're both way ahead of where they should be academically, so now it's a matter of keeping them both challenged so that they don't get bored (much like the older 3 kids).

Alex had Scouts again tonight, so we walked down to the meeting. The boys got to go to the local 911 center, sheriff/police department, and explore the jail. They had an absolutely amazing time, and everyone that they met was so wonderful and accommodating. We spent close to 2 hours there, so by the time that we walked back home it was way after their bedtime.

911 Center

Talking about guns...
See the look of fear on Alex's face?!?!?!

Evidence lockers

They wanted to see a big gun!

I have to admit - this was the first time that I was ever in our jail, and I learned a lot about it tonight. It was much bigger than I had thought that it was, and it was much harsher inside than I expected it to be for some reason. Honestly, it was really kind of surreal to walk through it and to see it with my own eyes. I know of several people - including my exhusband - who have spent some time in there, and seeing it for myself really put it into a different perspective for me. I'm really still trying to wrap my head around it.

So tomorrow, I have to get up to get the boys to school (hopefully in time to walk) and then I'm watching a friend's kid for a couple of hours, and then hopefully - if all goes well, the planets align, and nothing goes wrong - I'll get to spend some quality time with The Dude.

Maybe, just maybe, it won't be such a crazy day.