I recently played a game that was intended to show that we are all responsible for our own happiness. I agree 100% that in most cases, happiness is a choice. In almost every case, I am the one who decides to enter a situation with a good or a bad attitude. For example, I don't want to go to Back to School Night at Kaylin's school tonight. I would much rather go to the herpetology meeting at Forest Park Nature Center. I've been to plenty of Back to School Nights and I know they are long, boring, hot, crowded, etc. I will not walk into Kaylin's school excited and thrilled to be there. Perhaps that's a bad attitude in itself, but c'mon, everyone has obligations they'd prefer to skip. What I CAN control is whether I will go in with patience and a sense of humor and walk out relieved it's over for another year or walk in impatient and angry and leave with my blood pressure through the roof and freaking out about the two hours I'll never get back. If I choose to make the best of an undesirable situation, I'll come home and laugh to Kaylin about how fun Mrs. Smith is and about how crazy Mrs. Jones is. I'll have a bit of insight about her teachers and will be able to better relate to Kaylin's school experience. If I choose to make the worst of it, I'll come home furious and scream at the kids to go to bed and fight with Gene over leaving a towel on the floor (which he would never actually do, but it was the only minor thing I could come up with...)
I think that overall, I have been happy in life. I have a great husband and two wonderful kids. I have a job I love. I get a huge amount of enjoyment from my pets. I have hobbies that I find fulfilling and fun. I have a crappy house, but it's in a great neighborhood and has a big yard. My car is nothing special, but it runs well. If I suddenly came into millions of dollars, I'd be most excited about using the money to travel. I still wouldn't care that much about having a better house or car. I love to laugh and find humor in most situations. I have worked hard for what I have and am satisfied.
However... In the past few years I've had major problems with my feet. I've had months at a time where I was in so much pain it was all I could do to make it through work. By the time I got home I just had to sit. I felt terrible about myself because I hurt too much to ride bikes or play catch with the kids. I was terrified that I'd have to leave the job I love. I was depressed because I could no longer exercise and I started eating poorly and gained a lot of weight. I struggled to come up with something else I could do with my life, but stubbornly clung to zoo keeping as the only job that could possibly make me happy. BUT, how much longer could I do it? I mean, let's get real, I was pushing 40! I better switch careers NOW, before I'm too old and no one will hire me! I'm stuck here with no opportunity for advancement in the career I love- I need to find something else YESTERDAY! But there's nothing else I want to do! I was spiraling out of control.
My wake-up call came in a strange way. My friend Meghan and I were visiting a former coworker in Florida and hiking at a nature preserve. We had seen all kinds of amazing birds and I said "If I lived here, I'd go birding every weekend." Meghan looked at me and said "Pffff. No you wouldn't." I think she then went on about how she'd lived lots of places and she basically spent her time off in the same way wherever she lived. That was it. I realized that I lived 20-30 miles away from some major bird hot spots and I had never been to ANY of them! And the beauty of birding? I CAN do it from my car! I mean, it's great to hike deep into the woods, but I've had some excellent birding adventures with a walking cast and even with crutches. If my feet are good I can hike, if they're bad I can bird from my car or my window at home. If I can't get out this weekend, I can read about what's out there and plan for next weekend.
Birding started my attitude adjustment. I realized that being "stuck" in Peoria wasn't such a bad thing. I have great birding areas close enough to home that I can get out there any time I have a few free hours. I can always travel to see other birds. Birding calmed me down enough to realize that maybe I should fight for my job rather than giving up just because it might be easier to change careers at age 40 than at age 50. I realized that very few people have jobs they even like, much less love as much as I love zoo keeping. I decided to stick it out until I physically can't do it anymore and THEN figure out what to do next. It took me a long time, but I finally requested a change from my "string" working in the new Africa area back to my former area that included much less work on concrete. It was a tough decision because getting the Africa string was a huge privilege, I loved the animals and it was hard to give up. However, switching not only helped my feet immensely, I also got to work with my beloved camel during her final months. I got to help with tiger introductions, get our new male tiger to FINALLY go out into the yard (tigers are insanely neurotic) and then work every day with tiger cubs, which has been my favorite thing I've ever done at the zoo. At the same time I switched strings, I also went to physical therapy and learned some amazing techniques to keep myself in less pain. Overall, things were looking up.
August was a major setback in my attitude. It was an extremely busy month at work with opening a new area and adding a lot of responsibility to my string. We were short staffed and I was going crazy trying to keep up with the extra work. The frustration and exertion got to me. My feet were flaring and the pain was adding to my despair. The tiger cubs were the only thing that really kept me going. I don't think that August as a whole was a situation where I could simply choose happiness. I don't think every situation has an easy choice. I think that sometimes you have a crisis period that you just have to claw through and then, AFTER the crisis has passed you make the choice to make the best or worst of it. I work at a zoo and I truly believe it is the best job in the world. I love working with animals and even on my worst day something with the animals themselves absolutely thrills me and warms my heart. Feeling overworked, exhausted and in pain IS stressful! We all have a crisis period now and then.
