Outdoor Freezer - with Animals!

Sunny and 40 degrees? Sounds like a great day for the zoo! Okay, so we were feeling a little stir crazy. And Kai had a friend over, which meant THREE kids cooped up indoors with far too much three day weekend energy. Scott had to work, so I took the kids and drove to Philly.

We discovered that less animals are in their enclosures, but the animals that are out are very active. There's also a lot less pushing at the indoor exhibits because there's so few tourists. We got to take nice long looks at all of the critters in the reptile/amphibian house.

This snake always reminds me of the one in Jungle Book.

And this turtle is a favorite, although he always seems too big for his pond.

I know that they say never smile at a crocodile, but how can you help smiling back at this guy?

This guy looks at home in the snow. Kairi decided he must be related to Daddy because it's one of the "Scott - ish" Highland Cattle.

The gorilla always looks so sad. He has a big outdoor enclosure, but all of the monkeys were inside, naturally.

I mean, what crazy creatures would choose to be out when the swan boat pond is frozen over?

Clearly, the tigers. They LOVED the snow by all appearances and were having a grand old time.

It's a little bit scary how shredded that tire is. BIG claws!

And here's all three of the "teenage" tigers in one shot. Their mom was sleeping over by the wall - can't blame her!

Then our visit got really cool. Turns out today was Open House for certain levels of members, and we qualified! So we got to go into the keeper area of Big Cat Falls and see the animals in their holding cages and talk to the keepers. We saw this Amur leopard, one of two who are kept on opposite ends of the zoo. They're sadly really endangered.

Then we saw this leopard gnawing away at a bone. He does actually have spots in the sunlight - black spots on black because he has an excess of melatonin. It's apparently pretty rare.

As we were exiting, we went past the cages for the pumas. Love the sign: Danger - Cat in Yard... yeah, you think???

But this one doesn't look so dangerous, all curled up in the sun!

We had to try out the zoo's newest attraction, the amazon rainforest carousel!

Who is surprised Kairi rode on a frog? Not me!

Kaitlyn chose a leopard.

Nick went for a panther - unless that's a leopard, too, like the one in the holding pen.

Then we headed past the cheetahs...

...after a brief photographic pause...

...to the giraffe barn! Apparently, these guys aren't allowed out unless it's 50 degrees or warmer outside, so they were staying snug. This one is called Gus.

Of course, Nicky was most excited by going into the keeper area at Carnivore Kingdom, where the snow leopard and his favorite Amur leopard hang out. That's Nicky's jacket in the foreground. He was really excited to be so close to the leopard (it was a matter of inches).

Here's one inhabitant who seemed to be enjoying the weather - he probably wouldn't have minded if the temps had dropped even more!

And it wouldn't be a zoo visit without a trip to see Krepke, Nick's favorite Amur. Of course, we didn't know that was his name before we talked to his keepers today. We definitely got a different (and much colder) perspective of the zoo today!

Anything Yet?

That's how we felt last night, waiting for the predicted snowstorm. We were all fairly confident in our snow day status for today, but as the evening hours passed and not a flake appeared, we were starting to have niggling doubts.

There are few occasions that it's nice to be woken up with a ringing phone at 5 AM. This would be one of them:

So I slept in a bit, cleaned a bit, scrapped a bit. Thought I ought to blog a bit to round it all off! (Especially since our teenage neighbor took care of the shovelling for me. For $25. Took him and his buddy about 15 minutes - would have taken me an hour. Sounds worth it to me!)

Someone really doesn't want to do their taxes

I found this funny.

I was in a conference call with a customer and a customer support manager this morning, and as we were finishing up, I heard this ringing noise. I opened the conference room door, and sure enough, the fire alarm was going off.

So everyone in the building trudged out in the cold and stood in the parking garage next door until we got the all clear.

When we came back, firemen were standing on the hallway next to the part of the building used by the IRS office. The fire alarm in that office was still going off.

I bet someone got burned on an audit.

(Sorry...)

Might for Right

Nicky graduated to a green belt today in TKD. He has been working hard in class according to his teacher and we're very proud of him.

He participated in one of the forms today, Hanguk (meaning Korea).

It never fails to amaze me that they fail to hit each other in the head, kicking this high!

It was also pretty amazing to see the black belt class - I wouldn't want to pick a fight with those guys (and gal!) Their demonstrations of kicks, punches, breaks, and weaponry were very impressive.

I sometimes complain about the cost of Nicky's classes, but if he has fun, works hard and learns great martial arts skills, it's worth it to me. Still, I shudder to think of how long it will take him to get to that level at $150 - $250 a month!

Free Pickles!

We discovered a new restaurant. Fortunately for our waistline, it's way across town. But Dickey's BBQ is amazing. Sure, they have wonderful barbecue. Their baked potato casserole is divine. The ribs are lip smacking, the chicken tasty and tender.

But what made the kids amazed? The free soft serve ice cream and deli pickles. Crazy little runts!

The Legend of Robin Hood...Barely!

What happens when your drama club rehearsals for a play on January 15th get cancelled due to snow, more snow, ice, and vacation?? A month without rehearsals right before the play, that's what! Even five minutes before the show on Thursday night, actors were still flubbing lines, lighting was missing cues. Make-up artists were dabbing on foundation as other actors paced nervously. Robin's costume was tried on for the first time on the day of the play. But then. The play started. And the audience started to laugh. Really laugh. And the faces of the actors backstage took on a glow of confidence. "This is great!" one whispered over and over as laugher rang into the wings. And somehow, somehow, they pulled it off.

Marian was bold, the sheriff was comical. Robin was captured, and vanished just in time to avoid the sherriff's sword. Witch Waye wasn't so lucky, but her cries of "Neosporin? Anyone got Neosporin?" had the audience in stitches. I still don't know how, but the whole play came together spectacularly. The principal even said it was the best play we had ever performed.

Me? I hate to admit it, but I'm just relieved it's over. That was WAY too much stress! Now, when do we start the next play?

Happy New Year!

Cyndy and Barry invited us over for New Year's Eve. We had a GREAT time! We watched two movies and ate tons of yummy food while we waited for midnight. The kids were all in a really good mood, even though it was so late. Juli kept bringing me ribbons to tie up her hair, and then wandering off with the kids for awhile and then coming back holding out the ribbon that fell out. Finally, the big moment arrived. Cyndy passed out noisemakers.

(Although I'm not sure our kids need help making noise!)

We counted down, and set off confetti poppers at midnight. The little girls LOVED the confetti.

No one really wanted to go, since it was Hannah's last chance to see us until Easter. The kids were feeling especially silly.

But at midnight, the adults were feeling like it was a good time to drive home before the parties that served drinks stronger than diet coke broke up! We'll just have to look forward to more family fun in the new year!