Wordless Wednesday

....with a few words.

Just pretend they're not there, and we will still have a "wordless" day....smiles.

(baby leopard at the zoo, just had to post this because he's so cute!)
.
.. Here kitty kitty...

(Who wears socks on 100+ degree days? Apparently he does)

(A toad or two a day keeps our husky happy)

(Summer storm watchers)

(Scarlett, the baby wolf at the zoo, so cute!)

A few "wordless" Wednesday snapshots for you my friend.

Have a beautiful and very blessed day;
~ Renee

memories of birthday blessings

for my husband last weekend...



Ever have a day that just flows ever-so-smoothly, leaving you marveling at the end of the day just how wonderful it really was?

My husband's birthday turned out like that.

It was an odd sort of day, hot as typically usual for this summer's temperature norms, and yet the humidity seemed to fall for some reason this particular day, for a few precious hours, leaving an amount of wide opened possibilities, just perfect really to get my man back outside again!

You see, when one has tremendous respiratory difficulties, living in a bubble (house, office, vehicle) under strict climate control is absolutely necessary. This day, he became a free man to exit the threshold of the doorway, well for a while anyway.

Everyone was in such a good mood, from early morning wake up right through to bedding down for the night at day's end. All were enthusiastic, eager and ready to make a memory for my hubby on his special day.

It was rare to be in sync like this (I know, I'm still in shock myself, laughing), and yet it was so GREAT to have such easy flowing togetherness, especially being that we had no clue what the day would/could hold for all of us!

The day was filled with content and impulsive sweetness.

• An impromptu visit to the zoo.

There was so much to see there, new to us, small babies galore for one!


Let's see, there were three baby pot belly pigs, a week old zebra, a baby leopard, a baby black wolf, and three baby monkeys.



We never remained there long, just enough time to show hubby our local zoo, the one we have a yearly membership in support of it as a family.

• We enjoyed a late lunch at a new to us restaurant, very cowboy like with western themed everything to observe and comment on, while we consumed our wings and things.

• An ice cream cone with a drive along the water's edge

• A beautiful sermon to take home in our hearts with us

• A surprise in the dining room with candlelight and children waiting to surprise their daddy.

• A cake that was scrumptiously delicious!
  

We could have had it for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and I know everyone would have been happy about that. A lemon chiffon cake with whipped cream icing and finely grated white chocolate.


Super light and fluffy, we all commented on how exceptionally wonderful it was.

• A cup of decaf java to savor the flavors afterward.

• Two teens to tug their father out the door for an early (eagerly anticipated) movie, complete with them footing the bill for the tickets and filling him up with popcorn.

A day to remember?

You bet!

Happy Birthday Memories Honey!

Zoo days

Be back again to share more about our adventures at the zoo...

There's Someone New at the Zoo

Check out this baby llama!
Isn't he (kind of) cute!

A baby llama is actually called a "cria", and weighs between 20-30 pounds at birth. Obviously this little fella isn't a newborn, but we didn't see him in this pen of pals before either, that is until now. So, he still stands as "someone new at the zoo" for our family.


He was still not too surefooted, a bit clumsy while walking along and so very friendly. I think many zoo animals are so used to looking from their world from the inside out, viewing multiple faces every hour with many handful of food offerings handed to them without working hard at all for their grub.


Very social animals, llamas often tend to prefer life in a herd, content with having buddies near at all times. Llamas are quite the animal; friendly and yet if one gets too close, they are known to give a whopping gob stopper spit in their viewer's face! Ick! I've been witness to such a thing and it is so not pleasant to be on the receiving end, believe me. :)



Here are a few fun facts then about llamas;

• - Llamas is a South American camelid, wildly used as pack animals by the Inca and other native tribes in the Andes mountains for the most part.

• - Likened to a horse, they can haul loads for long distances.

• - Llamas are still used as pack animals, although they are sought after for their meat and fiber.
  

• - Weavers especially love this medium for their crafts. Their fur is naturally lanolin free. Crafts gained from the wool are rugs, wall hangings, lead ropes and more.

• - Full grown llamas grow to heights of 5.5 - 6 feet tall.