It's now September. Things have calmed down and routine has been established. My choice now is to think back on August and laugh, be glad it's over and move on- or I can stay angry and bitter about "what I was put through." I choose to laugh and move on. Every aspect of my job will never be perfect. My coworkers and I will never have the exact same, fair amount of work as each other and will never work at the same pace and do everything in the exact fashion that makes each other perfectly happy. My bosses will never make "pleasing Susy" one of their top priorities (nor should they, but it would be pretty awesome!) Even working the Best Job in the World will have occasional setbacks and crises. I may not be able to choose happiness every second, but I CAN AND WILL choose happiness overall.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Catch-up
Once again, I can't believe how long it's been since I last posted! Work has been crazy the past couple of weeks with moving animals and opening the new Aussie area. Home has been crazy getting the kids ready for back to school. Aussie's open and school's back in session. No more excuses...
We took a "weekend" trip to St. Louis last Thursday and Friday to celebrate the end of summer vacation. The kids both wanted to go to City Museum and I wanted to go to the zoo. City Museum was a blast as always. I can never believe how amazing that place is! Kaylin and I went to the roof for the first time and while it was fun, I doubt I'd ever pay extra to go up there again. I got up close to the giant praying mantis statue, but otherwise it was more of the same stuff you can do everywhere else in the museum. Logan still hates elevators so he and Gene skipped the roof. The kids played everywhere, but this time their favorite area seemed to be the skateless park. They ran up and down the ramps and around the bowls so many times I'm surprised they didn't just collapse on the floor from exhaustion!
We left City Museum just before 5pm, so I thought maybe we could stop at Union Station to kill a little time and avoid some traffic before heading to our hotel. Wow. The recession has killed that place! I remember when I was a kid and every store was full and that was the most fun mall on earth! It's down to a few t-shirt shops and a food court. Man, it was lame! We were there a few years ago and while the mall was obviously dying, they still had some fun stores (toy, candy, dog breeds, etc.) and some fun activities. This time the thrill of our trip was a booth you got inside to experience hurricane force winds. It was actually really fun and totally worth the two bucks. We had eaten a late lunch so nobody was hungry. I imagine we spent maybe 15 minutes in the mall and 10 minutes feeding koi in the pond outside. It's sad that such a cool place with so much potential could just basically go out of business.
We left downtown and found a hotel close to the zoo. We ate at Steak 'n Shake and the kids went swimming. Friday morning we headed out to the zoo. Logan asked if the zoo was as big as Omaha's zoo? I told him I thought it was probably bigger. He looked at me in complete disbelief and said "Yeah, I doubt it." I laughed. We toured around the zoo and saw a lion way up in a tree, baby takin, camels and a newborn colobus monkey, hyenas fighting over bones and the beautiful, new sea lion exhibit. We pet stingrays and rode the train and carousel and even went on some 3-D motion ride that ended up being really fun. Our favorite animal encounter was in the bird house. I was talking to and playing around with a hyacinth macaw. It started reacting to me and pulled the piano wire in front of the enclosure apart, stuck almost its entire body out of the exhibit and chattered nonstop before tucking itself back inside and riding down the wire like some James Bond stunt. That bird was hilarious! I wonder if the keepers find it roaming around the building every morning? We had a great time at the zoo and Logan admitted it was fun and we should do it again sometime. I was pretty surprised because I feel like I've been to the St. Louis Zoo a zillion times and was shocked he didn't remember it. Then I realized I've been there several times with coworkers and haven't taken the kids in years. Definitely long enough that he wouldn't remember!
We headed home Friday night so I could attend a birding field trip I had signed up for on Saturday. It was my usual "south loop" of the Illinois River Road Scenic Byway, but with bird experts. We hit Spring Lake, Lake Chautauqua and Emiquon. We saw all 5 swallow species found in the area, a great horned owl, lots of black-necked stilts and a whole bunch of sandpipers and herons I was glad to have the experts identify. I added at least 5 birds to my year list and ended up seeing 54 different species. The group as a whole spotted 68, but that counted everything everyone saw from different cars and in different areas. I thought it was funny that I didn't even see one robin the entire day! Usually they're everywhere. It was a fun day!
The kids spent Saturday with my parents. I know they went fishing and possibly swimming in the lake, but I was fast asleep when they got home and didn't get all the details. I do know that Logan caught a small fish that was then grabbed by a water snake that refused to give up the fish so he had to pull the snake out of the water. How cool! Gene had a relaxing day to himself.
