Goin' to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo

The forecaster predicted sunny skies and temperatures above 20 degrees.  I figured we'd seize the day.  (After all, they're predicting snow for Thursday.  Say it ain't so!)  I guess I wasn't the only mom with the same idea...

The zoo was crazy this morning.  Totally packed.  It's a Tuesday morning and school is in session, so I figured things would be relatively quiet.  Boy, was I wrong!  I can't remember the last time I've seen the zoo so busy. 

The kids had a blast, nonetheless.  I let the boys run and run and run and run, hoping for a long nap this afternoon.  (So far that seems to be working!)  The weather was actually rather cool and cloudy.  We visited the hippos (who were literally snoring), giraffes, lions, monkeys and gorillas.  We ate a nice picnic lunch as well.  I love our zoo pass because we can stop for a quick visit and leave when the kids get tired. Usually, a two hour trip is about perfect.

Now I'm looking forward to a quiet afternoon and evening.  I think I'll spend some time praying for the snow to pass us by...

Joke of the Day

Q:  What do you get when you cross medieval siege weaponry with fuzzy Star Trek aliens?

A:  A tribble-chet!

(Groan.  That one's courtesy of some geeky guy who shall remain nameless.)

Out in the Sunshine

I don't believe today could have been any more perfect. I am grateful we did not stay cooped up inside. This morning I spontaneously chose to take the kids to the zoo and we enjoyed a fabulous day.

Random Updates

Sadly, Claire the spider has disappeared. We're not sure whether she's died or simply hidden herself away for the winter. Our family had grown quite fond of the spider these past few months. Ben and I made a habit of admiring her web each evening, almost as part of our nightly routine.

On a totally unrelated note --- this post made me laugh very hard yesterday. Go read it.

Quote of the Day

"That caterpillar was ferocious, Mommy! He had teeth and he bited me!!!"

Eight-Legged Friend

A rather large spider lives on our back deck. Her name is Claire. She's been with our family for several months and spends her days hidden in the corner of the house. At night she weaves her web by the light of the moon.

Claire is properly known as an orb weaver. We believe she is a cat-face spider.

Our spider friend is impressively large. Her body alone has grown to nearly an inch in diameter. Neither Ben nor I have seen a bigger spider in the wilds of suburban Calgary. We wonder if Claire will stay with us through the winter. Will she hibernate in the corner of the siding? Can she survive the cold?

We do not mind sharing our deck with this eight-legged friend ... just so long as she stays outside of our house.

Quote of the Day

This morning our three-year-old told us we had to learn all about bats on icky-pedia.

:-)

A Little Visitor (Part 2)

As of last night, "Buggy" the bat was still alive. My heroic husband stayed up late constructing a lovely bat box for him. (I decided to go to bed.) Ben gently prodded Buggy into his new home, where he crawled up to the top and hung upside-down. Ben took it as a good sign. Since it was late and dark, Ben put the bat box out beside our fence but didn't hang it up.

This morning our entire family was very curious to learn Buggy's fate. Ben built the bat box with a hinged front. At breakfast time he went into the backyard to check inside the box, but alas, our bat had flown the coop. The box was empty.

We're hoping Buggy went out hunting bugs and stayed safe last night. I'm not sure whether he could fly with a torn wing. I hate the thought that a cat or some predator may have caught him. At any rate, Buggy was a wild creature and we didn't want to keep him in the garage too long. He deserved to be out and free. Maybe he will return to the bat box tonight. Who knows? We'll hang the box on our fence in hopes that a small nocturnal resident will soon call it home.

A Little Visitor

Our family hosted a tiny house guest last night. He slept in a shoe box in our garage. He was small, furry, and actually quite cute.

Our guest was a little brown bat.

Ben found the bat in his parking lot last night after work. It was lying injured on the pavement. (The bat has a torn wing.) Ben carefully placed the bat in a box and brought him home to show the kids.

We won't let the kids get too close to the bat. I'm scared he might try to bite if he gets frightened. Once the children were in bed last night, Ben went to the pet store and bought some meal worms. We don't know much about bats, but we thought the bat might eat the worms since he won't be out hunting flying bugs any time soon.

This morning the bat actually looks a bit better. (I wasn't convinced it would survive the night.) He is hanging upside down from the side of the shoe box, has had a bit of water and might have eaten a meal worm or two. If the bat lives through the day, Ben is planning to build a bat box for the backyard tonight.

Ben and I have talked about building a bat box for years. We think bats are pretty interested creatures, to tell the truth. They are impressive insect hunters. Ben read that a single brown bat can eat 1000 mosquitoes in a hour! Ben will hang the small bat box on the side of our fence and we'll see if the little bat will make it his home.

Link: How to build a bat house

Quote of the Day

Our two-year-old daughter quietly played on the floor with her stuffed animals. She carefully selected a little turtle and held it up to my ear.

"Hey Mommy. Listen. You can hear the ocean!"

Thought for the Day

If humans can buy wasp bombs at Home Depot to take out the wasps, can wasps buy human bombs to take out the humans? (Do the wasps shop at Nest Depot?)

Too Cool

My geeky husband totally rocks. He set the Wonder Pets theme song as the ring tone for my cell phone!

Factoid

This morning my five-year-old made the following insightful comment:

"Turtles can't chew gum because they don't have any teeth."

Things (I Will Learn To Love) About Our New House: Spiders

Who knew? Our new house is overrun with spiders. Really big spiders. Our friend has suggested this is because our property backs on to a huge grassy field. I think his theory is probably correct. At least the spiders will eat all the mosquitos, right? However, I had better not find a creepy eight-legged friend sharing my bedroom...

Lost in Translation

Hey Mommy! Did you know there are two kind of leopards in the world? There are scary ones that can eat you and there are leopards that are humans.

You know the leopards that are humans? They're called leopards because they have a disease called leprosy. That means they have lots of zits...

Factoid

Did you know a baby eel is called an elver?

(Neither did I.)

Cute As A Bug's Ear

Big, fat bumble bees are starting to appear outside.  Perhaps spring has finally arrived in The Great White North.  (One can only hope.)  I'd like to think we've seen the last of the snow.

Our kids had tons of fun chasing bees this past weekend.  It was a riot to watch the boys run after an unsuspecting bee, only to turn around and run away from said bee (shrieking wildly) in fear of its stinger.  It was a sort of love / hate relationship.

Best of all, the kids refused to call the insects bumble bees.  For whatever reason, our three eldest Inklings insisted the bees were called huckle bugs.

Huckle bugs?  I think I like the sound of that.

Harmless Amusement

So our five-year-old son has invented a new game. He takes unreasonably great joy in pretending to be a fainting goat...

We Have a Solution!

Ben thinks we should exchange our paper shredder for a goat.

Hmmm ... might not be a bad idea.

Goats probably have a good page consumption rate. And no one is likely to reconstruct a document once it's been through a goat.

Do you think the condo board will approve?

We'll just stay away from fainting goats. (They're almost as flaky as mail munchers.)

Get a Website

Yes, it really is my husband in the chicken suit. The man is a dedicated business owner.