There have been several things weighing down on me that I felt I just must get done before our baby is born.  For some reason, the last while I have just felt and big sense of urgency to get these things done and be ready because our baby might come early.

Last night I finished the last humongous project I wanted to accomplish before our baby’s arrival.  That was cleaning the basement.  Now, mind you, the hugeness of the project is on account of two things.

No. 1  There are few things I like to do less.  (I basically hate to clean the basement.)  Therefore, I dread it, and I have to literally make myself get started and do it.

No. 2  Sometimes I can only work in 5 min. spurts between helping someone on the  potty, filling a milk cup, kissing a bumpie, help somebody find a certain book, or (and how does this come around so soon?  Didn’t I just finish cleaning up the dishes?) fixing the next meal.  Occasionally, I could work for a whole hour in a spell, if Paul and Hannah napped later and I pushed the meal time back 1/2 an hour.  I find it much easier to stay in gear and get something accomplished, than to keep going in and out of gear every 5 minutes or so.

Despite those two main obstacles deterring me and wanting to eat away my will-power, I did complete the basement project.  I stayed up working on it until after 12:30 last night because I was determined to finish it.

I did not take any “before” pictures.  (They would have shocked your eyes out!  It was pretty serious.)  For some (maybe most) of you, even these “after” pictures will look like before pictures in your opinion.  That’s o.k. and doesn’t hurt my feelings.  When you and all your possessions live here, you can fix the basement to your liking.

This is Andrew’s former office area.   I wanted it
to be a play area for the kids, and one of the ways
I entertained them while I was working yesterday
was pull out two boxes of books and softies they
hadn’t seen in a while and let them play with them
in the new play area while I worked over in the
other side of the basement.

More of the new play area, henceforth called
“Play Station 2″.

This is looking through the doorway
into the non-carpeted cement part of the
basement.  Note: you can actually see
the floor!!

This is my seriously cleaned up and rearranged
laundry area.  Notice that the laundry detergent
jugs are now up on the shelf!  The white barrel is
a 30-gal. barrel that I’ve used in the past when-
ever I need to empty the washing machine of water
and it couldn’t go into the sump pump hole (due
to the outlet being frozen).  With our new addition,
that shouldn’t occur any more, but I figured I should
keep the barrel any way.  I might still have need
for it.  It does hold a whole emptying of water.

This is looking back at the shelves
behind the sump pump.  Notice that
the emergency water supply jugs are
on the floor at the bottom of those
shelves.  We’ve learned to keep that on
hand for our (at times frequent) power
outages.  That’s not a lot of water, but
it will get us by until we get something
else figured out.

This is looking to the left, back past the canning jars
section.  You can soon get the idea that a big part of
my basement project was simply stacking stuff
along the perimeters.  Sigh.  That’s just the best
I can do right now.  There’s simply no other place
to put the stuff.  How necessary the “stuff” is varies
depending on whom you ask, and it will change
as we enter different stages of life with our kids.

Another view of the canning jars section of shelves.

This is looking over towards the furnace.  Have
you noticed that my laundry “table” is clear and I
can actually use it as a laundry table now?

My goal with this part of the basement was to make it such that our kids can ride their tricycles down there in the winter time.  Now, the next goal will be to keep it that way!  We have a nice basement, and I don’t want my slovenliness to be the reason my kids can’t have fun down there.

I followed my doctor’s orders by taking these pictures.  When I told him I wanted to get my basement all cleaned up before our baby was born, he said, “Well, when you get your house all in order, take pictures, because it won’t stay that way.”  I’m afraid he’s right!

The other big thing I wanted to have finished before our baby’s arrival is the painting of the purple room (here and here you can read about that project).  As you know, I already finished that.

While working on the basement project, I simultaneously got the Dalmatian room ready for the new baby.  It is all set.  The crib is up and has sheets on, the changing table is ready to go, the little girl clothes sized newborn to 6 or 9 mo.  that I have are in the dresser, and the car seat is under the crib and ready to install in the car closer to the time.  (No, I don’t have my suitcase packed yet, and I don’t have my lists made of what needs to go with Paul and Hannah when the time comes.  I’ll start working on those things soon.)

So, I’m feeling a lot less stress right now.

