JAMSquared

Last Friday, we drove up to DFW for my nephew’s 3rd birthday party. On the way, we decided to stop in Waco for lunch and a trip to the Cameron Park Zoo. Jessica has been to the Austin Zoo, but since it is more of a rescue zoo this was her first trip to a zoo with animals like elephants and giraffes. We’d never been to the Cameron Park Zoo before and I had heard really good things about it and they all proved true. The walkways have a lot of trees alongside so there was a fair amount of shade. The animal enclosures were fantastic, especially the giraffe and orangutan exhibits (too bad the orangutans were snoozing). My only complaint is it would have been nice if the exhibits were in a loop layout. As it was, we had to backtrack to leave the zoo. However, there were some walkways closed for construction, so maybe that will improve.

Our first stop at the zoo was the restroom to change Jessica. After washing her hands, she wouldn’t let go of the paper towel. Then we let her look at the second map while we decided what we were going to see first. She would not let go of the map. She spent almost the entire time at the zoo with the paper towel in one hand and the map in the other. She also wouldn’t sit in the stroller, so she walked a good portion of the zoo and then was carried by either James or me.  She’s in a phase where she doesn’t like to be strapped in unless it is her choice and then if it is her choice she usually doesn’t want to get unstrapped.

Unfortunately, we didn’t see the Gibbons and only saw one of the Ring Tailed Lemurs on their respective islands. But our visit was in the warmest part of the day (12:45-2:30) and it was a rather warm day for April, so they were probably taking a siesta. The turtles were enjoying the sun though.

 

Jessica loved watching the Koi near the orangutan habitat.

 

The two Sumatran Tigers were gorgeous.

 

 

All three of the lions were snoozing. It was rather funny how the male was lying.

 

The Meerkats were some of the most active animals we saw. Jessica thought they were pretty neat. One was even digging a hole.

 

Jessica loves it when her Daddy makes elephant noises when he reads her Inside Noah’s Ark. It is one of her favorite books, partly because of all the animal noises her Daddy makes (I so need to get a video). Jessica will even imitate her Daddy, especially with the elephants, so it was neat watching the two of them watch the elephants since James got her excited with the elephant noise as we approached them.

 

 

The Reticulated Giraffes have a super cool enclosure. You first see them at ground level. Then you walk up this treetop path where you get closer to their eye level. You can even view the inside of their barn, where one of the giraffes was resting.

 

 

 

 

 

By this point, I had gotten the paper towel away from Jessica, leaving her just holding the map. Near this bird exhibit, James put her on his shoulders and Jessica was kinda playing peekaboo with me using the map. She accidently let go and a breeze floated it away. I feel bad that we littered, but it flew past a barrier that we couldn’t go past.

 

At the River Otter exhibit, there is a clear tunnel slide that goes through their habitat. I’m not completely sure that Jessica grasped how cool this was. I wish I was a kid and could  go down that kind of slide.

 

 

 

 

 

Overall, we had a great time at the Cameron Park Zoo and I think we’ll try to go back sometime, but we’ll try to go earlier in the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a really nice relaxing weekend. Our friend Justin came to visit. He currently lives in Moore, Oklahoma. The last time he saw Jessica, she was only two weeks old.

Justin and I started a puzzle Friday afternoon during Jessica’s nap. We finished up that night. It was fun. It’s been quite a while since I worked a puzzle. We actually started a second one on Saturday, but it is a much harder puzzle and isn’t quite finished yet.

Saturday morning, we took Jessica to the Austin Zoo. We had lots of fun. The last time we went was over five years ago. The zoo, a  non-profit rescue facility, is making great strides in becoming a full-fledged zoo. Although, I will say, it is not a very stroller friendly zoo. The pathways are fairly uneven and there are lost of quasi-steps (timber posts every so often). A plus is that the zoo is in the hill country and has lots of shade, which is great for visitors and even better for the animals.

I can’t wait until Jessica is old enough to enjoy the zoo more, as she slept most of the time we were there. I know she will get a kick out of the petting corral.

On Sunday, we took a walk to the playground. The weather all weekend was super nice.

And yes, Jessica looks sleepy in that last picture. She fell asleep on the way home.

