Life at the Zoo

Otherwise known as our house during Spring Break.

And, we did viist the real zoo. Today is the first really, really nice day of spring, so we went to the zoo. Highlights:

• Alex rode a pony. Andy to be specific. I'm not sure what brought on this since Alex has rarely expressed any interest in riding the ponies since he was a really little boy. In fact, Andy might be the same pony he rode on his very first pony ride at the zoo many years ago.
• We heard a zebra 'talk.' It bared its teeth and made a noise I cannot quite describe. It did not sound happy, but it was cool to hear.
• We saw baby Mahal. He's still very cute with crazy hair. And, so snuggly with his mama. Even though it took a few tries to find a mommy for him, MJ and Mahal are great pair.
• The train ride. Luke ran to the crossing gates every time he saw the train coming, let us know he heard the train, and begged to ride the train the entire time we were at the zoo. In his words, the train ride was perfect. It worked out good for me, too. Poppa took the three kids on the train ride while Grandma and I stayed behind to feed Julia lunch. Julia finished her lunch, we went to see where the rest of the gang was and got there just as they were pulling back into the station. Talk about good timing.
• I am no longer pasty white all over. Instead, I am pale pink with freckles from my biceps down.
• A really nice lady took our picture in front of the zoo. It's nice to have a photo with all of us in it.
• We actually made it to the zoo. It has been a crazy week of sick in this house. In summary: Erica - starts a high fever on Satuday which she runs off and on until we finally decide to take her to the doctor on Thursday evening, where she is diagnosed with a double ear infection, Me - stomach bug and fever on Monday, Matt - really bad stomach bug on Wednesday, Alex - slight fever and lethargic on Wednesday/Thursday (he's still pretty congested), Julia - still trying to kick that cough that she's had for about 3 weeks (she's nearly over it now), Luke - no illness so far.

Equally amazing is that we managed an outing to the Mineshaft on Tuesday. Even with sick kids and sick parents, it has been a fairly nice spring break. Not Disney, but nice and pretty relaxing if you overlook the sick part. And, I hardly want to admit it, but my sick day wasn't so bad. Although I felt pretty yucky, it was so nice to sleep and sleep and sleep and then read a book for a little while. A whole day with no responsibilities. Ahhh, that was nice.