My plan was to reward myself by enjoying sewing on another sewing project once I finished the basement.  Well…..I want to, but two things are in the way at the moment.  The most urgent is the weeds around here.  They need attention or they will soon go to seed.  I hope to get all of the garden (and maybe the flower bed?) weeded while it is cooler this week (which means I have about 2 days, and my pregnant body doesn’t like me to weed for hours on end at a stretch).  Also, I realized how much I really want to get the shelves made and installed in the two closets in Hannah’s room before this baby comes.  So, at this point, my plan is to weed, and then get the closets finished in Hannah’s room before I treat myself to another sewing project.  I hope I can get the closets all done in about 2 days, once I put my mind to it.  Let’s hope I don’t cut my leg off with a saw in the process!

This is how prepared I am at 32 weeks.  I believe I can handle life a little better now.

I fully intended to post a TTT post yesterday, but with my determination to finish cleaning my basement yesterday, the day got all before I got this post created.  So, here are a few tidbits a day late.

Paul & Hannah had a songfest for about an hour
one morning last week. Here they are picking out
a song in their hymnbooks (never mind that they
each have a different one!).

A few mornings ago, I heard Paul singing in the living room.  He was singing “God is So Good”, and then he started in on another verse which went, “Baal is so bad, Baal is so bad…”  I stopped him to clarify what he was singing, and sure enough, he was intending to sing “Baal is so bad”.

Can you imagine the challenge I have in managing their conversations when we go into a Chinese, Indian, etc. restaurant where they have all these brass images around?  Paul and Hannah are full of questions:  “Is that Baal?”  “Is that an idol?”  “Is that bad?”  etc.  It would save me some embarrassment (and maybe them some shame) if they didn’t have those things on display.

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On Monday evening, we let Paul and Hannah watch the beginning of our movie (in celebration of our anniversary, we watched “Bridge Over the River Kwai” which I hadn’t seen before).  In preparation, I popped some microwave popcorn.  Hannah was out in the living room and I heard her talking about hiccups.  I asked her if she had hiccups.

“No.  The oven is hiccuping.”

I explained to her that it was popcorn popping, not the microwave hiccuping!

Singing at the top of their lungs!  It was a joy to
listen to.  They were so happy.

I had washed Hannah’s hair one morning and hadn’t put any pigtails in yet that day, so after her nap I asked her if she wanted me to put pigtails in her hair.  She said she didn’t want any.

Paul piped up and said, “She wants to go shaggy.”

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Paul and Hannah were having their own songfest out in the living room for quite a while.  I didn’t hear the whole thing, but at one point Paul said, “Let’s sing ‘Go to Bed at Nine O’clock’”.

At another point Paul was trying to sing Amazing Grace and Hannah kept stopping him and saying they needed to sing “Amazing Mommy”.  Paul argued with her, “It’s not Amazing Mommy, it’s Amazing Grace”!  Hannah’s suggestion suited me fine!

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One night we were having a thunderstorm (without any rain) about bedtime.  Hannah kept repeatedly asking me to turn off the lightning.  When I explained to her that Jesus made the lightning, then she was asking for Jesus to turn off the lightning.  Finally, I asked Andrew to come lie down with her.  She told him,  “Maybe someday Jesus will turn off it (the lightning), but I don’t like the thunder.”

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Paul:  “I’m going to the land of slavery!”

Me:  “You are?”

Paul:  “And I’m not coming back.”

I believe someone has no idea what the “land of slavery” in Ex. 20 really is!

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Note:  the following is being posted at Andrew’s request.

Andrew says our children walk around shouting out profanity.  It goes something like this:

Hannah:  “Pee in the pants!  Pee in the pants!  Pee in the pants!”

Paul (laughing hard):  “Heinie grease!  Heinie grease!”  And then they are both joyously yelling out these phrases at the same time.

Believe me, I am working on them to get this out of their joking vocabulary.  (Where do they pick this up anyway?  Andrew says no other place than home, for sure.)  If they really need heinie grease, they need to ask for it in the bathroom.  If they have had an accident, they need to tell me in the bathroom.

Hannah and I singing at my parents’ on Sun. eve.

