Long Weekend



At the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco, there was a clear slide
through the otter exhibit.  Very cool for the kids!

Friday after school: Kung Fu Panda 2 
Saturday:  Swimming all afternoon with friends and then an evening meal with church friends.

Sunday:  Booked  hotel,  headed to hill country.  Stopped halfway  in Waco and went to the zoo.   Arrived in Burnet, TX, checked into our hotel.  Ate supper at a local restaurant/fishing shop/ taxadermist.  Swam in hotel pool.  Watched the first Kung Fu Panda movie on cable TV.

Monday:  Went to Longhorn Cavern State Park.  Walked around and toured  the cave.  Drove home.

Today:  Kids at home with pink eye and soar throats.



Replica Native American reed/grass huts



Ollie is hitting the gong with the rope

Cold sweet treats

At Longhorn Cavern.  The steps behind lead to the cave entrance.

We have never seen so many prickly pears!!
They were everywhere.
Also, apparently, raising show goats
is a thing in hill country.

These were in the parking lot at the cave.

The guide said this stone was naturally formed by water.   Hmm...

They call this the marble room.

Trinity River Audubon Center



This past Thursday Damian had off
so we took the kids to the
Trinity River Audubon Center.
May is a beautiful time for blooming wildflowers.



Bird watching.

These tiny orange butterflies were everywhere.
Also, large black woolly caterpillars.

We also have these cranes at the water behind our apartments.

I really love the thistles right now!

Ollie spotted this little guy.
He was so much brighter than
the lizards we usually see.
His surroundings were bright as well,
in a marshy area.

A little hawk.

The building and education center on the sight were great.
Here the kids are playing with water that
they could direct to create a river.
There were live turtles in aquariums
and fun animal facts, bones, fur, etc,
not unlike the drawers at Kauffman Museum.

Haircuts

Izzy decided to begin her haircut herself,
 therefore, I was forced to finish it.

I do not claim to be good at cutting hair.
But I was rather pleased the way this turned out.

Now Ollie can swim with goggles without his hair
getting in the way.

Snaggle Tooth

Now it's Oliver's turn to be "Snaggle Tooth"!  He was very excited to get that tooth out.  It had been bothering his eating.  And we all know how much this kid likes to eat!

Yesterday's DIY Project

We saw this litter box at PetSmart in the cat adoption area.
It seemed like a good design to keep litter off the floor.
After talking about the concept, we decided to make our own with a tub we
already had and an outdoor mat from Walmart.
The PetSmart box is $34.99.
Ours was only $3.97 plus a little hot glue to secure the mat
and about 30 minutes of our time.

It seems to have been a success overnight.

Playing Hookie

After Clara finished her TAKS test on Wednesday
I decided to take the kids to the Dallas Zoo for the final
time on our membership.

The zoo has a nice new African animals exhibit.
The weather could not have been more perfect!

The sculptures are always a fan favorite.
Also a fan favorite... the gift shop.
 The girls chose fun T-shirts.
Ollie picked a toy with a lizard submerged in slime.



These are the real deal!  Nile Crocodiles.



Lunch outside.  The flies and bees were pesty,
but there was no wind and the temperature was perfect.

There were MANY school kids there on field trips,
so we struggled a bit to see the animals at times.

The kids took more items to trade at the Nature Trading Post.
Then they redeemed all their accumulated points.
This has probably been one of my favorite parts of this zoo.
Clara brought home an hunk of sulfur, a large shell and some pretty stones.
Ollie picked out an alligator gar vertebra.
Izzy found pretty polished rocks in several colors.

Farewell Dallas Zoo!