Monday was the kids' first day of school. It was kind of weird this year because they want everyone to pay fees online so there was no "fee day" where you pay and get schedules, fill out paperwork and get all the information for the first days of school. We went Sunday night and checked the class lists posted on the doors at the schools, but otherwise I had no details other than school times. We didn't even get bus schedules! Last night I got a mountain of paperwork. I did all of Kaylin's first, with all of the emergency cards and permission slips for this and that and all of the teacher contracts. I moved on to Logan's and at the end of a large packet of reading material found a parent quiz. I had a long, hard day at work and was already sick of filling out paperwork- now I'm expected to go through a long series of fill in the blanks about my child's personality and learning style? Pul-ease! I've already been through a year of this teacher and I KNOW she's not at all into digging deep to learn each individual's learning style or even their personality! Save a tree and don't print this crap!
We took a "weekend" trip to St. Louis last Thursday and Friday to celebrate the end of summer vacation. The kids both wanted to go to City Museum and I wanted to go to the zoo. City Museum was a blast as always. I can never believe how amazing that place is! Kaylin and I went to the roof for the first time and while it was fun, I doubt I'd ever pay extra to go up there again. I got up close to the giant praying mantis statue, but otherwise it was more of the same stuff you can do everywhere else in the museum. Logan still hates elevators so he and Gene skipped the roof. The kids played everywhere, but this time their favorite area seemed to be the skateless park. They ran up and down the ramps and around the bowls so many times I'm surprised they didn't just collapse on the floor from exhaustion!
We left City Museum just before 5pm, so I thought maybe we could stop at Union Station to kill a little time and avoid some traffic before heading to our hotel. Wow. The recession has killed that place! I remember when I was a kid and every store was full and that was the most fun mall on earth! It's down to a few t-shirt shops and a food court. Man, it was lame! We were there a few years ago and while the mall was obviously dying, they still had some fun stores (toy, candy, dog breeds, etc.) and some fun activities. This time the thrill of our trip was a booth you got inside to experience hurricane force winds. It was actually really fun and totally worth the two bucks. We had eaten a late lunch so nobody was hungry. I imagine we spent maybe 15 minutes in the mall and 10 minutes feeding koi in the pond outside. It's sad that such a cool place with so much potential could just basically go out of business.
We left downtown and found a hotel close to the zoo. We ate at Steak 'n Shake and the kids went swimming. Friday morning we headed out to the zoo. Logan asked if the zoo was as big as Omaha's zoo? I told him I thought it was probably bigger. He looked at me in complete disbelief and said "Yeah, I doubt it." I laughed. We toured around the zoo and saw a lion way up in a tree, baby takin, camels and a newborn colobus monkey, hyenas fighting over bones and the beautiful, new sea lion exhibit. We pet stingrays and rode the train and carousel and even went on some 3-D motion ride that ended up being really fun. Our favorite animal encounter was in the bird house. I was talking to and playing around with a hyacinth macaw. It started reacting to me and pulled the piano wire in front of the enclosure apart, stuck almost its entire body out of the exhibit and chattered nonstop before tucking itself back inside and riding down the wire like some James Bond stunt. That bird was hilarious! I wonder if the keepers find it roaming around the building every morning? We had a great time at the zoo and Logan admitted it was fun and we should do it again sometime. I was pretty surprised because I feel like I've been to the St. Louis Zoo a zillion times and was shocked he didn't remember it. Then I realized I've been there several times with coworkers and haven't taken the kids in years. Definitely long enough that he wouldn't remember!
We headed home Friday night so I could attend a birding field trip I had signed up for on Saturday. It was my usual "south loop" of the Illinois River Road Scenic Byway, but with bird experts. We hit Spring Lake, Lake Chautauqua and Emiquon. We saw all 5 swallow species found in the area, a great horned owl, lots of black-necked stilts and a whole bunch of sandpipers and herons I was glad to have the experts identify. I added at least 5 birds to my year list and ended up seeing 54 different species. The group as a whole spotted 68, but that counted everything everyone saw from different cars and in different areas. I thought it was funny that I didn't even see one robin the entire day! Usually they're everywhere. It was a fun day!
The kids spent Saturday with my parents. I know they went fishing and possibly swimming in the lake, but I was fast asleep when they got home and didn't get all the details. I do know that Logan caught a small fish that was then grabbed by a water snake that refused to give up the fish so he had to pull the snake out of the water. How cool! Gene had a relaxing day to himself.
