Reptile Zoo

For Mother's Day we took a little road trip to Monroe, Wash. to the Reptile Zoo. It was our second visit, but I think there have been improvements since we were there last year.
We saw so many snakes it was overwhelming. Sean loved it, of course. He loves to study about them and when we took our library load back today we came home with his favorite snake book- again.
I'll let the pictures tell the story.
WARNING:
If you are not the parent of a little boy, or are not yourself interested in reptiles, some of the images may be disturbing.

Pretty cool stuff so far, huh?

Now we'll make our way to the cousin of the monitor.

This guy was enjoying the heat and sun at the window. He was eyeing us the whole time we were near his pin.

This is the Alligator Snapping Turtle. They hail from my home of Tennessee, and I am happy to say I've only seen one--this one--contained. 

I think this is the Green Tree Python, but I don't have Sean here to set me straight. Could be the Emerald Tree Boa.

Best buddies. These pythons were snuggled together in a large pin. The yellowish one is an albino.

Sean was really happy with this rosey boa.

The albino corn snake was friendly. But it was also determined to go where it wanted to go. In the picture above, the snake had slithered into Sean's sleeve and when he tried to pull it out it worked its way out the back of his shirt, but had it's tail gripping the sleeve.  It's tangled in the shirt in that photo, as you can probably tell, Sean was a little concerned.

We definitely recommend this place for all families interested in reptiles. There were tons of other photos that I didn't share on this post. Some of them were too messed up with light reflected in them because of the glass cases and all the heat lamps. There was a huge green anaconda, some rattle snakes, lots of different cobras, (one even struck at the glass a few times-yikes!) The reptiles look well cared for, and the people who work there seem to really love these guys. There is no guided tour, (not really big enough for that) but if you have questions there are people there to answer them. The man who owns the place does a program for schools, etc.

Reasonable entrance fee too, $6 for adults $5 for kids.

I have mixed feelings about zoos and places like this, because I don't like to see animals in captivity. It's a chance to educate people about the many different species. It amazes me how many different species share the earth with us. 

Easily amused

I recently purchased a new camera. I got last year's Sony H20. It's different from the other Sony camera I had so I'm still getting used to it.
I love the zoom.
I am easily amused. I spent quite a while today taking pictures of an inchworm that hitched a ride on my shoulder while I was out working in the yard.
I enjoyed watching him through the zoom lens. I assume it's a he, I don't know for sure. I didn't zoom into that area, plus I don't know how you tell on an inch worm.
They're really very cute. I've always loved inchworms, but I've only seen a handful in my lifetime. Sean held it for a while and I took a few pictures, then I brought it to my desk/office area and started shooting away.

If you look closely you can sort of see his little antennae in this one.

He hung out on my finger for a long time.

Then he was on the move again. He was looking at me in this one.

Inchin' along.

He's still here at my desk, munching on a piece of lettuce. 

I've always had a bit of a soft spot for inchworms. I used to have an inchworm riding toy back in the day - the 70s.

I was hoping we had a picture of it. 

It looked like this:

I loved that thing. I guess I've always been easily amused.

Worth it

Six of my staff and I attended an SPJ conference in Seattle last week. It was a beautiful day, worth the drive and definitely a nice location to spend a Saturday.
There are things I wish would have been better, like the temperature in each room, but the lunch was incredible and the view from our table was fantastic. We learned a thing or two and had a good time.

The view from our table at Pier 66.

Quiet Easter

Saturday before Easter was a busy day, and we didn't even do our egg coloring until pretty late in the evening. I've always enjoyed coloring eggs, though it gets messy.
Way back sometime when the grown kids were little we discovered that writing on the eggs with a crayon before dipping them in the dye creates a nice effect. The coloring shows through well if you use the right color combination. You can draw images, write messages, etc.
Sean had one ready to go with some crayon designs, then it fell to the floor.

One casualty

We colored about a dozen and he would have kept going, but I knew we were just wasting them. No way we could eat that many eggs.

Easter morning we found the Easter Bunny had left us a basket. We went to church and did an indoor egg hunt since it was quite cold and rainy. The hand bell choir played that day, always a treat for us.

Though we didn't have a big meal with all of the family around, we enjoyed a nice dinner with Grandma.

