Philadelphia Zoo

The weather for the past few days has been especially warm - 65 and yes, it is still January! A friend was planning to take her daughter to the zoo so we decided to tag along. I actually remember some of the sculptures and the fountain just inside the gate from times I was there as a kid. We saw lots of animals and my theory on that one is that they've been inside because of the cold like we were and they appreciated getting out and about as much as we did. There were lots of humans out too, it was hard to find a parking space. It was nice to get out and walk for a while. Of course Dima's favorite thing about the zoo was the simulated rain storm in the crocodile / alligator house. Josh says his favorite thing was the "aminals". When pressed for more information he says his favorite thing was a bear that kind of ran inside the enclosure in a rather aggressive way toward my friend and her daughter I guess it was the most action we saw all day other then otters playing around. Memorable but not so funny to the adults. It was a little un-nerving after a kid was just killed in a zoo, but he and his friends were taunting the animals. The bears seemed like they were pacing and kind of agitated and there is a tree that overhangs the enclosure if it really wanted to you wonder if it could jump on the tree and climb out. On the way to the zoo Dima did get to see a person getting put into a cop car in handcuffs and I had to try to explain that even adults have rules to follow and when you break them you get put into handcuffs and taken to big time out in jail. He sure had lots of questions about that one.

Josh certainly had a full day yesterday. We started with a trip to an audiologist at the recommendation of his pediatrician. When they did routine ear tests something didn't seem right with his left ear so they asked for further testing. Of course he was gabbing with all the kids around him and the staff there and playing inside a big car in the reception area. The testing went very well, he sat very still and concentrated and did what he was asked and he's got normal hearing - and I for one am so glad that he does I was having a tough time thinking of putting the poor kid who already has glasses into some kind of hearing aid. After the testing we hit the local playground to reward him for behaving so nicely then to Wegmans where they have a train suspended from the ceiling and he's easily amused in there so I park him where he can see the train then run down the aisle I'm shopping in to get what we need. Then after we picked Dima up from school we did another playground to burn up some energy before we drove to the zoo.

Of course the excitement of the zoo was making Dima jump out of his skin. I had to tell him to stop running ahead of us so many times that I just ended up having him hold on to the stroller handle - I still take the stroller to places like that so Josh doesn't have to beg me to carry him. He's not a huge fan of walking long distances I think because he really does like to look around and see stuff rather than actually pay attention to where he's going.

I just discovered a great way to get the kids to eat healthy and think it's fun at the same time. We have a bag of tangerines and I let them take the peels off by them selves, they keep showing me their progress and are so proud of themselves that they can do it. Josh just asked for a third so he could do it again. His are a little messy cause he's squishing as he's peeling but that's what we have their Eating Suits (old shirts of my Dad's) for and that's why they both eat over trays that I can pick up and empty into the trash, compost stuff or sink and then wash them off for the next meal. This also gives Josh something to do with his Mr. Destructo side.