The Lizard Guys

Gillian's school had the Lizard Guys come visit today. Gillian told me about their visit in the car tonight. She said "Silly Billy came today. What? That's his name! He brought a lizard. The lizard was so fast! He ran all over the carpet! And there was a frog. He was slimy and bumpy!" I asked "Was he a tree frog?" Gillian said "No! But he was hopping everywhere. And he said 'I'm outa here!'" I said "Really?" Gillian said "What? I can talk frog!" She also told me about the snake. "The snake's name was Jack-Jack. He was a boy!" Then she told me about the turtle. "And there was John's favorite animal! His name was Tickle. He was slow. Not like the lizard." It sounded like Gillian had an awesome time.  

Pumpkin pickin

Today we took the kids pumpkin picking. We met Mimi, Uncle T, Aunt Missy and Kenzie for lunch and then headed to tbe pumpkin patch. John was determined this year to find the perfect pumpkin. I take that back. He is always determined. His rules for a perfect pumpkin are "1) it's orange, 2) it's not too big, 2) it has a handle, and 4) it has no holes." Gillian was not looking for a pumpkin. "I already got one. On my field trip. You know, I got a pumpkin." 

The kids searched the whole field to find the best pumpkin. John found his pumpkin and I asked "Is that the one you want?" He said "There's only one part I don't like." And he pointed and some dirt on the one side. "But Daddy says we can clean it off." We also found a pumpkin for Gillian. And then the kids found a pumpkin for Aunt Missy!

Then we went to check out the animals. Gillian did not like feeding them. But she liked to pet them. John fed all the animals and was very diplomatic with his food. "I want to make sure everyone gets some!"

John liked all the animals except the emus. Gillian was excited to see the llama. Eventhough John said "It's an alpaca!"

Overall we had a great time pumpkin pickin!

Suburban

In the car this morning, we got stuck waiting for a train to pass. John looked out his window and said "I think I see an animal." I saw it too. I told him, "I think that's a groundhog." He said "I don't know. I've never seen one. We should look at my animal book. First we know it's a suburban animal. And it eats leaves." I questioned "Suburban?" He said "We live in a suburban community. Rural is the biggest. But we live in a suburban community. We need to look for him in my animal book."

The zoo

John and Gillian went on an adventure to the Philly zoo today with Mimi and Poppy.  The kids told me little bits about their day. John told me "We saw like 7 turtles! And not little ones. Big ones!" Gillian said "Poppy hold me up to see the monkeys!" I asked "What was your favorite animal?" John said "The lion!" Gillian said "All of them!" Gillian also told me "We didn't see the llamas. Cause they spit!"

Here are some pictures of their adventure. 

The magazine

Gillian got her National Geographic Little Kids magazine in the mail today. When John and I got home, she ran across the living room, grabbed the magazine, and said "No! It's mine!" She made sure no one would take her magazine. 

Before bedtime, John reads to us. While John was reading tonight, Gillian was looking at her magazine. She flipped through the pages and Daddy stopped her on a page with a bunch of pictures  of animals. 

Daddy asked "Can you name these animals?" Gillian pointed at each picture starting at the top left and said "Llama, llama, llama, lama, llama, llama, llama, llama and llama!" We giggled and Daddy said "You know the animals!" Gillian then named all the animals correctly. She continued looking through the magazine and was excited to find a llama! She said "Look a llama! It's a white one!"

A zoo or China

A few weeks ago when I picked John up from school, he asked me "Can we go to a zoo? Or China?" It turns out that he was working on a panda puzzle and wanted to see pandas in their natural habitat. This week is John's spring break. I decided I would surprise him and take him to a zoo. I gave him a few clues, but he wasn't able to guess. 

This morning we got in the car and before we hit the parkway, he said "The zoo! We're going to the zoo!" He was right. We were headed to the Cape May Zoo. We arrived before the gates opened. John played on the huge playground while we waited for the zoo to open. Then we headed inside. John led the way. He is really good at reading maps!

We walked around and saw a cow, an owl, some goats and peacocks. Then I pointed out two bald eagles. John said "They are like the most important animals here." I asked "Why?" He said "Because they represent our country!" 

We walked through the bird house. Two steps inside the door, John said (very loudly) "It stinks in here!" I shhhed him and we walked through and checked out all the various species. He even remembered, "Flamingos are pink because they eat shrimp!"

We saw a camel, some llama (Gillian would have loved them), bison, a lion, a capybara, and a bunch of turtles. The turtles were all sunning themselves on the rocks on the edge of their pond. John told me "I can't wait to tell Travis about all the turtles! They must be friends."

 

Next we saw some snow leopards, giraffes, an ostrich and zebra. We also saw a red panda. Now this wasn't the kind of panda John had hoped to see, but he was still very excited. 

We walked through the reptile house. John pointed out every snake, lizard and turtle to me. He loved seeing all the turtles. We checked out the sea otters and a few more animals. Then we took a little break and John went on the carousel and we both road the train. 

We visited the gift shop. John picked out a stuffed snow leopard for himself and a stuffed sea otter for Gillian. We had a little lunch. After lunch I asked John, "Do you want to go back and see any of the animals again or do you want to go home?" "Well, I want to take my new friends to see their relatives." Basically he wanted to take the snow leopard and the sea otter back to their exhibits. You can't say no to that so we headed back. 