Monday was the kids' first day of school. It was kind of weird this year because they want everyone to pay fees online so there was no "fee day" where you pay and get schedules, fill out paperwork and get all the information for the first days of school. We went Sunday night and checked the class lists posted on the doors at the schools, but otherwise I had no details other than school times. We didn't even get bus schedules! Last night I got a mountain of paperwork. I did all of Kaylin's first, with all of the emergency cards and permission slips for this and that and all of the teacher contracts. I moved on to Logan's and at the end of a large packet of reading material found a parent quiz. I had a long, hard day at work and was already sick of filling out paperwork- now I'm expected to go through a long series of fill in the blanks about my child's personality and learning style? Pul-ease! I've already been through a year of this teacher and I KNOW she's not at all into digging deep to learn each individual's learning style or even their personality! Save a tree and don't print this crap!
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Work
Bowling for Rhinos went fairly well. We had hoped for more bowlers, but we still had 30-some. It was a weird day weather-wise with our first strong storms in ages, so I think that kept away some of the people who were driving from a distance. We made decent money at our raffle table, got good overall donations and will eventually send in more money than last year. Improvement is good. The other fundraiser I'm working on, the Vote for Your Favorite Animal contest, is going really well! We started in April with four popular zoo animals each month and visitors putting money in a donation box with the animal raising the most money moving on to the Final Four. We've averaged just over $100 each month which is twice as much as I expected. I figured the donations would be mostly coins, but they are mostly dollar bills! This month I put up signs at each of the Final Four's enclosures. (The Final Four are Arthur the lion, Vaska the tiger, George the Aldabra tortoise and Silver the horse.) I changed over the animals on July 29th (3 days early due to Bowling for Rhinos preparations) and in 11 days we've collected more than $130! I usually empty the money once a week, but between last Thursday and this Tuesday the collection tubes were so crammed full I had to empty them early. I don't know if our August visitors have been more generous, if people are more excited about the Final Four, if the signs (EVERYBODY knows visitors don't read signs!!) actually are helping, or what?! We even had a lot of donations on free day this week! I can't tell you how many free days we've had that thousands of people attended and not one dollar was added to our donation box.
I've been keeping busy at work preparing for the opening of our new Australia area. We moved all the animals to their new enclosures this week. Well, except the 250 budgies that can't be moved until Friday... The emus are loving their new area, the swans are still a bit nervous and the wallaby hasn't actually been inside the yard yet. I'm guessing he will love the yard and that it will be a MAJOR challenge to get him to come inside at night. The area itself is really nice and I'm looking forward to everything being in place and it being open to the public. The tiger cubs are still doing well and are learning to walk much better. It's getting harder and harder to shift the mama tiger without cubs following her. They are still too little to be scampering around out in the yard, but they're starting to really play with each other and are getting stronger every day. I'm sure they will be ready in the next few weeks or so. I can't wait! I want EVERYONE in the entire world to see these adorable cubs!
The kids are in their final two days of Camp Zone. They get a weekly schedule that I pin to the bulletin board in the kitchen. Kaylin was looking through past weeks and was disgusted that the theme weeks have barely changed in the 7 years she's attended this camp. She was REALLY disgusted at the theme "Wayback Machine" because that doesn't even make sense! Bu-but, Mr. Peabody and Sherman? Y'know, Bullwinkle? No. Kaylin didn't know. And she looked at me like I grew another head. And when I explained it to her she thought it was even more stupid because kids her age have never watched Ballthingy. Bullwinkle! Whatever... Kaylin took it upon herself to make new or at least revamped theme weeks. She even filled out schedules with new ideas. The counsellors thought her "book" was hilarious and called their boss to come see it. Mr. Steve has always loved Kaylin and every time I run into him at the park district offices, he talks about her latest scheme. He REALLY loved The Book. He went on and on about how he's going to use some of her ideas next year and laughed at how Kaylin told him how she'll change things when she has Mr. Jimmy's head counsellor job. It cracks me up that her biggest career goal is to be a counsellor at a summer day camp where the current counsellors are either college students or young teachers struggling to find their first full time job and needing to make a buck during their off-season.
Logan is coming down with the traditional right-before-school-starts cold. Last year Kaylin was sick the entire week before school started, missed the entire week of Riverplex Camp and I was worried she'd miss the first day(s) of school. I don't remember exactly what she had, but it involved never-ending fever and antibiotics. I hope Logan's cold is just a cold and that the rest of us don't get it and especially that it doesn't develop into something worse!
I've been keeping busy at work preparing for the opening of our new Australia area. We moved all the animals to their new enclosures this week. Well, except the 250 budgies that can't be moved until Friday... The emus are loving their new area, the swans are still a bit nervous and the wallaby hasn't actually been inside the yard yet. I'm guessing he will love the yard and that it will be a MAJOR challenge to get him to come inside at night. The area itself is really nice and I'm looking forward to everything being in place and it being open to the public. The tiger cubs are still doing well and are learning to walk much better. It's getting harder and harder to shift the mama tiger without cubs following her. They are still too little to be scampering around out in the yard, but they're starting to really play with each other and are getting stronger every day. I'm sure they will be ready in the next few weeks or so. I can't wait! I want EVERYONE in the entire world to see these adorable cubs!
