A Day at the Zoo (take 2...)

It appears the Coleman family just can't get enough of our animal friends. For the second weekend in a row, we have spent time looking at animal exhibits. This trip was planned at the last minute and was a bit more hectic than our normal road trips. Chris was tired from a long week of work and (to get him out of the house), I proposed a trip to Louisville at 10:00 am on Saturday morning. He never turns me down as long as the Cheesecake Factory is one of the scheduled stops. We were on the road just before 11:00pm and made it to Louisville just in time for lunch (Yea!!). The plan was as follows: eat, shop, let Sarah nap, and go to the zoo.
Sarah's plan was as follows: go to the zoo, go to the zoo, go to the zoo. She was not a happy camper at the Cheesecake factory and she could have cared less about the mall, but our luck changed when a nice man gave Chris his police car buggy that he rented from the mall. Sarah had a blast "driving" around with Dad while Mom shopped.
Sarah took a great nap in the car (a little too great because we didn't get to the zoo until 3:20. Upon entering, we find out they close at 5:00pm (ugh!!!).

Between the nap and the rush, Sarah's hair, clothes, and photos look a little messy. I don't think she minded (but it drove me crazy!)

For those of you who are faithful viewers, I'm sure you expected this photo at some point in the post so...here it is. (Chris is saying that he is getting too old for this)

This is the part of the zoo we missed out on a couple of months ago. Sarah absolutely loved looking at the giant turtles!

This guy has had a rough day as well.

Sarah found her best friend "Oinker." We tell stories every night about a pig named Oinker. It is a nightly request of Sarah. She was so happy to see him here!

She wasn't quite as fond of the iguana but agreed to take the photo anyway.

We thought the bat was pretty cool (gross, but cool) .

Yes, this is a real alligator. We watched it for a while and it's eyes did move (but its mouth did not)

Sarah found a nice canoe to jump in. I am sure she was not supposed to do this, but we saw no sign and, you know what they say, ignorance is bliss!

This was the closest we could get to the jaguar.

For the second week running, Sarah got to see a bald eagle!

And here comes the highlight of the trip... the famous train. Except there was one problem... we are at the far end of the park, it is 4:20, and no one got off the train at this stop. Solution: we had to high tail it up the hill (with Sarah on Chris's back), and hope to catch the train at the entrance before it was too late.

Sarah tried to explain to us how we would be able to catch the next train that came into the train stop (it is a confusing story, but very cute).

We only stopped at one exhibit on our long trek up the hill (the Tigers)

Finally, at 4:46, we trudge up to the train stop just in time to catch the second to last train of the day. We were hot, sweaty, and exhausted, so the breeze was a welcome change of pace. I have to admit, I love the train as much as Sarah!

Can you feel the breeze? This was an exceptionally fast train ride.

Lessons learned: Plan ahead, leave by 9:00 am (at the latest), don't tell your preschooler that she will see animals until 5 minutes before arriving, and wear light clothes and comfortable shoes at the zoo. We came home tired, but we made great memories as always! We probably saw 90% of what we wanted to see and despite the heat, and rushing around at times, the family had fun. Mission accomplished!

Not enough time in the day...

Sorry it has been a while since my last post. I have been busy working on my school blog at www.colemanushistory.blogspot.com . My students have been creating and performing Wild West skits and I am so proud of their finished products. Please feel free to check them out on the other blog.
More to come soon,
Angie

First Day of School

We all knew this day would come. Sarah attended her first day of preschool today (sniff, sniff). We enrolled her at our church preschool (or as Sarah calls it "pretty school") for one day a week. As you can see from the first photo, Sarah was pretty excited about being a big girl and getting to go to school.

This is the photo as we are getting out of the car. I felt a little silly taking photos of her in the parking lot until I saw other "first-timers" doing the same.

We are all ready to enter the school. Look at the cute UK bag I found for her. We had difficulty finding anything that little 26 pound Sarah could carry. This bag is short enough, but was still too heavy for her to carry lunch, a change of clothes and her binder. We may have to go back to the drawing board on this one.

Here is Sarah's classroom. She was assigned to the three year old room, but I think she can handle it. She already knows some of the kids from church and the little girl at the corner of the table (Allie) is her friend from day care. You can also see Noah or "baby NoNo" as Sarah likes to call him, to the right of the screen. He is Allie's little brother. Sarah is just crazy about him. She has recently taken to answering our questions in baby talk and trying to put diapers on over her clothes. I think her fondness of Noah is the reason for this...

Sarah and Allie in deep conversation.

Sarah also knows Emma from Bible class as well. I think she will have a great year with all of her friends.

I took a quick (yet crooked) photo of the class roster. Notice that there are two Sarah's in class. This will be a first for our girl. She is used to being an original (and then some).

After a quick bathroom break (in which Sarah became a little clingy), I quickly ushered her back to class. Luckily, she becomes lost in coloring her letter A page. I sense it is time for me to go.

I took some quick photos of the two year old class.

And the four year old class (the two girls on the end go to day care with Sarah as well).

