Little Ponderosa turned into a big adventure!

Our trip to the Little Ponderosa zoo turned out much better than I anticipated. Going to the Knoxville zoo several times I had grown accustomed to seeing animals in cages but from a great distance, or so it seems. Jamie was always happy to see the animals, but we usually had to lift him up or spend several minutes trying to point out to him where the animals were. Unfortunately the animals would almost always be laying down or sleeping, making it almost impossible to see them.

The Little Ponderosa zoo was not very big, but Jamie and his classmates were able to practically walk up to almost all of the animals and pet them, feed them, and most importantly interact with them. The first part of the zoo was inside a barn like structure with a few monkey like animals, an ant eater, a few snakes and other lizard like animals. Jamie was excited to see the animals, especially the little monkey like animals. Once we got outside the kids were able to see two tigers up close, and a few other animals. After that the kids got to go on a pony ride, which they all loved. Then the kids were able to visit with farm type animals such as sheep and goats, which they also got to feed. All of the kids, including Jamie, were excited at the prospect of feeding the animals. The funniest part is when the Ostriches came up and started hungrily pecking at the kids hands. All of the kids were scared of the big birds, but also intrigued. They thought it was funny and started throwing the feed down because they didn't want to get their hands pecked by the big birds, but they also were squealing with delight at the sight of them.

After a little while their teacher ran out of animal food, but the kids were just happy to pet the animals. There was a cute little miniature burrow with a soft fluffy head of hair that all of the kids loved to pet. Next were the Zonkeys. Why anyone would pair a Zebra with a Donkey, I will never know. The kids also got to see a real Zebra, along with a few other birds toward the end. At the very end of the trip the kids got to eat lunch. All in all it was a decent day, and I was glad that I was able to share it with my wife and my son.

Hold My Hand

The old saying that kid's say the darnedest things is so true. This morning I drove my son Jamie down to the bus stop as I always do. We spend these few precious moments together either having Jamie point out objects he sees outside of the van such as a puppy dog or a porch light that is on, or him trying to talk me into letting him have a sucker he found in the glove box. As a daily ritual as soon as the bus pulls up to the van I quickly jump out and run to the other side before Jamie can get out so I can grab his little hand, help him get his back pack, which he NEVER holds by the hand hold at the top as it's meant to be (which causes him to end up dragging it across the road haphazardly holding it by some strap or piece that he can get ahold of), and escorting him to the bus. I'm used to him pulling away sharply and trying to run across the street by himself, with him yelling "I don't wanna hold your hand!", and me running after him, but this morning he offered me a logical reason. As I ran around the van and grabbed his hand he gently pulled his hand away and explained to me "It's okay daddy, I won't get lost!" as he tried to reason his way into not holding my hand. Not wanting to force him to do something he didn't want to, or cause a major early morning meltdown, I conceded that holding his hand was NOT an option. BUT, I was not going to let him cross the street by himself. As he passed by me grinning from ear to ear with his new found freedom and independence, I gently grabbed the back of his jacket without him realizing it, and together we crossed the street. I know as he gets older that he'll want to do more things on his own, and someday not even want me around. Just the thought of that makes me sad. But in the future, just as in today, whether he knows it or not I'll always be there for him.

I added Matthew to My Blog

Matthew is anxious to write down everything he can remember. There is so much, he doesn't know how he'll tell it all. Apparently it was very interesting. It struck him that five days before this man was in the valley of the kings and yesterday he was in Atlanta speaking. Matthew found him very entertaining. I wish I could have been there. The things that Dr. Hawass spoke about were very new, some things had not yet been released to the press.

Matthew didn't come in until after 3:00am and had to go to work around 8:00am. He was exhausted when he came in from work. I got him added to my blog this evening so he can write on here tomorrow, when he's rested up.