This is part two of Father’s Day around here.  After the kids woke up from their naps this evening (around 5:00 p.m.), we headed up to my parent’s place to celebrate Father’s Day with my dad and those of my family that could make it.  We picked up Grandma on the way and took her along.  My sister Gail and my mom decided to give me a break and make all the food and I just arrive and partake.  That was so nice!  I know my sister Gail worked hard to do most of the meal, and it was delicious.  I did make some of my own Dreamfield’s pasta into baked macaroni and cheese (a small dish), and I brought a mulberry/blackberry pie (1/2 of each kind of berry) to try out.  My sister Rachel made an apple pie, and Gail made green beans, corn, cherry pies, homemade vanilla ice cream (2 gallons) baked macaroni & cheese, and lettuce with salad dressing, and my mom marinated 20 lbs. of chicken leg quarters, which Gail and James smoked in their smoker grill apparatus.  Everything was delicious.  Sometime I hope we can do a meal in which Gail just shows up and partakes.  I feel a little guilty over this, even though I got a nap this afternoon and really enjoyed the whole evening (and I wasn’t exhausted when I got there).

After the meal, of course, it was time to give Grandpa his presents.  Paul and Hannah had been looking forward to this very much.  Grandpa was generous and let the grandchildren help open all the gifts.  And he shared them too!  Paul, Hannah, & Bobby each got a Pringle chip, but since we were simultaneously serving pie and ice cream, the rest of the sharing had to wait until a little later.

Hannah gets to help open this present, which is a box of shredded wheat, the big bales, like Grandpa likes.

Hannah is showing Grandpa the card she made for him.

Now Grandpa is looking at the card Paul made.

Bobby gets to help open the box with the zebra paper.

Oh my!  More candy bars.  (Grandpa did share them–a whole Reese’s Fast Break to each grandchild–later on, after we were done with the pie and ice cream.  I think Grandpa is very popular!)

And Oreo cookies!  Does Father’s Day get any better than this (especially in the eyes of little kids)?

At some point Andrew and Luke played a game of chess–and Luke was thrilled that he won.  He said it’s the first time he’s ever won against Andrew.

Bobby and Paul hauled around marbles in some of their equipment.  After Paul unloaded his nice dump truck load of them on the floor, we found a box for them to unload them into.

At the end, when it was really my kids’ bedtime, we had a short song-fest for about 1/2 an hour.  Hannah sang along with us.  Luke took a lot of pictures, but most of them with his camera.  I did get him to take a few with my camera.

Finally, at 10:00 we headed for home (an hour later than I had thought we would).  But, it was worth it and we all enjoyed it.  Here, Andrew is getting ready to help my grandmother out to our van so we can take her back to her place in B’water.

We’ve had a lot of good times today.  It was so thrilling to watch our children have a good time.  It was also thrilling to see my dad (and Andrew, see my previous post) enjoying his grandchildren so much.  Praise the Lord my children have the blessing of enjoying their grandpa (and their daddy).  He’s still living, and we live close enough that we can get together on occasions like this.

The excitement over Father’s Day at our house, among Paul and Hannah at least, rivaled New Year’s Day.  Boy, there was no putting off Father’s Day presents if they had anything to do with it!  When they woke up at 8:30, I whispered to Hannah to go tell Daddy “Happy Father’s Day”.  She walked into our bedroom and whispered that to Andrew.  Then, as Paul came out of his room, I told him to tell Daddy to come open his presents.  He bounded into our room and nearly shouted, “Daddy!  Come open your presents!”

This is just a neat picture from yesterday morning,
and I thought it was appropriate for a Father’s Day
post.  If Hannah wakes up before her daddy, she
loves to crawl into bed beside him.

The first thing was to present the cards Hannah and Paul made last night for their daddy.  Here is Hannah presenting her card.  (I took a lot of pictures so you can see a little bit of their cards.)  Hannah glued a big H on hers to indicate it was from Hannah.

She also glued a bunch of pink hearts in hers, and drew with a pink marker.  I had a hard time convincing her to use any color other than pink in her card.

Paul wrote his own name all by himself on his card.  (He also traced Daddy’s name.)

He too wanted to put a big letter P on his card, a long with a big letter D.  The big blue spot he cut out with scissors himself, and that is a lion.

Paul drew a picture of Mr. Happy, and also a sad face.  He came up with these ideas himself.  A lot of the cut-outs on his card he cut out all by himself, and he glued them on all by himself using a glue stick.  (He has skills!  And I didn’t even know it.)

This is the opening of the first box.  Now you are getting a glimpse of why this occasion was so important to Paul and Hannah!  Here are some fig cookies, Pringles, and Reese’s cups.  Not of any importance to Paul and Hannah is a suction towel rack for Andrew to put in the shower to hold his washcloth.  That was something he desperately wanted!

