I mentioned our weekend at Waycross--we had a really great time. We were supposed to stay up at the retreat house at Hickory Hill, but we quickly discovered on Friday night that the heat wasn't working (the oil tanks were empty, which, I gathered, was the culprit). We moved all of our gear down to the conference center, which worked out better, anyway (not having to drive the hills with additional snow, private rooms/restrooms, closer to meals, etc.).
Saturday, most of the girls painted, the guys split firewood, and Adie and I spent our day helping out in the kitchen. We helped with dishes, scooped out massive amounts of the world's best cookie dough, wrapped silverware, cleaned, prepared food, etc. It was a long day on my feet, but it took me back to when I worked there and reminded me of how much I enjoyed it.
Sunday I joined the guys in splitting firewood which wasn't too bad, but later my arms/biceps were useless from lifting the logs. They did a lot more on Saturday (all day), and Kevin commented on how sore he was from that. The other girls painted offices and a bathroom, which I was glad to be able to skip--I have enough fun (not fun) painting my own house.
Jeff, Kevin, and Tony with the mighty splitter
It literally took an hour to get it to run, due to the cold weather and some pre-existing mechanical problems. They had a system they'd used on Saturday, which involved taking turns pulling the pull cord that starts it. It would run, then shut down. They'd give it a rest, fire it up, and it would die again. Eventually they got it running and we were able to make quick work of it. I think it only died twice, mid-split. :)
One day this week as I was making dinner, I heard Lewis say, 'Mama, close the door?':
Fine, if you won't help me, I'll do it myself. :)
He is wearing PJs in the middle of the day because he likes to nap in them now. This was post-nap, pre-dinner.
And, finally, the main subject of this post, our most recent class at the zoo! It was yesterday, when the a.m. temperature was supposed to be 7 degrees (and 'feels like' -9 degrees). If we hadn't already registered and paid back in December, I would have skipped it, but I figured we'd go ahead and would make an adventure out of it.
The theme was Warm Fuzzies, and it was about how animals protect themselves from the elements in wintertime (very timely subject matter).
What a lovely mess!
At first, he was afraid of getting a bit of shaving cream on his hands, but within a few minutes, oh boy! He was covered. Thankfully he had another shirt on under this one. :) There were animals hiding under the 'snow' (shaving cream), so he dug just about every one of them out and gave them baths and laid them out to dry off.
This was the bath tub he used to clean them (and himself). :)
The circle time went really well this time--typically he gets up and roams the room, but this time he actually sat still through most of it (he did roam towards the end but came back). I think it helped that the teacher gave him a stuffed bear to hold:
Petting an arctic fox pelt
They also had a red fox, polar bear, and beaver pelt for us to feel the differences in fur/hair texture.
Then it was time for the real, live animals to come out:
Petting the ferret, Lewis' favorite
The teacher had a tube for the ferret to crawl through, and Lewis thought it was just the funniest thing when she'd come popping out the other side.
:)
He got such a kick out of it. They also brought out a rabbit and a chinchilla for us to pet.
We attempted to make marshmallow snowmen, but my trusty helper (Lewis) kept eating the arms and body support (aka pretzel sticks). I had a hard time completing our work of art, but you get the point. He doesn't like marshmallows, so I ate those while he polished off the pretzels and chocolate chips. :)
Painting with Ice Cubes
He finished up with some art--they had ice cube painting (just food coloring-colored ice cubes on a popsicle stick) and glittery shaving cream painting, which I enjoyed.
Last stop, the penguins:
The pictures didn't capture them, but they were very active--jumping in, swimming back and forth along the glass, etc.
Typically they just sit up on the rocks when we're there, but the teachers said they were active because it was almost their meal time.
It was a good class, and it went more smoothly than any of the previous classes we've attended. I was also surprised to run into an old coworker there from when I worked at the forest. He now works at the zoo, so it was fun catching up.
We then set off on our own to visit the gorillas (Lewis' request). It was, of course, on the opposite side of the zoo, so we had a very cold walk over there. Lewis was a trooper--he really only groaned when the wind blew, which wasn't super often. He was in the stroller with the shade pulled down (and multiple layers of clothes on!), so I felt he was pretty well protected.
Checking out the Patas Monkeys
They're in the same building as the gorillas, but we've never seen them on display before. This particular one is a male named Mojo, and he apparently used to be a pet of Tony Stewart (the race car driver). Until, of course, he got big, wild, etc. and started biting people. Now he lives at the zoo with two girlfriends. :)
We spent about 45 minutes in the gorilla building again (because it's warm), and we got to see the zookeepers clean out and load up a room with vegetables. I've always wondered how they transfer the gorillas from room to room, so it was cool to see a door open with four large male gorillas bursting into the room to eat their lunches.
And finally, on the way out:
I looked about 10 feet in front of us to see a woodpecker pecking away on this tree. I'm not sure how many bugs he/she would find in this weather, but I wish him all the best on finding something to eat. :) Either here or at someone's bird feeder.