I take one final photo through the glass (hoping Sarah would not notice me, but I think she did)

I actually took one hour to buy some birthday presents at Kohl's and pick up a few groceries (I didn't know what to do with myself without a toddler in tow). I even graded a few papers and did the dishes! Many days, I will be at work while she is at school, but I plan to take advantage of these precious hours of quiet on occassion.

All in all, it was a great day. Her note home said she learned the letter A and Number 0, she made friendship crunchies in the kitchen, she had music, PE, Science, Art, and a Bible lesson on making friends like Jonathon and David. She flipped her binder all the way home talking about what she had learned. Our girl is growning up!

Salato Wildlife Center

Hello again,
The Coleman family tried to find something fun and cheap to do on a beautiful 82 degree day this weekend. We decided to visit the Salato Wildlife Center in Frankfort. It is close to home and free (you can't beat this combination) .

As soon as we got out and saw some folks who work for Fish and Wildlife out mingling with an Owl and a Snake! They were discussing the animals lifestyle, abilities, and habits. Sarah was quite taken with the owl (she said it was looking at her while he talked). She has always had quite a love affair with owls. "Hoot" was one of her first sounds as a baby. Chris and I even touched the snake! (Sarah was terrified and buried her head in Chris's chest.) I hope to add some photos later of the snake (taken with a throw away camera found in the trunk of our car...cross your fingers and hope that it is not ruined by the heat, but I am not holding my breath...)
We visited the indoor part of the museum where we looked at fish, frogs, snakes, and lots of stuffed wild animals like owls, turkeys, deer, ducks, etc.
Watch out!

Next, we moved to the outdoor exhibits.

The first outdoor exhibit we visited was the bald eagle. Sarah was instantly interested. Her favorite show (Little Einstiens) has an episode in which the Bald Eagle snatches Leo's baton and they must rescue it. We recreate this episode quite often in the Coleman household. Seeing a real bald eagle was pretty cool for this little girl! We even heard him talk! The ladies around us said they had never heard them make a sound before!
We watched the black bears groom one another and play for a while. Then we moved on to the water features.

The waterfall and pond exhibits were fun.

In the streams, we saw some fish native to Kentucky.

As usual, Sarah was drawn to water. She must take rocks and throw them at all costs. When she found a waterfall and small stream, she sat right down and spent quite a while playing happily. That is, until we made her move along.

Chris decided to jump rocks to cross the stream. I think he is reverting back to his childhood in the mountains.

Then we moved on to the deer and the wildcats.

We rounded out our visit to Salato with the Dragonfly marsh. I didn't see many dragonflies, but it was nice to sit on the bench and listen to nature. It was a great visit. We plan to go back before the end of the season. They have cool things going on every weekend in September and some Halloween events in October. This will probably not be the last you will see of Salato.

Bye for now.

Lazy Days (and other miscellaneous happenings)

I know it has been a while since my last official post. School work is picking up and as a result, my hobby must take a backseat at times. I have been working on a school blog for my students to get the daily agenda of class and post comments or questions. If you would like to see it, go to http://www.colemanushistory.blogspot.com/.

We have spent our last weeks cleaning house and goofing around. As a result, there is no central theme to this post, just lots of cute memories.

This is our next door neighbor Shelley. She is Sarah's first official hero in this world. Shelley began babysitting on occassion last May and since then, I have heard "Guess what, Shelley babysat me" at least three thousand times since then. She is now going to college in Bowling Green, but takes time to visit when she is home. Here are Shelley and Sarah "crafting" at the kitchen table.

Shelley is saying goodbye to Sarah. We love her and the rest of the family so much. We feel blessed to have them as neighbors.
This is the Cardome center in Georgetown. It is a great place to go during festivals, but it is also nice to visit when no one else is around. It is attached to a Japanese style garden. (I will take photos of that on another day). Chris, Sarah, and I went to play frisbee, kickball, and just hang out together as a family.

Sarah showing off her sports moves (she definitely gets this from her father)

Fun in the grass.

We found a great tree to introduce Sarah to tree climbing. She was so excited about the tree, we could barely get her to take a good photo.

This is the money shot!

She is thrilled to be in the trees. Can't you tell?

Chris had to have his turn as well.

Sarah is checking out an old fountain on the grounds.

The Cardome center has a kite festival in this field every spring. I happen to think it is even more beautiful at this time of year. Don't you agree?

This is apparently an old General Store on the grounds of the Cardome center. It is not in use now.
No family outing would be complete without Daddy hoisting Sarah on his shoulders. I wonder how much longer she will be small enough for this.

We also had a chance to visit the grandparents before bedtime. Mamaw is giving Sarah a ride on her feet!

We are glad they now live close enough to visit on a regular basis.


Sarah is living dangerously. She is on a scooter her aunt bought for her. Chris is to worried about her riding it on the sidewalk (since she is still so little). She rides it all around Mamaw and Papaw's house. (She seems quite content with this).

I will leave you with a little serenade from our little girl.

Bye for now.