• - Their ears are rather long and slightly curved inward, characteristically known as "banana" shaped. There is no dorsal hump. Feet are narrow, the toes being more separated than in the camels, each having a distinct plantar pad. The tail is short, and fibre is long, woolly and soft.

• - The gestation period of a llama is 11 1/2 months (350 days). Dams (female llamas) do not lick off their babies, as they have an attached tongue which does not reach outside of the mouth more than half an inch. Rather, they will nuzzle and hum to their newborns.

• - Diet is usually corn sileage, alfalfa and hay.

• - When a "cria" is reared properly, it won't spit at their viewers. However grown llamas use spitting as a discipline method towards younger llamas in their pack.

Check out this llamas teeth!

Just imagine the upkeep of such an animal as this one. Although they are very social, very friendly and quite domesticated, it's still...an animal.

Check out this coat of fur below, just when the animal rolled back and forth over the dirt and jumped up again.

If you care to read more of our "Zoo Adventures",
simply click onto THIS LINK HERE.

Fun with Nature, #16

What else would there be than to find another mammal living nearby, one new to us of course living here in the east.

While in attendance at a bonfire a few weeks back, one of the resident teens pointed to the field nearby alerting everyone to the fact a porcupine may come to visit as we tended to our dinner meals, keeping warm around the fire.

"A porcupine?" I thought.

I had never seen a porcupine in the wild before and wondered how many might be living nearby since this bonfire was only a block or so away from our own home.

Since that evening we've found out just as the black bear meander these parts upon occasion, so too do porcupines hover near, sometimes mothers and their young will settle in near a perfect tree setting for chomping on. Yes, porcupine love to climb trees and pull off the bark before munching on it. We have found evidence some are living even closer to our home than once suspected. Take a look at this tree....nicknamed "porcupine tree" by all the residents.

Our neighborhood porcupine tree

One day I'll be able to snap a photo of a porcupine because I'll be all ready, with camera in hand right? Actually I've found when noting something unique and new to me, often I freeze and I'm only capable of staring for a time instead of snapping a photo, like when I spotted a red fox waltzing from a residential home's driveway, a very hungry looking fox at that. Until such a time as I can take a photo of a porcupine though myself, we were able to get up close and personal with a family of them at our local zoo. Aren't they just the ugliest things?


Here are a few fun facts about porcupines;

• This mammal is considered a rodent, just as a beaver and cappybara are.
• A porcupine has 30,000 sharp quills and contrary to popular myths, a porcupine is not capable of shooting quills at his enemies, rather he must back up to his threat and stab it with them.
• Porcupines have such a heavy tail they actually waddle like a duck when moving about.
• In winter a porcupine waddles through the snow, making a wavy pattern behind him from a dragging tail too heavy to lift.
• Porcupines love to dine on tender twigs, buds and acorns.
• Porcupine scats are shaped like pecans, often several are connected together looking like a few beads of a necklace.

Zoo Fun, continued

Zoology comes in various forms at our home.

We have these items above out in force with imaginations exploring world regional possibilities. Along for the fun are Playmobil animals, Webkinz animals, and Ty beanie baby animals. No doubt they'll find all we have in this home within sometime soon and add them all into their animal environmental zones.

So what are your thoughts here?

Either she was in a great hurry, couldn't find other colors to use, thought these colors were just fine in a safari coloring scheme palette, or this is true to the colors we witnessed while at the zoo last time.

Hmmm.... I think it's been a while and time to get back to the zoo. Maybe next week as all the rains recently sent the animals to their shelters awaiting the promise of summer to return in the near future.

Monkey business

Hanging around the various breeds of monkey cages proved to be very fun and entertaining for all of us.


We mostly hovered around "Willy and Lilly", Gibbon monkeys who hooted like nothing we've heard before. You know when the noise remains long after the visit because the random thought hit me later in the evening to imitate the hooting when calling the children to their bed times. We laughed, immitated more to see who could "hoot" like the Gibbon the most and even I found it very silly but downright hilarious to do this with them. hee hee

Actually we've now been to our zoo twice, and almost daily the children query whether or not we can carve out a bit of time in our days to visit more often. Do you think it's a hit to have this season's pass? Oh yes!

