Wilds of Africa

We went to the Dallas Zoo last weekend to see the Wilds of Africa. We've only been to the zoo once before and we only got to see Zoo North that time.

The first thing that you see when you enter the zoo is the carousel. Sam wanted to ride it immediately, but he still doesn't want to sit on an animal. He just wanted to sit on a bench with Chris and me.

Of course we have to stop by and see the parrots. Sam wanted to climb in with them and pet them.



Lemur Lookout is also part of the Entry Plaza. They are a lot of fun to watch. They are always so active and very pretty. Last time we saw mostly the black-and-white ruffed lemurs sunning on the rocks, but this time we watched the ring-tailed lemurs eating in the trees.



Sam loved the African penguin exhibit. You could see them swimming in the water. He ran up and down the glass with them.



We headed straight for the monorail when we got to the Wilds of Africa. The zoo was not crowded at all that day so we only had to wait five or ten minutes. Sam was very excited about riding the "train." It was an open car, so it was difficult to keep Sam in my lap for the entire 20-minute ride. He really wanted to stand up and lean over the rail.



The monorail was only moving at 3 mph, but it was very challenging for Chris to look at the exhibits and take pictures. He still got lots of great ones. These are some of my favorites. Of course I don't remember the names of all the animals, but I'm pretty sure this is a zebra!



This is an Oryx.



These are ostrich eggs. We couldn't believe that they were just out in the open in the middle of an exhibit with lots of different animals. I'm guessing that they aren't very concerned about the success of ostrich breeding in zoos.



An ostrich and a different type of Oryx.



There was quite a ruckus in the chimpanzee exhibit. This one in particular was very vocal about something. The tour guide said it was a bonobo. I'm not sure if they were all bonobos though. Sam loved that he got to hear them saying "ooo ooo ooo eee eee eee," but he really wanted to climb out of the train car and in to their exhibit. He was a little upset when I wouldn't let him.



The last real stop was Crocodile Isle. This one was "smiling" for the camera.



The weather was beautiful so we stopped for an outside lunch at Ndebele Cafe. It's a funny play on words because it sounds like "in da belly cafe."



We walked the Nature Trail after lunch. They had lots of bronze statues along the trail.



Sam shaking hands with a bronze chimpanzee.



And here's a closer look at the real thing.



These turtles were funny. One of them was trying to escape, very slowly of course.



We don't remember what this animal was, but it was cute and tiny.



Here's a shot of a meerkat, for all you Meerkat Manor fans!



We were so excited to see this gorilla when we were on the Nature Trail. We had hung out at the Gorilla Conservation Research Center for a while looking for one, but hadn't been able to find one then. This one was eating lunch. It looked like sweet potatoes and leaves mostly.



Sam found a leaf and wanted to feed it to the gorilla.



This is a saddle-billed stork. It was huge. It was amazing to see it flying around its habitat.



After the Nature Trail, we changed Sam into his swimsuit and headed to the "river" at the Children's Zoo.



Sam jumped off of every rock he could find.



He thought it was especially funny to splash Mommy.



I think Sam would have staid in that river all day, but I could tell he was running on fumes at this point. He was making a funny constant humming sound willing himself to keep going.



Sam was super thirsty by this point. He loves to drink water out of a water bottle. It's so grown-up.



We wanted a snack before we left so we got some icee's. They don't have straws or lids at the zoo, and Sam refused to use the spoon. He was much happier using his hands.



Mmmmm good!



It was feeding time at Flamingo Pond as we were leaving.



Flamingo close-up.



Pretty pink flamingos.



Sam was super tired and fell asleep as I was carrying him back to the truck. He woke up as we buckled him in. I thought he would sleep the whole way home, but he didn't sleep a wink. That was actually a good thing because he took a nap without a fuss as soon as we got home. I was really amazed at how well Sam did at the zoo. He walked the whole time on his own without being carried and without a stroller.



Of course no trip to the zoo is complete without a picture of the Dallas Zoo Giraffe Statue. It's one of the tallest statues in the world at 67ft.