This is the best part of giving presents to Daddy.  Daddy shares his presents!

And what is inside the balloon wrapping paper?

This was one that Paul and Hannah didn’t know about.  I had gotten it at the Belmont Yardsale this spring.

Mr. M & M who is an M & M candy dispenser!  You’ve never seen more excited children!

Paul is shaking his hand.

Paul is absorbed with Mr. M & M, but Hannah is diligently helping Daddy open the Tigger paper box.

Candy bars!

Is Daddy going to share those too?

You bet!  And they each got a whole Reese’s Fast Break bar.

There was also something to put inside Mr. M & M in that Tigger paper box.

Before even starting the cards and gifts this morning, Andrew asked them, “Is there something in the presents I should share with you?”  Paul immediately answered, “Yes!  M & M’s!”  Andrew quickly urged him not to tell.  Now, the sharing of M & M’s is about to be more exciting than even Paul imagined it would be.

Paul is shaking Mr. M & M’s hand—–and out comes a load of M & M’s!

Everyone wanted to shake his hand a lot and watch the M & M’s pour out, so we got a bowl and let them have lots of fun and then pour most of them back inside Mr. M & M for the next time.

Now, Mr. M & M is on a high shelf in Daddy’s office, smiling cheerfully and waving his very special hand and arm high.  Paul and Hannah just must wave and say “Hi!” every time they see him.  After lunch today, when I was taking them to their bedrooms for naps, they insisted on going in Daddy’s office and waving good-night to Mr. M & M.

So, that’s the great excitement around here.  Father’s Day was really special, and it’s hard to tell for whom it was the most special–the parents watching the kids, or the kids enjoying sharing such exciting loot with their Daddy!

(Andrew has already installed and used the suction towel rack washcloth holder in the shower.  He really likes it!  And I like that a wet washcloth won’t be lying around on the edge of the bathtub.)

Today when we were at Sharp Shopper, the off-the-list item I bought was a bag of peanuts in the shell.

I don’t believe Paul and Hannah have ever had them before.  After naps today, we all munched on some, and I gave Paul and Hannah little container of them to sit on the back porch with and shell and eat.

It is a lot of entertainment for them to shell them, and they enjoy eating them.

Another new item for them was a baby walker that Andrew’s mom sent down with him today (he was up helping them move).  It has sky-rocketed the already high volume of pretend play Paul and Hannah do regarding babies and taking care of them.  Now, the “babies” (so far a teddy bear and Mickey Mouse) have a walker, and there are bottle holder places on the walker, and a tray for them to put toys for their babies.

The teddy bear had been in the walker, but Paul
wanted to hold him for the picture.

They are having a lot of fun helping their “babies” play and pushing them around in the walker.

If you look closely, you can see the
two baby bottles (toy ones) in the
holders on this walker.

What rich and varied live they have (and we still haven’t missed the TV!).

As usual, even though I sometimes feel like I “don’t have time” to visit my grandmother, it is always such a relaxing, rewarding time that I’m always glad I did and never regret it.  Today was one of those priceless days.  And, if you want to know the honest truth, that’s about the biggest thing we got done today, but that’s o.k.  We’ll do other work another day.

I wanted to take Grandma out to eat for lunch (we didn’t get together with her at all last week because the only days that it suited me it didn’t suit her).  She likes the home cooking, low-key, meat-and-potatoes type of food.  Forget the exotic or unusual or “extra-special” dishes, they don’t impress her at all.  Since we discovered the Mrs. Rowe’s near here is no longer a restaurant (just a catering and banquet facility), we had to figure out another place.  She really liked the idea of going to the Thomas House Restaurant, so that’s where we ate lunch today.  Andrew was being responsible and diligent working at home, so Paul, Hannah and I took her there.  The staff was excellent and helped me get all the food and everyone situated at a table.  The food was top-notch, and we all enjoyed it (and I so wished Andrew could have eaten some of the really good food with us).  Paul and Hannah behaved excellently as well.  I made sure to brag on them to Andrew in their hearing.

