Waco: Cameron Park Zoo

 
 
 
 
So Tuesday Jen was going to be flying out of Waco in the evening so it made sense to go back to Waco early enough to enjoy some of the sites that city has to offer. I actually have been quite surprised by the offerings of such a seemingly smallish sized city. But that just makes it all the greater for us to want to visit. So I let Ian decide which he would prefer, The Mayborn Museum or the Cameron Park Zoo. Ian picked the zoo. It was such a lovely day outside that I was quite glad that was his choice. So we whipped out our membership card, walked through the gate, enjoyed another lunch alfresco and then went around and saw the animals. The boys really loved the slides there. Aaron especially loves the one at the playground and they both giggled with glee as they went down the one in the otter exhibit. Auntie Jen was there to catch Aaron so he could go since I could help him up the stairs. I went with him down the big slide at the playground and Jen snapped a picture of us. Aaron even giggles with anticipation. I can't wait for Bill to come home so he can take him. :)

We had a lovely time at the zoo!

 
 

Spring Break Zoo Trip

 
 
 
 
Today we headed to Waco for a little trip to the Cameron Park Zoo. It was such a beautiful day outside and it couldn't have been a better day to go visit the animals and meet up with friends. This zoo is on the small side of zoos, but it has plenty to see and do and the kids always enjoy it. They have a little playground that is always a hit and also a slide through the river otter exhibit which thrills little ones. Today Ian said his favorite was the elephant. Aaron LOVED the slide. I had to go with him and we slid pretty fast and he would say WHEEEEE and giggle the whole way down. It made for a very happy Aaron and a very tired Mommy.

 
 
 
 

The September Update (LATE!)

September flew by and I never got a chance to blog about all of our adventures! It was a crazy busy month filled with lots of fun, friends and family. We had a little sickness scare and are still taking some meds. Bear with me as I recap September in 1 post. :)

Well we started September out going to a birthday party at a splashpad and spending Labor Day at the Killeen Water park. Ian loves it there. We were glad to spend one last day there before it closed for the season. We look forward to going again next year.

We spent many mornings meeting up with our friends Jennifier, Jordyn, and Ava at the park so that we could exercise and play before going to work or completing our daily tasks. The weather was still pretty warm so the earlier mornings were the best times. We really need to get back to that so that we continue to do healthy activities that include exercise outside.

On the 14th, we met our friends Katie, Tommy and Tiffany at the Mayborn Museum on the Baylor University campus in Waco, TX for some hands on learning fun. I can't rave enough about this place! Aaron and Ian both loved it! We have been to the Children's Museum in Austin, but I actually think the Mayborn is better for my kids. Aaron is able to run around without being cooped up in the stroller and there are things that are appropriate for him to do in most of the rooms. Ian and Tommy had so much fun! They race water boats, played recording studio, had tea, dressed up in clothes from countries around the world, played pioneer, looked at fish and other animals, and any number of other things that I can't even list. It really is a fantastic place and military families get in for dirt cheap prices! We will definitely be making more trips to Waco!

Here is a picture of Aaron playing in the tea room. LOL


We went to another birthday party on the 17th at the Main Food Court on Ft Hood for 2 of our friends. That was loads of fun and Ian and Aaron enjoyed pizza and cake and playing with their friends.

We hosted a playdate here on the 21st. It was an All About Animals Craft playdate. The kids really enjoyed it and it was really fun to have everyone over. The kids made animal finger puppets and bookmarks and the biggest hit was definitely the animal balloons. I think the adults were as amused as the kids at the balloons. One of them deflated and it looked like road kill. Of course the poor kids whose balloons didn't make it had a hard time with the outcome, but we had some extras to send home with them to make new ones!



The evening after the playdate, Aaron came down with croup. We felt horrible that we had exposed our friends to this nastiness. Aaron had a terrible night. He was struggling to breath. I watched him closely all night and got Ian up for school the next day and decided Aaron needed an emergency trip to the doctor after dropping Ian off. We got to the doctor's office and Aaron's pulse ox was only 84 which is extremely low. The doctor wanted to send us straight to the hospital for admission, but he knows me pretty well (since I work as a pharmacist) and also knows that my husband is deployed. He agreed to let me give Aaron an albuterol nebulizer treatment in his office. It didn't help immediately, but we were able to get his pulse ox up to 92 in office and were sent home with oral steroid treatments. We thank God for our wonderful doctor!

The 24th Grandma Paula came for a visit. We were excited to see her since we hadn't seen her since Christmas. Ian and Aaron warmed right back up to her and we had loads of fun while she was here. We made a trip to Waco on Friday. We spent the entire day there. First we went to the Mayborn Museum again since that seemed to be Ian's favorite thing that we mentioned we would do. It was just as much fun the 2nd time as it was the first.

We lunched at Wendy's and decided to head over to the Cameron Park Zoo for an afternoon of fun. It was great weather and the boys both enjoyed the outdoors and fresh air. We really liked the new orangutan exhibit, but Ian's favorites this time were the giraffes. We were all exhausted by the time we got home, but it was worth it!

Saturday morning we slept in and in the evening my mom and I went to see The Producers at VLA. It was great! My friend Liz was one of the "old ladies" and she was awesome and hilarious! We really enjoyed the show and it was great to spend some time with my mom.
Sunday we went to church and then to Cheddar's for lunch. Cheddar's is one of those great places that I loved to eat at in college in Indianapolis, but it burned down my sophomore year. When I saw that we had one in Killeen, I was so happy! The chicken fingers are the best!
My mom had to leave on Monday and I was sad to see her go, but we will see her next month in Florida. She and my dad are flying down to meet us in Orlando.

The boys have continued to run low grade fevers and have goopy eyes and snotty noses so I decided to take them back out to see Dr Ricky. He says they are allergic to Texas! I guess the allergy symptoms are bigger here, too. Both boys are now on Zyrtec and Pataday eye drops and hopefully this will keep the worst of the symptoms away.

I have been working a lot lately and it's been exhausting. Flu shot clinics through the month of September have run into October and it doesn't appear that the flu/cough cold season is going to be mild this year. It seems like everyone is sick. I pray for my family's health since I am the sole caregiver right now and I can't afford to be super sick all the time.

Looking forward we have many plans for October. The boys are super excited about their Halloween costumes and we are all especially looking forward to Bill coming home for R&R around the 27th. My birthday is the 28th and we are most certain he will make it home for that. Then we will all be going to Florida to our timeshare and will be visiting Bill's family, too. Ian will celebrate his 4th birthday at Disney World. How fun is that!!

In the meantime, enjoy our Halloween preview and please keep stay well! Please wash your hands at every opportunity. That is the best way to ward off the germies!

Peter Pan:

Captain Hook:

(Ian decided he was going to be Captain Hook on Nov 1st last year! And "baby brother" is Peter Pan because he is so cute!)