Hanging around monkeys was very entertaining for everyone

I think for visits in the future, when we do stop for an unscheduled visit on impulse that is, I'll suggest the children choose a specific area to delve deeper by taking more time to observe and attempt to interact in a more concentrated way with their favorites, alternating to new animals over time.

Take for instance these monkeys below, several varieties who always seem to provide loads of interaction with visitors, those monkeys, baboons, and apes who have provided spontaneous giggles from their crazy antics.

Willy and Lilly's cage was a great place to hang out

Upon entering the zoo, there is an area set up at the cashier area where specific foods are offered for sale, those safe foods a visitor could feed to the animals and not disrupt their diets. Obviously there are bunches of bananas and it wasn't uncommon shortly after our entry to find a banana in the hand of a monkey somewhere or a banana peel on the ground where several monkeys were arguing over who would end up with it.

Not having been to a zoo in a while, our youngest daughter was thrilled to see how fast "Willy and Lilly" could swing from the ropes and tree branches in their cage. She thought they were wonderful for observing and took many photos with her own camera for further observation and sketching once home.


If there was one monkey though that attracted everyone's attention the most over two visits, it had to be the six week old baby baboons. One is with his mother and aunt in a cage, the other was failing to thrive and required human intervention from the zoo veteranarians. Each day the latter baby is included in the live animal show, complete with tailored and customized wee preemie diaper on for the keeper's interaction with her. Her name is Zoe and she is but a wee thing, so sweet!

Of curiosity was the ape below otherwise known as a "Mandril", with a rainbow colored face and bottom to match. (grin) He is actually known to be quite vicious and nasty in the animal world, so living behind a cage is a great place for observing this beast. We hope to find out more about him in the future, carefully observe his actions during various parts of the day to see how he behaves.
This ape just doesn't fall into the typical category one thinks of when thinking of monkeys does he?

She seems to have an interest in photography, like me.

What did I tell you, colorful right?

Zoo Fun

Before entering through the front gates of a zoo, the question usually creeps up over; where to begin, and it is always the first question a mother should have an answer for before typically left in a quandary with much begging, pleading and serious suggestions on which way to go first.

If possible, browse a map beforehand, or reference one if found online, or a last option could be to request one at the entry area before gathering together just inside of the gates as a group.

Allow everyone input and then formulate a plan for conducting your visit in an orderly fashion and I guarantee the outcome will be delightful. Make a plan though, your day will run so much smoother because you took a moment to do so.

Everyone in our family loves going to the zoo. Any sort of zoo is a great experience for all of us. I myself grew up with Sunday family drives to spend time at Stanley Park in Vancouver, B.C. taking in the many "animals who used to live at the zoo there". Most are gone now, all except for the odd peacock, squirrels in the wild and the Aquarium where a beluga whale just enthralled all by having a baby recently.

In the days of old, our older children were able to enjoy that same park just as my hubby and I had as children. There were penguins, polar bears, otters, wolves, dozens of monkeys, and others to enjoy before taking a ride on the popular miniature train near the children's petting zoo.

As an older mother, if there is one thing I can pass along for others with young children, my strongest piece of advice is to ensure you have a stock of wet towelettes to wipe up children's hands immediately following a petting zoo or animals touching/petting session.

I also bring along antibacterial waterless hand cleaner and swear by it to prevent contracting any ecoli and/or super deadly bacteria from entering tummies via hands/nose or mouth while visiting petting zoos, and/or salmonella poisoning from hands while touching snakes' and lizards' touchy feely encouragement.

Mothers, beware, this is no joke - please take precautions to heart here. Take a look at this article, quick and to the point, especially with regards to wee ones. And HERE is another.

The zoos we have explored usually have hand washing stations nearby a petting zoo area as a precaution, but an antibacterial bottle in your purse would be a asset for your family. Use it liberally! Also, within a petting zoo compound or zoo area where the children have touched or pet an animal, teach them not to lift their hands up to their faces or into their pockets afterward.

Stay healthy by enjoying the experience but also remembering to safeguard your younguns immediately following such a time. With summer and higher temperatures in our midst, precautions to this area of defense should be even higher than any other time of year, so take heart and be prepared before you go.