After the meal I asked Grandma what she wanted to do.  She wanted to drive up to the school in Dayton where she went to high school (they only went to 7th grade back in her day) (the building is currently Dayton Learning Center), and then she wanted to drive past the house she lived in as a girl when she went to school.  And then we drove to where she used to take the cows to pasture.  After that, she wanted to go “to this side of the river to see the ducks”.  Even though that was a pretty vague destination, I politely said “O.k.” and figured we’d do the best we could to get to where she had in mind.  I drove to the North River, and right beside the bridge in B’water is a little gazebo and some swings and there were lots of ducks there.  It turned out that’s where she had in mind.  So, we lingered around there for a little spell and the kids positively loved watching the ducks.  They came right up to us, expecting food.  After they figured out we didn’t have any, they resumed resting on the grass or swimming in the water or searching for bugs (or worms?) in the mud along the river.

Watching the ducks.

More duck-watching.

Trying to get a picture of my grandma with
Paul & Hannah is interesting!

Even though it was a pretty hot and humid day, there in the shade along the river a breeze was blowing and it really wasn’t uncomfortable.  Eventually, though, we had to head back to the van and take Grandma home (we got her back just a little before 3:00 p.m.) and then get my little people home for naps.  Before we did all that, though, we had to clean the ducky-doo from our shoes!  I guess no one diapers these ducks.

We all enjoyed the whole occasion, and it was a really special time.  I’m so glad we took the time to spend this noon and early afternoon with Grandma.

Yesterday was the 30 week mark of this pregnancy.  I am looking forward to having our new baby on the outside and being able to call Baby Miranda by her real name rather than this silly code name.  Even before that, I am looking forward to having my “before our baby is born” projects completed so all my systems will be in place and I can just maintain and operate them after our baby is born.  I still have the basement yet to finish, and then that will be the last really big project.

The enduring hallmark of this pregnancy continues to be my low energy level.  Some days, like today, I just can’t believe how I have to drag myself around and do my work on pretend energy.  Yesterday, for whatever reason, was a rare and energetic day.  I really enjoyed it.  I finished weeding the garden and worked in the basement.  And I felt good and ready to get going on these projects.  Today, all I did was transplant some herbs and tea and pick mulberries from our neighbor’s mulberry tree.  (Our friends, the Showalters, had invited us to their house for supper, so we enjoyed visiting them for the evening and I didn’t have to cook!)  And I felt like lying down and doing nothing all day.  I have a suspicion that the birth of our new baby is not necessarily going to give me lots of energy!  I’ll just have to keep adjusting and learning energy-saving techniques or something.

On a positive side, I pretty much never have to worry about how this little baby is doing.  She is very active!  She thumps and bumps around inside of me a lot.  Sometimes it is downright uncomfortable.  I wonder if she’ll be this active after she’s born.

I’ve heard plenty about people who feel great their whole pregnancy, enjoy being pregnant, and just have a great time dreaming about their new baby.  Maybe I don’t have a big enough imagination, or something.  Somehow, the long and the short of it is my kangaroo pouch muscles are sore and tired and achy; my feet and legs swell and therefore my shoes are tight and uncomfortable; the TED stockings are hot and make my leg skin itchy; I cannot begin to describe my displeasure over my blood sugar situation and not being able to eat what I am hungry for; and somehow, I just feel huge and ugly so much of the time.  I see other pregnant ladies at the OB office with skinny ankles in their cute little sandals, no skin rashes, and no TED stockings and I wonder why I can’t be like that.

O.k., enough moaning.  The real facts are that most of this is (hopefully) temporary, and in a few years will be just a faded memory as I push our little children on the swing and watch them enjoy ice cream and see happy faces and bouncy pigtails.  It is worth it.  I know it is.  There were rough things with Paul and Hannah, but they seem so far in the past now.  So distant and insignificant.  I rarely stop to think about those hardships now as I enjoy my cutest toddlers who are fast gaining independence.

I must add here that turning on the air conditioner a week and a half ago was one of the best moves I’ve made yet for my comfort and energy level in this pregnancy.  I was nearing a melting stage, exhausted, and felt too tired to even sit up.  As the house cooled down (it was about 86 in here), I started feeling better and by evening time (we turned it on in the early afternoon) I had more energy and couldn’t believe the difference it made.  So, my poor grandmother may need a coat and a lap robe the next time she comes, but at least I’ll be much more functional!

Not last week, but the week before, I had a self-declared stay-at-home week.   I didn’t have any doctor appointments, and there was nothing we needed at the store badly enough to merit a shopping trip to town, and because I was tired of going away and being gone from home, we stayed home (except for church services, of course!).  It was wonderful!  The kids and I had a ball!  Since then, I have tried hard to minimize time away from home so we can enjoy being at home.  Also, I can get so much more done when I am home all day long, as opposed to going away for a portion of the day.