The kids are in their final two days of Camp Zone. They get a weekly schedule that I pin to the bulletin board in the kitchen. Kaylin was looking through past weeks and was disgusted that the theme weeks have barely changed in the 7 years she's attended this camp. She was REALLY disgusted at the theme "Wayback Machine" because that doesn't even make sense! Bu-but, Mr. Peabody and Sherman? Y'know, Bullwinkle? No. Kaylin didn't know. And she looked at me like I grew another head. And when I explained it to her she thought it was even more stupid because kids her age have never watched Ballthingy. Bullwinkle! Whatever... Kaylin took it upon herself to make new or at least revamped theme weeks. She even filled out schedules with new ideas. The counsellors thought her "book" was hilarious and called their boss to come see it. Mr. Steve has always loved Kaylin and every time I run into him at the park district offices, he talks about her latest scheme. He REALLY loved The Book. He went on and on about how he's going to use some of her ideas next year and laughed at how Kaylin told him how she'll change things when she has Mr. Jimmy's head counsellor job. It cracks me up that her biggest career goal is to be a counsellor at a summer day camp where the current counsellors are either college students or young teachers struggling to find their first full time job and needing to make a buck during their off-season.
Logan is coming down with the traditional right-before-school-starts cold. Last year Kaylin was sick the entire week before school started, missed the entire week of Riverplex Camp and I was worried she'd miss the first day(s) of school. I don't remember exactly what she had, but it involved never-ending fever and antibiotics. I hope Logan's cold is just a cold and that the rest of us don't get it and especially that it doesn't develop into something worse!
Friday, August 3, 2012
August? Already?
I've been a major blog slacker the past few weeks. At work I'm busy with the tiger cubs and getting ready for the new walk-through Australia exhibit to open in less than 2 weeks. Work-related, I've been spending most of my spare time on AAZK stuff- our Bowling for Rhinos event is tomorrow night and we're also in our final month of our "Vote for Your Favorite Animal" fundraiser. I'm not allowed to do any AAZK work during regular work hours, so I've been going in early and/or staying late to accomplish the things that can only be done on site. It's all stuff that's well worth the time and effort, just nothing anyone would care to hear about in detail. I will be very relieved to have Bowling for Rhinos over and out of the way :) Hopefully it will be successful and we'll make lots of money. I can't help fearing that only 5 people will show up to bowl...
I've been shocked at the generous Bowling for Rhinos donations! Many have been completely unexpected and unsolicited. One of the gift shop workers donated a really cool zebra "tie blanket" she made, as well as a rhino plush and an afghan her sister crocheted. I had been talking to the Lodge workers (zoo restaurant) hoping a couple of them might show up to bowl and one of them donated two movie-themed baskets full of candy, popcorn seasoning and movie passes. They are beautiful! I would love to win ALL of this stuff! I asked my boss to donate a behind the scenes tour, hoping for something like "This is where the rhinos and giraffes live at night. Have a nice rest of your zoo visit." She instead donated a personally guided 90 MINUTE tour! Awesome! Other coworkers are bringing in stuff and making stuff. We should have a really nice set-up!
Outside of work, we're keeping busy with back to school preparations. The kids' final week of Camp Zone is next week. That flew by! As usual, Kaylin and I are having a blast shopping for school supplies and Logan couldn't care less. We stopped at Office Depot last weekend and while Kaylin was carefully choosing the color of her 25 cent protractor, I noticed a bin full of utilitarian pencil cases in a rainbow of colors. I asked Logan if he liked them and he stopped his bored twirling for a half-second's glance and said "Fine." I asked if he wanted a different color than the one I picked up and he replied "NO! Now stop asking questions!" Sigh. He really doesn't care At. All. HOW can one not get excited about a new pink eraser or a perfect box of sharp new crayons?! Kaylin was a little annoyed that I bought packs of loose-leaf paper during a solo Wal-Mart run! She's spending tons of time personalizing each notebook, folder and binder. The nicest thing I could do for Logan would be to buy every item on his list, put his name on it and have it conveniently in his (years old) backpack ready by the front door on the first day of school. I totally understand not enjoying shopping for socks or bread, but school supplies?
Well, I'm gonna drop the kids off at camp and head out birding for a couple of hours before spending the rest of my day cleaning the house and doing some last minute Bowling for Rhinos stuff. It should be an exciting weekend.