On our way back through the zoo, John said "I can't believe no animals are following me!" I asked "What are you talking about?" He said "Well I'm a boy that likes nature. And I thought that animals would know that and would follow me around the zoo. Cause they would know that I am nice to animals and nature." I love his big heart. 

I had a great day wth my boy. I can't wait to do it again!

Llama

Tonight at dinner, we were talking about John's favorite animal.  He said "I bet you don't even know what my favorite animal is!"  Gilly didn't hesitate and said "A llama!"  He said "No!  It's not a llama."  Daddy and I joked with him and said "We know.  You don't have any secrets.  We know everything."  He said "You don't know!"  Gillian again said "It's a llama." He said "It's not a llama.  My first favorite animal is a lion!"  Daddy said "Yup.  I knew it!"  John said "You didn't.  And I bet you don't know what my second favorite animal is!"  Gilly said "A llama."  John said "No.  I'll give you a hint.  It is a dark animal."  Daddy said "What?"  John said "It's a dark animal that flies."  Gillian said "A llama."  John said "No.  It's a dark animal that flies."  Daddy said "I know.  There's a superhero that uses it too."  John didn't understand and said "It's not a superhero.  It's an animal."  Gillian said "A llama."  I whispered to Gillian "Say nah nah nah."  She did.  But John didn't understand our little hint.  So I said "It's a bat!"  He said "I bet you don't know my third favorite animal!"  Gillian said "A llama!" By this point, any time Gillian said llama, I would just start laughing.  Her timing was perfect and hilarious.  John didn't find it funny at all.  All he wanted to do was talk about his favorite animals.  He said "No.  It starts with an O."  Gillian again said "Llama?"  John said "Gill, that doesn't start with O.  It's an orca!"  Gillian said "A llama?"   

Favorite animal

Today Mimi gave me cookies to give the kids, a giraffe and a lion. I picked the kids up from school today and when we got in the car I showed them the cookies. John asked "Can I pick which one I get?" I told him yes. He said "Can I have the lion? Cause I'm so brave!" (As he said this he flexed his biceps). Gillian didn't mind. I think she wanted the giraffe because it was a bigger cookie. As we drove home, I asked "Gillian, do you know what is Grandma's favorite animal? I'll give you a hint look at your cookie." Gillian was a little unsure. John shouted "I know! A giraffe!" Gillian said "I know!" (That's what Gillian says when she doesn't know).

I asked John, "What is your favorite animal?" He said "How many fingers do I have behind my back?" I cringe a little. I hate when he asks me that. I guess and say three. He says "No. I'll give you a hint. One has five." He has completely tricked me. He never puts two hands behind his back. So I guess and say two. He says "No! Six! I have six favorite animals!" I ask him to list his favorites. He says "Leatherback sea turtles, sea turtles, turtles, cheetahs, lions and the animal that Black Panther is." Let me take a second now and explain Black Panther one of Marvel's Avengers. I am laughing in the front seat as he is listing his favorite animals. I respond to John, "It's in his name, Black Panther." I say it slow so that he will listen to what I am saying. He says "I think it's a cat. You know what animal Black Panther is." I again say "It's in his name. Black Panther." John was a little confused. So I finally said, "He is a panther." I asked him  why he had three different turtles on his list. He said "Turtles have regular legs. Sea turtles have fins. That's how you can tell the difference. And leatherback sea turtles are black!"

I asked Gillian "What is your favorite animal?" She said "Giraffes and pandas and snails and bugs and spiders. I like spiders!" John says "I have seven now. I like spiders too!" We arrived home and Gillian waited for me on the front porch as I got everything out of the car. As I approached the porch she screamed "Oh no! A spider!" Guess they aren't her favorite after all. 

Coffee and the purse

This morning we were watching cartoons in the basement. Daddy and I were both drinking coffee. Gillian came over to me and asked "I have some?" I was a little surprised, and said my coffee? She nodded. I told her no, because my coffee was too hot and to go ask Daddy. She walked over to Daddy and said "I try your coffee?" Daddy let her have a little sip. She loved it. "I have coffee!"

Gillian got a new purse. It has cherries on it. It is small. It was empty yesterday, but she said "I need animals!" She went downstairs and came back with a little pony and a little whale in her purse. "I got animals!" She had her purse with her all day yesterday. Today, she tried to cram a Snow White Barbie into the purse. "It won't fit!" Daddy helped her by taking out the animals and putting Snow White in the purse first. Then he put in the animals. Gillian was so happy. She ran around showing everyone her purse and all her treasures.

Faster than...

John told me tonight "I am faster than all the animals in the world! But you know what? There is one animal that I am not faster than. Do you know what animal? Come on, you know!" I insisted that I did not know what he was talking about. He said "Duncan. Duncan is faster than me! Duncan is so fast." I love his logic. He first says that he is faster than all the animals but contradicts himself by saying that his dog is faster than him. He also told me "I'm as strong as a lion! Well maybe a fire ant. You know why they call them fire ants? Because they are red!"

At bedtime tonight, he told me "I'm as brave as an ant. I don't like the dark and I get very scared." I explained to him that ants are very brave. They are so tiny but they still leave their house everyday to find food and shelter for their families. And that he should be proud to be brave like an ant! I hope our little talk helped him to be brave in the dark.