Pay it Forward

Saturday I worked in the yard. As I was raking, I was approached by a man coming from my next door neighbor's yard. I was puzzled. I didn't recognize him, but it turns out he was the neighbor's dad visiting from Montana.
So he stood there talking to me, and we talked about yards and homes and financial stuff and I said I was hoping to get some repairs on the house this year.
He asked what I wanted done and I said my first concern was the front porch. We had a ramp sort of installed when my mother was in a wheel chair, but it was never finished and just sat there looking ugly.
His name is Clay. He  took a look at it and said he thought he and his son could help me with it the next day. I told him I would be at church Sunday morning but home around noonish. I invited he and his family to come along. To my surprise he said, "We might just do that."
Later that day Clay and his son came over and dismantled the ramp.
Clay and his wife rode to church with me Sunday morning, and it was a little cooler and rainy that day.
Monday it snowed here--first time all winter-- and everyone stayed inside. But yesterday Clay and his wife came over and installed the rails on my porch and put it all back the way it was prior to the ramp being installed.
I tried to pay them and they wouldn't accept it.
This was such a huge help to me. I can't adequately convey how much it means to me.
I know this is going to sound cliche, but we do hear a lot of the bad things that people do. This gave me a little hope that there is still a little bit of good out there.
I can't do major home repairs, but I know I can help people in need.
So I'm waiting for God to put someone in my path that I can help in some meaningful way.

A day of Wow

We made our trip to the library on deadline last week, as usual. Well, lately there have been a lot of late fees, so we've missed deadline a few times in the past few months.
Point is, we took some stuff back on time, and while we were there Sean wanted to check out one of his favorite snake books. The library had shuffled some sections around, so we had to ask Aunt Bennie (who works there) for some help to find it. While he had her attention, Sean asked her to show him the airplane section. We came out with a stack of books on flight, helicopters and airplanes. He dove into them and within an afternoon was recognizing airplanes by name.
Because Sean is so interested in fight, I thought it would be a nice treat to take a field trip.
The Museum of Flight in Seattle is within driving distance, so we took a road trip today to immerse ourselves in airplanes and flight memorabilia.
We walked into the museum and he recognized the first plane he saw. We constantly were saying, "Wow, look at that one." They were all over the place. There were planes suspended above us, planes parked on the floors that you could walk under and peer into, and there were a couple of them set up for people to sit in, and an audio gave information about the cockpit.
The museum is very comprehensive, and includes an area devoted to space exploration, and there are neat screens set up to play old commercials and intros to shows from the 1950s and 1960s that related to Sputnik and the nation's focus on space exploration.
There are three floors, I believe, and it really is quite astounding. I could have stayed longer, but Sean was getting tired and hungry. The only thing we didn't see was the top floor that had the WWI stuff. Next time.
I'm interested in old stuff, history, antiques, etc., so the glass display cases with the old flight log books from WWII and flight suits, dog tags and all of that was very appealing to me.
Sean's favorite things were the jet fighters, and an old WWII plane that had teeth painted on the front. He could tell me the names of them, but I don't remember that kind of stuff very well.
There are a couple of opportunities to go into flight simulators, but that was a bit pricey for our budget.
I could have stayed all day, and there's even a cafe, but Sean wanted to leave. We've both been fighting a cold that won't go away.
It was a fun day, and I'm glad I thought to go. Wish David could have been with us, because he and Sean could have had a great time together there.

recap

I have been sick for what feels like a very long time. Once one illness subsided, another took hold--some kind of sinus thing that I was afraid would become a full-on sinus infection. They usually do for me.
I'm still recovering, but today I began to see a glimmer of recovery.
Even with the short month and tight deadlines, this month went smoother than usual with work. I was aware that my stress level was lower and wondered if I was just too sick to freak out or if I really felt more calm and in control.

My attention was fully on my boy today. The house has suffered along with me through my lack of energy and motivation. We cleaned up a bit, then we got down to business. He chose to study about leeches for a while as I answered some work emails, then we pulled out some old books to make room for his cool new books his brother sent. They totally qualify as work, with subjects such as Volcanoes, Focus on Wind, Airborne, etc. so they are on a special shelf for his work books near his Montessori shelf. We did some Spanish work, and just relaxed today.

We were almost blinded this week by that huge ball of glowing yellow in the sky. It is a big event for us when the sun comes out this time of year. I always forget how blue the sky is during the winter months.
Our temperatures are very mild, and Spring is on the way. It makes me want to do a bunch of home improvement projects that we really, really need.

I missed two meetings for our Lenten study. Last week Sean was sick and I couldn't take him with, nor leave him. This week I was sick. Maybe next week.

Yesterday Sean wanted to play a game. He dug out some flash cards called Bible Heroes that I bought at the Dollar Tree as a stocking stuffer this year. I was amazed at how much he knows about the Bible.

I'm part of a few Yahoo groups, and today I saw two posts that strengthened my faith and illustrated how God works in wonderful ways. A person who reached out to ask for prayer a few weeks ago recently provided information that could help many children who are misunderstood because of a disorder called Sensory Processing Disorder. Two Montessori teachers responded about children in their classrooms who exhibit some of those symptoms.