Lions, Tigers & Bears... & Mimi!

Last week Greg and Papa were out of town all week so Mimi drove down for a visit. We had a great week of shopping, playing, eating at all our favorite Austin resturaunts and driving around looking at pretty houses just for fun. This first picture was taken on National Red Day. It really was, but we actually did not plan the outfits knowing that. Here is Wyatt with a busted lip. After about 5:00 in the evening the boys transform into little beasties (as my friend Christie would say). I guess that is nearing the time they are used to Greg getting home and playing with them- the dad way. Well, by the end of the day Mimi and I did not have the energy (or the flexibility, volume and strength) to involve the boys in intense physical activity. So they would just go wild every night and all we could do was try to keep up and prevent them from hurting themselves, the dogs or us. We survived- barely. Last Saturday Christie and Che invited us to go to the zoo. We had a blast. The Austin zoo is very small, but perfect for the kids to freely run around and there are so many animals they can really interact with. They even sell food you can feed many of them. The boys loved feeding the goats- well, Ben enjoyed watching Wyatt and Noah feed the goats, sheep, llama and deer. He was not keen on long tongues and llama slober. I don't blame him. Twice a goat snatched Noah's feed sack from him and ate it- bag and all. He fed the pigs some of Ben's banana that fell on the ground (and some that Che gave to him thinking he wanted a snack). Since most of the animals were rescued from neglect or abuse, they are a little... quirky. Like the llama with the severe underbite jutting out of his mouth, and the goat with only one twisted, knobby horn and the prematurely neutered lion with no mane. Ben and Wyatt really liked running around with the loosed chickens, roosters and peacocks. They got to hear first hand what rooster really sounds like. Wyatt made sure to point out every trash receptacle and anything that looked like one. Noah loved it all and got to ride the little zoo train. Afterwards we went to the Salt Lick for some ribs. They were so yummy I only left the bones for Wyatt to gnaw on. Not really, I gave him beans too, which he decided to wear from head to toe. By the end of the day, the boys were filthy, tired and perfectly content. I will try to get most of the good pictures Christie and I took posted on my Flickr as soon as I can.