Other assets are to always carry water bottles, and have backpacks on your children's backs with a jacket for any inclimate weather that may surprise you while there. Have a hat, sunscreen, lighter shoes (flip flops) if necessary, and even a change of clothes packed up in those bags. Take a load of the mommy by having the children carry their own simple backpacks. They should learn how to carry their own things anyway, even wee ones can do this.

Did you know Llamas spit gobs of gunk at chosen ones, splatting their mouthfuls onto people's clothing and/or in their faces? True story, just ask a friend of ours who this happened to. His children thought it was all so very funny until their realized it wasn't a staged trick their father had endeavored to plan ahead to trick them with. Not funny. And thus it is always wise to bring along a change of clothes just in case of unexpected situations. I remember as a child getting too close to the water's edge while feeding ducks some bits of bread and I fell into the water, nice green super slimy water that is. A change of clothes then is indeed a very smart thing to have on hand.

Be prepared with your own snack foods when the growlies hit, mostly as zoo concession stand food is quite pricey and always a draw for children to beg their mommy for a snack. I prefer to have the children take along snacks and/or a lunch, and then we will stop when they feel like nourishing their bodies at a park bench or picnic table along our journey through the zoo compound. Keep away from the animal areas though while eating so nothing becomes airborne and ends up on your food during consumption.

Wow, these are still young giraffes, only 17 feet tall so far!

Can you guess what this is?

Remember what to do after something like this above?

When our children were younger, once the little ones were out of the buggy stages or almost ready to sit still properly, we used to take along our red wooden wagon and pull them along when their wee legs tired from all the walking we did. It was handy as a catch-all most often, typically becoming filled with everyone's stuff, but mother here usually got to pull it along while it became loaded. I stopped the catch-all attitude not long afterward and began to enforce the backpack rule so the children could learn to be responsible for their own things on all of our excursions.

Don't forget to label all of their possessions, tucking pivotal information out of the way for privacy sake but easy to find inside a zippered pocket area.

One more thing; ensure each child knows a secret code name/word so if they happen to get away from the rest of the bunch, they will not follow a stranger around without asking first for the secret name/word.

Teaching your children rules of safety continues for a long while; for instance as in the above example, if no one knows the secret name/word when asked to spill it, they are not to go with them. It's even practical these days for younger children to have a whistle around their neck so if they are lost, teach them to blow and blow and you'll be able to respond to their location quite easily. In a large crowded area, it's so hard to see little ones beneath a sea of people.

A whistle works great! We've used them, especially when out on boating vessels like kayaks, canoes, paddle boats or just around the ocean side. We attach them onto their lifejackets, and all have one permanently attached to their knapsacks for easy use. If your child always has his own belongings on his own back, he will also have the ability to blow his whistle in an emergency because it will be on his body at all times, hanging there ready to grab and use in a jiffy. A sports shop has a perfect stainless steel whistle for this purpose, however any sort of whistle will do as long as it wont' break and creates a distinctive high pitched noise.

No matter what you do in the end while at the zoo, just be sure to take it all in and allow your children all the time in the world to "observe" well rather than flitting all over the place and coming out without a favorite animal of the day.

Later when at home if they are so inclined, encourage them to find five fun facts about their favorite animal, or find a story about them to read aloud together to end the day in a perfect way.

Biggest rule of all? Moms do not take in a zoo day if you are in a snit, angry, uptight or in "one of those moods"! Stay home instead. Everyone will be happy you did. It's your day too, so remember to let your hair down and go with the flow, also enabling yourself a good time during this excursion just as your children will no doubt have. As the saying goes; "when mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy", so it's okay.

You are absolutely allowed to chill out and enjoy the relaxation such a visit to a zoo provides to any weary soul. Go home refreshed. If you aren't refreshed when you return home, go back to the zoo and don't go home until you feel it all the way down to the tips of your toes! :-)

Look up! Look WAY UP!

Seeing a giraffe at a zoo always reminds me of the heartwarming story from the FIAR (Five in a Row) curriculum book suggestion entitled; The Giraffe that walked to Paris

It's a true historical story, a gift of a giraffe to King Charles X from Muhammad Ali of Egypt in 1845. You can read the real story HERE if you are inclined to do so.

And so it goes...another successful trip to the zoo was enjoyed by all....