Weekend Fun (at the Houston Zoo and other places)!

The first weekend in  May (May 4th) we took advantage of the early opening for members and went to the zoo.  Poor Nathan had been cooped up all week with that awful fever and we were looking forward to doing something fun.  In keeping with our general zoo strategy, we only stayed for a few hours.  I think we arrived at around 8:30 and left at 11:30 (he was exhausted!).  This time we decided to focus on the children's/petting zoo and Nathan also asked to see the lion ::rawrrr::.

On our way to the children's zoo area we saw a kookaburra (fitting since we listened to the song on the way to the zoo), otter, deer, eagle, turkey, raccoon and porcupine (to name a few). We were at the petting zoo a little early so Nathan and Daddy played prairie dog in the little domes by the porcupine exhibit. Nathan also played at the little playground next to the petting zoo for a few minutes, although Daddy had to stay nearby since Nathan is really passive and there were a bunch of not-so-passive big and little kids playing too. Eventually we made it into the enclosure with the goats and Nathan went from goat to goat brushing and petting. He seemed to enjoy it and probably could have stayed longer but other kids were arriving and I was tired of smelling goats. We also saw the cow (probably a steer actually...I didn't pay that much attention), llama, ducks and pig in the "barn." 

After all that excitement we washed hands really well then went to sit and eat a snack. On our way to see the lion we passed the carousel (that Nathan declined to ride), giraffe and rhinoceros. I don't think Nathan really remembers seeing the rhinoceros since he acquired a new friend right by the giraffe exhibit.  He is still completely enamored of the giraffes. We finally made it over to see Johnathan the Lion and he was sleeping in a very unflattering belly-up pose right by the glass.  I guess he likes an audience. We passed by the tigers on our way out and by then Nathan was clearly exhausted.  Mr. Independent didn't want to cooperate on the way to the car and Daddy ended up having to carry him to prevent a serious meltdown. He (and his new giraffe friend) was asleep as soon as we were out of the parking lot. As a side note, that 40 minute nap on the ride home was the only one of the day.

That afternoon after lunch daddy went and got a haircut and mommy took a much needed shower. Then we went to Babies R Us to buy a potty for Nathan and another magnetic cabinet key (our kitchen child-proof locks are magnetic). We had two but we are pretty sure Jimmy threw one of them away in a pre-coffee morning blur. We also made a trip to Hobby Lobby which turned out to be a mistake on a 40-minute nap day but Daddy came to the rescue and kept Nathan occupied while Mommy hurriedly tried to locate what we went there to find. Nathan fell asleep as we pulled into the driveway, while blowing bubbles sitting outside (woke up when he dropped the wand) and in his high chair during dinner. So we took an early bath and he was asleep by 7:00 - an hour earlier than usual. He then proceeded to wake up approx 8 or 9 times between 8:00 pm and 6:15 am. It was a rough night. In hindsight, this was the start of the scarlet fever fun.  I first found the rash on his back that night during bath (10 days before proper diagnosis), but thought it might have just been a heat rash...silly mommy.