Every year my family gets together for a family vacation. Usually we go in August or September, but with three babies scheduled to be born between August and November, an earlier trip was a necessity. This year, we went to South Padre Island. James and I had never been to South Padre before and we had a lot of fun. Check out Dzubi Dzubi Dzu and SEW Very Blessed for Julia’s and Sarah’s commentary on our trip.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Jason, Julia, James and I joined Sarah, Brian, and Cameron on their plane to Harlingen when it stopped in Austin. Cameron ended up spending most of the flight sitting with James and I. Cameron really likes his Uncle James. He also enjoyed shutting and opening the airplane window shade.

From Harlingen, it was about an hour drive in the two rental SUVs to South Padre Island. After getting settled in at the Redfish Inn, we went to eat dinner at the Shrimp Haus Restaurant, next to Schlitterbahn Beach Waterpark. My Dad and I had read a really good review in the June 2009 issue of Texas Highways about this restaurant, but we were all gravely disappointed. Afterward, we walked the boardwalk to the beach where Cameron got his first taste of the Gulf of Mexico and got soaked in the process.

Friday, May 22, 2009

After eating breakfast, we drove to Brownsville, about 45 minutes away, to go to the Gladys Porter Zoo. There were a bunch of school children at the zoo, but it wasn’t too crowded besides them. The Gladys Porter Zoo is one of the first zoos to utilize cage-free exhibits. I think my favorite exhibit was the Western Lowland Gorillas.

On the way back to the island, we stopped in Port Isabel. We climbed the 75 steps of the Port Isabel Lighthouse, which was originally built in 1852. The view from the top was outstanding.

After relaxing at the inn for a little while (so Cameron could take a nap), we returned to Port Isabel and ate dinner at Marcella’s Italian Restaurant, which was much better than the Shrimp Haus the night before. Afterwards, we watched “Will Some,” the fire-eating pirate perform some tricks before boarding the Black Dragon for some high seas adventure. We learned the pirate code. Jason, Julia and Brian practiced their fighting skills with water-shooting pistols. We saw dolphins, including a baby and his mama, in Dolphin Cove. The pirates gave us a pirate look even if we didn’t necessarily want one, because it was all about equality. For James, they just added curlicues to his mustache. Brian, Jason and Julia played hot potato with a rubber crab and buckets. Jason and Brian did the pirate limbo. The evening ended with a good view of the fireworks over the Laguna Madre bay.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

After breakfast at the inn, we went to the gulf side of the island to hang out at the beach. We jumped in the surf. I ended up losing my sunglasses when an especially strong wave knocked me over. We built sand castles. Jason asked two sun-bathers to judge for us and they picked Sarah and Brian’s sand creation.

We cleaned up and had lunch at Tom and Jerry’s Burgers and Beer, a decent restaurant on the main drag. This was followed by our annual stockholder’s meeting on the covered porch of the inn. We had dinner at Louie’s Backyard, which had good atmosphere, okay food and excellent dessert. Dinner was followed by the adults playing a game of Cranium that Jason and Julia won.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Brian, Sarah, Cameron, James and I went to the beach after breakfast. Cameron was no longer distracted by playing in the sand. He fearlessly ran into the water. He wanted more wave action.

While we were at the beach, the rest of the gang went in search of paddleboats to rent on the bay side of the island. When they didn’t find any, they rented a 4-person covered bicycle that the four of them pedaled and Jason controlled directionally. Based on the pictures they took, it looked like fun.

Lunch was at the Padre Island Brewing Company. Brian, Dad, and Jason sampled the five beers they brew on site. Lunch was followed by a nice nap. I think all that fun in the sun wore me out. Dinner was at Scampi’s Restaurant, which happened to be across the street from the inn. It was by far the best meal we ate all weekend. We again played Cranium after dinner and this time James and I won.

Monday, May 25, 2009

After a relaxing breakfast, we packed up and drove back to Harlingen to catch our flights home. I was sad to see the trip end, but we had a lot of fun.

James, my Mom, and I went to Philadelphia about a week ago. My Dad was originally supposed to go with us also, but he had jury duty and couldn’t come. In addition to visiting Philly, we went to New Jersey, but I will leave that to a later post. None of us had ever been to Philly before and it was a lot of fun.