Just Hanging Around

We've spent a lot of time hanging around the house lately, especially with Labor Day weekend. It's been nice to relax and spend a lot of time with Sam. He knows the word "weekend" now. I always tell him it's the weekend on Friday night. We say that means all-day Mommy, all-day DeeDah, and all-day Sam tomorrow. He always goes to bed without a problem on the weekend. Sam's favorite things to do are bounce house, play-doh, paints, markers, books, Dora and Diego cartoons, trains, balls, singing, chasing Cleo around the backyard, and taking Cleo for walks.



Play-doh with DeeDah.



Colored pencils with Mommy.




Sam has graduated from simply jumping to jumping off of things. At this point the only thing he's jumping off of in the house is the last stair on the staircase. It's his favorite game right now, and he wants us to jump with him too. He's tried jumping at the top or in the middle of the staircase too. Thankfully we've always been holding his hand because he never actually lands on his feet. He usually overshoots it and slides down a few stairs on his bottom. When we're out and about he'll jump off anything he can, like the curb or even just an uneven sidewalk.



Here's a video of Sam jumping. He likes to count before he jumps. We usually get a 1, 2, 3, but sometimes we also get an 8, 9, 10. Sam has been counting for a while now, but he really doesn't care for the numbers 4 through 7.

On this particular night, it was getting pretty late. I yelled from the living room to the office to ask Chris if Sam was getting a bath that night. Sam answered, "No, I not take bath tonight!"



This is a picture of Sam in his cute new hat and overalls outfit that Yiayia got for him. He loves the hat, and he roars when he sees the lion on the overalls. I'll have to get Chris to take another picture the next time he wears it. I took this one with Chris's camera not realizing that it wasn't on automatic mode. The picture was completely blown out. I did my best to salvage it with post-processing, but pretty much just ended up with neon grass.



See, he loves the hat. He's been wearing it around the house all week.



Just hanging out with DeeDah in the kitchen. Sam loves to help Chris in the kitchen. He'll do anything ... grind coffee, make banana bread, unload the dishwasher. He loves being DeeDah's helper.




We went swimming a bunch over Labor Day weekend. Sam had a blast. The last several times that we went to the pool, Sam just wanted to run around the sprayground. They adjusted the spray heads so that there aren't any dry spots now, so Sam preferred to stay in the pool. He really seemed to want to be able to swim on his own. He kept pushing me away. I'd let him sink a little, and he's grab me when the water got to his ears. He really liked swim chasing DeeDah around the pool.





Of course Sam mostly wanted to jump off the ledge. He put his hand in his mouth every time that he jumped. That's not going to work out so well when he starts jumping on his own. I really wish we had swimmies or a life jacket that day. He really wanted to jump by himself. There were a bunch of kids at the pool that day that were three or four and were doing their own thing. He wanted to be just like them. They were hanging off the ledge so he wanted to do that too. Of course he didn't want me to help. He would let go a little and start sinking in the water. He would freak out as sook as the water hit his ears though.



We always change Sam into dry clothes and get a snack before we go home. Sam was making goofy faces at DeeDah.



Sam is quite the little talker now. He loves to sing too. He can even sing his ABCs. He usually says "K,K" instead of "J,K" and "eh, eh, eh, eh" instead of "L, M, N, O". I love it.




Lulu sent Sam some Thomas the Train "destinations" this weekend. Sam was soooo excited to get a present. He was ooooo'ing and ahhhhh'ing the whole time we were opening it. I can't wait for Christmas! As soon as he saw the blue and red box he said, "Thomas!!!!"



One of the destinations was the Sodor Engine Wash. You drive an engine up to the blue foam grips and turn the red knob. It lights up and makes sounds while the train is going through: wash, rinse, dry. Then you push a button which makes a ding and pops the train back onto the track. Sam got all his trains out and wash them all weekend. "M'on (come on) Momma, m'on DeeDah, wash trains!"





Here's Sammy playing on his favorite perch with the oven mitts. He's covered in red sauce from Spaghettio's. He's eating really well now, as long as you don't expect him to sit at the table and eat. He eats on the run. He's pretty much too busy to feed himself so we pop bites in his mouth when we can.