I've been shocked at the generous Bowling for Rhinos donations! Many have been completely unexpected and unsolicited. One of the gift shop workers donated a really cool zebra "tie blanket" she made, as well as a rhino plush and an afghan her sister crocheted. I had been talking to the Lodge workers (zoo restaurant) hoping a couple of them might show up to bowl and one of them donated two movie-themed baskets full of candy, popcorn seasoning and movie passes. They are beautiful! I would love to win ALL of this stuff! I asked my boss to donate a behind the scenes tour, hoping for something like "This is where the rhinos and giraffes live at night. Have a nice rest of your zoo visit." She instead donated a personally guided 90 MINUTE tour! Awesome! Other coworkers are bringing in stuff and making stuff. We should have a really nice set-up!
Outside of work, we're keeping busy with back to school preparations. The kids' final week of Camp Zone is next week. That flew by! As usual, Kaylin and I are having a blast shopping for school supplies and Logan couldn't care less. We stopped at Office Depot last weekend and while Kaylin was carefully choosing the color of her 25 cent protractor, I noticed a bin full of utilitarian pencil cases in a rainbow of colors. I asked Logan if he liked them and he stopped his bored twirling for a half-second's glance and said "Fine." I asked if he wanted a different color than the one I picked up and he replied "NO! Now stop asking questions!" Sigh. He really doesn't care At. All. HOW can one not get excited about a new pink eraser or a perfect box of sharp new crayons?! Kaylin was a little annoyed that I bought packs of loose-leaf paper during a solo Wal-Mart run! She's spending tons of time personalizing each notebook, folder and binder. The nicest thing I could do for Logan would be to buy every item on his list, put his name on it and have it conveniently in his (years old) backpack ready by the front door on the first day of school. I totally understand not enjoying shopping for socks or bread, but school supplies?
Well, I'm gonna drop the kids off at camp and head out birding for a couple of hours before spending the rest of my day cleaning the house and doing some last minute Bowling for Rhinos stuff. It should be an exciting weekend.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Tiger Cubs!
I am sooooooooooo excited to finally be able to announce that we have 4 tiger cubs at the zoo! They were born June 24th, so are just a month old. First-time big cat moms are notorious for being bad mothers so we wanted to make sure everything was fine before a public announcement was made. Fortunately, Kyra has been an excellent mom and the cubs appear to be doing well. I am extremely lucky and get to work with the tigers every day. I've watched the cubs go from blind and completely helpless, to opening their eyes at 2 weeks old, to scooting around on their bellies, to now starting to push up and actually walk on their legs. It's been a very exciting month. It will probably be several more weeks before the cubs are steady and sturdy enough to go outside on exhibit.
Friday, July 20, 2012
Birding with Scout
I have about 7 million things to do to prepare for Bowling for Rhinos in two weeks, but the much cooler temperatures today pretty much forced me to procrastinate and go birding. With Scout.
Kaylin went to a 2 day Farm Camp with her friend Zoe on Thursday and Friday. Today was milking day and the kids had to arrive at 6am. Waking Kaylin at 5am was no treat, but she dragged herself out of bed and was ready when her ride arrived. I was up and dressed and raring to go by the time I took Logan to Camp Zone at 7:15. I thought that Scout would love to come along and would enjoy the ride. I guess I also thought I had done a similar trip with him before, but I don't think that actually ever happened. Scout whined the entire drive to Banner Marsh. I felt like tossing him out of the car. He got much happier when we got out of the car and started walking around. Scout did eventually calm down and sleep during the drives and I changed my mind from NEVER AGAIN to next time. We were gone 9 hours and other than the first one, he did great.
Today was egret day. I saw hundreds or possibly even thousands of great egrets, cattle egrets and snowy egrets. They were EVERYWHERE at Banner Marsh and Emiquon. I also saw lots of terns, an adorable young killdeer and my first of year bobolink. Barn and tree swallows were thick. I was impressed at the surviving numbers of mute swan cygnets this year. I bet I saw three times as many as last year. I was hoping to see a nice variety of sandpipers, but I saw one greater yellowlegs at Banner and that was it. I was still thrilled with the variety of birds at Banner and Emiquon. I then moved on to Chautauqua. Lake Chautauqua was completely drained. The North Pond had water, but practically no birds other than huge numbers of swallows and a small group of great egrets. Whoop. Chautauqua always seems to be a jackpot of birds or a huge disappointment- I don't think I've ever had a nice, mediocre visit. I drove through Sand Ridge and was thrilled to FINALLY get my first of year ring-necked pheasant. I saw it about a second after I pulled into the park and I don't recall seeing one other bird. I moved on to Spring Lake to find hundreds of swallows and dozens of great blue herons and little else. I wonder why one side of the river was teaming with birds and the other was dead? I think I saw around 45 species and added at least three to my year list. The second half was a bit disappointing, but it was a good trip.