Here are lots of pictures of how we enjoy being at home.

We had Bobby over one morning for a pool party.

Many mornings and evenings we
pulled weeds and picked rocks in the
garden.  For a long time, Paul and
Hannah had the greatest thrill “finding”
rocks and putting them in their buckets.
You would have thought they were
picking up chocolate candy!
It sure was a big help to me.

Aunt Rachel found lots of interesting
things in her shed.  Among them were
some hard hats.  They were a great
hit and transformed many activities
into super-fun activities!

We worked in the garden during the cool
mornings last week.

Yes, it’s hard to believe, but some
mornings were cool enough to merit
a jacket.

Paul having more hard-hat fun.

Yesterday (Sunday) evening, Andrew stated
that Sunday evening suppers should be snacking
on whatever.  Well, it doesn’t work with my
diabetic diet, but I figured that wasn’t a sufficient
reason to deny a snack meal to my kids.  (Andrew
rustled up his own snacks.)  They had a supper of
stick cheese (what we call string cheese), frozen
sweet cherries, and a pretzel mixture.  They
got left-over ginger ale to drink, and ate in their
swimming suits on the back porch.

This morning and this evening while I was weeding
and planting in the garden, I had Paul and Hannah
water the parts of the garden I was done weeding in.
They had a great time, and even watered me
a couple times (accidentally).

After I started setting up the sprinkler
this evening, they started cooking in
the sandbox.  Hannah is making soup.
She later told me it was “Red Soup”
when I asked her what kind it was.

Paul made several batches of tea that
he served to Hannah in this green bucket.

Being bored at home just does not happen around here.  Sometimes I may not want to do my work, but there’s no reason for boredom!  And, I just love being at home.  I am so glad that home is a place were I can relax, enjoy being, have fun, be content, and feel at home.  I think it would be a terrible thing if the only time I was happy and enjoying myself was when I was away from home.  I thank the Lord I have the privilege of being at home as much as I am. (I also thank Andrew!  If he didn’t take his role as bread-winner seriously, I may not have this blessing of staying at home a lot of the time.)

You might think I was referring to my own household some of the time, but this time it’s actually the National Zoo in Washington D.C.  We had decided to take our kids there sometime before our new baby was born, and then when Andrew’s sister, Wendy, was coming in from NM, we decided to go there with some of Andrew’s family while she was east.  The big day was today.  (And we just got home and we’re all still alive!)

Paul & Hannah were just awestruck
with the first animals we saw,
the elephants.

We borrowed this great wagon from
my sister Gail to haul water, munchies,
and kids in.

Wendy bought a map of the zoo, and we used that
thing to get to where the exhibits of most interest
to our kids were.

They had a giant pizza “playground”
under a tent (it was foam) and it may
have been the thing that was most
fun for our kids!

Hannah wore her new dress!

The weather was perfect, non-humid, nice breeze a lot of the time, didn’t rain, and I rarely got hot.  We were a troupe of 8, Andrew’s mom and sister, our family, and two of our nephews who rode up with us.  We went up last night, spent the night with Andrew’s parents in NOVA (who are in the process of moving, but were gracious enough to put us up anyway), and lit out for the zoo at 7:30 this a.m.

We left the zoo around 3:0o p.m., and after a very eventful trip, finally got back to Weyers Cave at 7:30 p.m.  By the time we dropped off the nephews and returned the wagon to Gail (which we hauled on top of our van), and got home, it was 9:00 p.m.

We had lots of fun and a great day.  There are three things we would change if we could do it over again:

1. Invite my other nephew Bobby and take him along too.

2. Remember to bring the maps!!  I left them all at home beside the computer.  We navigated by sniff and by whiff (mainly) and only had to turn around once.

3.  Remember not to feed my one nephew French fries.  He has digestive issues with potatoes, and we had lots of stomach issues and clothes changes and rest stops all the way home.  (That’s why it took 4.5 hours to get home from the zoo.)

Aside from all that, we had a terrific time, and lots of the animals were outside doing interesting things where we could see them.

Note:  I didn’t take many pictures because I was busy with little people most of the time.  Wendy took lots of pictures, and I hope to get some from her.