Zoo memories

I have been working on a five-part series entitled Spring's Precious Miracles.  Each day I focused on a different aspect of spring and how to involve children in learning about it.  I discussed butterflies, birds, flowers and foliage, weather, and animals.  Since the South Texas State fair opens today, I incorporated that into the article on animals since there is a petting zoo and livestock at the fair.  That is how I came across this picture of Katie on her first trip to the fair.

It seems like just yesterday since our first trip to the fair with a child.  We have gone to many petting zoos, fairs and carnivals since 2000 (when this picture was taken).  Here are a few recaps of family outings at the zoo:

1.  When Andrew was a baby and Katie a toddler we evacuated to Waco for a hurricane.  My parents went with us, and one day we all went to the zoo.  While visiting the petting zoo, my dad was holding a map of the zoo and a goat came by, snatched it right out of his hand, and ate it in a matter of seconds.  We still laugh about that.  Here is a picture of us at the Waco zoo:

2.  Unfortunately this is connected to a hurricane evacuation, too.  This time it was Hurricane Rita, and we were staying in Richardson with my cousins.  When we went to the Dallas zoo, they let us in for free since we were "evacuees".  We had so much fun since it was a cool fall day and most of the kids were in school.  It was almost like we had the zoo to ourselves.  Here is a picture from our trip to the Dallas zoo:

3.  Of course we have had many trips to the Houston zoo.  Each year that the kids were in kindergarten we went with their class on a field trip, and we have gone several times to meet up with relatives.  When the swine flu scare first came out, the children were not allowed into the petting zoo during their field trip.  Here is a picture of the kids with their cousin Ricky on our most recent trip to the Houston zoo, which was last November:

Hopefully we will not have anymore hurricane evacuations for a LONG time- we have had our share.  The last evacuation (Ike), the closest we got to a zoo was riding in paddle boats at a park with ducks.  We were at the house of the brother of my good friend in McKinney.  Pete had stayed home for work.  Here are a few pictures of that:

I love strolling down memory lane.  Do you?

More pictures

Here are some more pictures from the zoo:





Katie, Andrew and Nicholas' cousin, Ricky, joined in on the fun. I wish I could have gotten more pictures, but my camera's battery went dead in the middle of the day and since it is a rechargeable, there was nothing I could do. Yesterday, my sweet camera (a Sony Cybershot) met its bitter end after being dropped, so I am grateful for these last photos. This seems to be the story of my life lately, as my car CD player is jammed and won't work anymore. Sigh. At least I know what I'm probably getting for Christmas this year. What's on your list?

Black Friday at the Zoo

Yesterday while everyone was out shopping, we took the kids to the Houston Zoo. We met Pete's brother(Chris) and our sister-in-law (Chelsea) and Chris' son (Ricky) there for the day. Everyone else seemed to have the same idea, as the place was packed. We had a lot of fun walking and chatting amongst the bears, monkeys, birds and giraffes.

My Collage of Cardinals

Many of you have asked about my cardinals, and the answer is YES~ I still see them all the time. In fact, I just looked out the window and spotted my beautiful red friend, sitting in the soft drizzle of rain coming down. My heart always skips a beat when I see a cardinal because the majestic crimson bird reminds me of God. And Mary. Funny that not minutes before I saw the cardinal today, I was going through some poems about Mary I had created a chapbook out of. This is no coincidence, and it not only happens to me, but to Jeni, Mary's sister, as well. Here is a list of just a few of the experiences I have had with cardinals:
1. Not long after Mary's death a cardinal skipped in front of my car at the church where we used to meet together. I had been sad and praying to God for a sign that Mary was okay. When I left, I saw the cardinal.
2. A cardinal chirped outside my window one morning after I had prayed to God and for some reason I knew to check on Ms. Angelle, who was bleeding to death and might not have made it had I not gone to visit her.
3. I gave Jeni a "Sisterhood" award for her blog. Soon after, my backyard was swarming with cardinals.
4. Jeni and I have spotted cardinals on numerous occasions as we were talking on the phone~ right in front of us.
5. I went on a retreat and got up to share about my pain since Mary's suicide, and everyone spotted a cardinal outside the window behind me as I spoke.
6. After praying on several occasions I have heard the beautiful song of the cardinal which led me outside to take a peek. A cardinal was always right there in front of me, no matter where I looked.
7. Last Monday was a VERY SPECIAL day for me and I saw a cardinal right outside my kitchen window as I poured myself some coffee that morning~ a sure reassurance that what I was about to do was good.
8. I saw a cardinal at the zoo last year just flitting around the path I was walking on; reaasurance that being there with Nicholas' class was a good thing (and something Mary would have done).
There are many more examples of how the cardinal has worked in my life, and I have written about them on this blog. The good news is that I view the cardinal as a positive, good thing. I have reached acceptance of what happened. Now I can look back with happy, fond memories and thank God for the time, although short, I had with my dear friend Mary.