It was too late to drive Scout home before picking Kaylin up from Farm Camp, so I took him with me. He was overwhelmed by all the smells and animals. The ducks kept stalking him, the sheep were afraid of him, the resident dalmatian wasn't thrilled with him, the cows were interested and followed him and the pigs liked him. I was too scared to take him near the ponies, but I did get a glimpse of the adorable, tiny foal. Kaylin had a blast! She milked cows, led lambs around, gathered eggs, worked with the ponies, made butter and cheese, played in a corn crib and helped feed and care for all the animals. She said it took 2 1/2 hours to milk the 90 cows and they have to do it twice daily. Wow! I can't imagine spending 5 hours a day, 365 days a year milking cows! And then caring for several horses, chickens, ducks, pigs, cats, a dog and a LOT of sheep on top of it. And I don't even know how many acres of crops they have! That would be a busy life! This year's camp was a Kaylin/Zoe thing, but I think Logan would love it and I hope to send him next year.
We left Farm Camp and went to pick Logan up at Camp Zone. Scout got out with me when I went to sign Logan out, but he was so tired he barely reacted when the kids swarmed around to pet him. He crashed when we got home and I assumed that after our big day he'd be out the rest of the night. Nope. He's playing neverending fetch with Gene as I type :)
Kaylin went to a 2 day Farm Camp with her friend Zoe on Thursday and Friday. Today was milking day and the kids had to arrive at 6am. Waking Kaylin at 5am was no treat, but she dragged herself out of bed and was ready when her ride arrived. I was up and dressed and raring to go by the time I took Logan to Camp Zone at 7:15. I thought that Scout would love to come along and would enjoy the ride. I guess I also thought I had done a similar trip with him before, but I don't think that actually ever happened. Scout whined the entire drive to Banner Marsh. I felt like tossing him out of the car. He got much happier when we got out of the car and started walking around. Scout did eventually calm down and sleep during the drives and I changed my mind from NEVER AGAIN to next time. We were gone 9 hours and other than the first one, he did great.
Today was egret day. I saw hundreds or possibly even thousands of great egrets, cattle egrets and snowy egrets. They were EVERYWHERE at Banner Marsh and Emiquon. I also saw lots of terns, an adorable young killdeer and my first of year bobolink. Barn and tree swallows were thick. I was impressed at the surviving numbers of mute swan cygnets this year. I bet I saw three times as many as last year. I was hoping to see a nice variety of sandpipers, but I saw one greater yellowlegs at Banner and that was it. I was still thrilled with the variety of birds at Banner and Emiquon. I then moved on to Chautauqua. Lake Chautauqua was completely drained. The North Pond had water, but practically no birds other than huge numbers of swallows and a small group of great egrets. Whoop. Chautauqua always seems to be a jackpot of birds or a huge disappointment- I don't think I've ever had a nice, mediocre visit. I drove through Sand Ridge and was thrilled to FINALLY get my first of year ring-necked pheasant. I saw it about a second after I pulled into the park and I don't recall seeing one other bird. I moved on to Spring Lake to find hundreds of swallows and dozens of great blue herons and little else. I wonder why one side of the river was teaming with birds and the other was dead? I think I saw around 45 species and added at least three to my year list. The second half was a bit disappointing, but it was a good trip.
It was too late to drive Scout home before picking Kaylin up from Farm Camp, so I took him with me. He was overwhelmed by all the smells and animals. The ducks kept stalking him, the sheep were afraid of him, the resident dalmatian wasn't thrilled with him, the cows were interested and followed him and the pigs liked him. I was too scared to take him near the ponies, but I did get a glimpse of the adorable, tiny foal. Kaylin had a blast! She milked cows, led lambs around, gathered eggs, worked with the ponies, made butter and cheese, played in a corn crib and helped feed and care for all the animals. She said it took 2 1/2 hours to milk the 90 cows and they have to do it twice daily. Wow! I can't imagine spending 5 hours a day, 365 days a year milking cows! And then caring for several horses, chickens, ducks, pigs, cats, a dog and a LOT of sheep on top of it. And I don't even know how many acres of crops they have! That would be a busy life! This year's camp was a Kaylin/Zoe thing, but I think Logan would love it and I hope to send him next year.
We left Farm Camp and went to pick Logan up at Camp Zone. Scout got out with me when I went to sign Logan out, but he was so tired he barely reacted when the kids swarmed around to pet him. He crashed when we got home and I assumed that after our big day he'd be out the rest of the night. Nope. He's playing neverending fetch with Gene as I type :)
Friday, July 6, 2012
Vacation Wrap-Up
My big idea was instead of driving an 11 hour marathon and getting home Wednesday night, driving 7 hours to Wisconsin Dells and spending the night at Great Wolf Lodge. Everyone was fully on board. We were in the Dells last year for the 4th and LOVED being in the middle of several fireworks shows put on by all the big resorts. We had hoped to repeat that experience, but alas, fireworks were banned this year due to the dry conditions and risk of forest fire. So THAT's why we were able to book a room! Oh, well.
We made it to the water park by 4:30. I took the kids and swam while Gene napped and got our room set up. He brought us a pizza around 7:30 and then stayed with the kids. I left the water park at 8:15 with the plan to shower and relax a bit before the water park closed at 9. We were then going to go to the arcade and to a light parade the Lodge was having in place of fireworks. Well, I got out of the shower and instead of playing around on my computer, was so tired I went to bed and fell asleep. I don't know where the kids found their energy, but they did close the water park, go to the light parade and still play at the arcade before bed. I don't know what time they got back to the room because I was completely zonked out.
Thursday morning I had considered driving up to Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, but I was so tired and so tired of driving it didn't make sense to drive an hour each way to stay for an hour. If I hadn't just been there two weeks ago, I might have felt differently, but this time it just wasn't worth it. We hit the breakfast buffet, went to the arcade for a bit and then the kids swam from 9:30 to 11. They were both VERY sad to leave, but Kaylin wanted to go to the Disney Store at the outlet mall next door and Logan wanted to go to the Cheese Store. I wanted to be on the road by noon so we could be home in time to pick up the pets from boarding. It was weird and kind of sad to be in Wisconsin Dells for such a short time. We agreed to try to go back for a 3 day weekend sometime before school starts.
We stopped at Fuddrucker's in Janesville for lunch and made it home with plenty of time to pick up the pets. Scout came snooping out, not paying attention as usual, and when he finally looked up and saw us was incredibly excited and leaping on me to be picked up. As usual, his little peanut brain got over the trauma of being boarded in about one second and he's happy to be home with the family. The cats were happy to be home and back together (they are boarded in separate kennels.) They were really cute, laying together all evening. I think we'll use the rest of our weekend before returning to work/camp to catch up on sleep and just rest.
Overall, the vacation was fun and we all enjoyed it. The excessive heat put a damper on things and really reduced the time we spent in the Black Hills. The kids considered Badlands National Park a giant playground and would love to go back, but weren't that thrilled with Mt. Rushmore or anything in or around that area. I would have loved to have done many other things, but it was too hot to spend much time out of the car and too boring to spend so much time in the car. I doubt we'll ever repeat this trip, but I'm glad we did it once. I'm also glad I didn't have to work this hot, hot week!
We made it to the water park by 4:30. I took the kids and swam while Gene napped and got our room set up. He brought us a pizza around 7:30 and then stayed with the kids. I left the water park at 8:15 with the plan to shower and relax a bit before the water park closed at 9. We were then going to go to the arcade and to a light parade the Lodge was having in place of fireworks. Well, I got out of the shower and instead of playing around on my computer, was so tired I went to bed and fell asleep. I don't know where the kids found their energy, but they did close the water park, go to the light parade and still play at the arcade before bed. I don't know what time they got back to the room because I was completely zonked out.
Thursday morning I had considered driving up to Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, but I was so tired and so tired of driving it didn't make sense to drive an hour each way to stay for an hour. If I hadn't just been there two weeks ago, I might have felt differently, but this time it just wasn't worth it. We hit the breakfast buffet, went to the arcade for a bit and then the kids swam from 9:30 to 11. They were both VERY sad to leave, but Kaylin wanted to go to the Disney Store at the outlet mall next door and Logan wanted to go to the Cheese Store. I wanted to be on the road by noon so we could be home in time to pick up the pets from boarding. It was weird and kind of sad to be in Wisconsin Dells for such a short time. We agreed to try to go back for a 3 day weekend sometime before school starts.
We stopped at Fuddrucker's in Janesville for lunch and made it home with plenty of time to pick up the pets. Scout came snooping out, not paying attention as usual, and when he finally looked up and saw us was incredibly excited and leaping on me to be picked up. As usual, his little peanut brain got over the trauma of being boarded in about one second and he's happy to be home with the family. The cats were happy to be home and back together (they are boarded in separate kennels.) They were really cute, laying together all evening. I think we'll use the rest of our weekend before returning to work/camp to catch up on sleep and just rest.
Overall, the vacation was fun and we all enjoyed it. The excessive heat put a damper on things and really reduced the time we spent in the Black Hills. The kids considered Badlands National Park a giant playground and would love to go back, but weren't that thrilled with Mt. Rushmore or anything in or around that area. I would have loved to have done many other things, but it was too hot to spend much time out of the car and too boring to spend so much time in the car. I doubt we'll ever repeat this trip, but I'm glad we did it once. I'm also glad I didn't have to work this hot, hot week!
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