It's a Jungle Out There

In January and February the Dallas Zoo offers Penguin Days which are discounted admission days.  They are designed to encourage patrons to visit during colder weather.  We took advantage of the discounted pricing today and were able to enjoy beautiful seventy-two degree weather!

We met up at the zoo with the Hunts and the McAdams for a pseudo McDermott Homeschooler event! Hopefully next time our other families can join in on the fun.  With the beautiful weather all of the animals were out and playful.  The only exception was the Koala who was sound asleep, but they are known to sleep for twenty-two hours per day. 

The kids had a great time playing with the animals.  I think feeding the birds was their  favorite. At one point Noah started getting tired of walking so Abigail hoisted him up on her back and he was good to go. Both of them enjoyed hanging out. 

A righteous man has regard for the life of his animal, But even the compassion of the wicked is cruel. Proverbs 12:10

Dallas World Aquarium

After a week of serving others, this morning we slept a little later and then packed up our things to leave Fort Worth.  We swarmed the breakfast buffet for one last feeding at the Embassy Suites before loading into the four 20 passenger vans to head back to Dallas. 

We spent most of the day at the historic 1800's warehouse in the Dallas West End District that is now home to The Dallas World Aquarium.  A few additional buildings have been added to expand the aquarium over the last twenty years.   The glass domed shark tank and rainforest were two of the favorites for the kids today.  We also got to watch the penguin feeding. 

After a busy week we rolled in to the church parking lot late in the afternoon.  Everyone a little sleep deprived, with tired muscles but full hearts.  The kids drew closer together this week and found new talents for serving.  I really enjoyed getting to watch the process as they grew in the Lord.  

The sea is His, for it was He who made it, Psalm 95:5

Fort Worth Zoo Homeschool Day

Every year the Dallas and Fort Worth Zoos host a Homeschool Day.  Fort Worth holds their homeschool event in the fall and the Dallas Zoo will have their event in the Spring.  There are zoo keepers on hand giving animal demonstrations and special feedings allowing the youth to have an up close and personal look at the animals.  

Today was an especially cooler fall day and the animals were in a playful mode.  We really enjoyed hanging out with the Baileys and watching the animals.  One of the highlights was the elephants, who chose to play in the water while we were watching.  The momma was rolling around and splashing with the two one year old elephants. It was delightful to watch them play and enjoy the weather, oblivious to the crowd of people around! 

Let your father and mother be glad;

    let her who bore you rejoice.

Proverbs 23:25

Grisham Farms Visit

With school in full swing so are the field trips and the wonderful hands on learning experiences.  Today we headed out to Grisham Farms in McKinney. The family is a small family owned farm that rescues animals.  The owner Ms. Stephanie is a certified special education teacher with 24 years teaching experience.  The farm was originally opened 9 years ago for the purpose of giving kids with special needs access to the animals. She takes the kids on a tour of the farm, giving them details about the animals and quizzing the kids as they go.  

The farm has a lot of animals the kids can pet and feed including: alpaca, Ball Python snake, Bearded dragon, bunnies, chickens, cows, donkeys, ducks, emu, geese, giant tortoises, goats, guinea pigs, hedgehog, llamas, miniature horses, ostriches, pigs, and sheep.  My favorite was the alpaca because of his sweet face and buck teeth as he ate out of my hand.  Abigail of course, had a special bond with the pigs, particularly the potbelly pig named Petunia. 

Click HERE to see the pictures from our 2011 visit. 

The righteous care for the needs of their animals

Proverbs 12:10

Dallas World Aquarium

Today about fifty of our home school friends with PEACH met up at the Dallas World Aquarium for a little hands-on science.

The aquarium is located in the Dallas historic West End District.  The aquarium is located in an old 1924 warehouse that was gutted and rebuilt in 1992. Adjacent warehouses were purchased and built out in 2000 & 2004. 

The upper level of the aquarium is a Rainforest with birds such as the scarlet ibis and toucans flying around. As you wind your way through the rainforest there are three-toed sloths and monkeys.  Today one of the sloths was very active and the kids took several great pictures.  That area also has electric eels, tamarins, crocodiles and vampire bats.

The lower level of the aquarium has the sea anemones, coral, and jellyfish from around the world, with large tanks dedicated to habitats from around the world.  The lowest level has the manatee and sharks, always a favorite spot for photos!   

Let the sea resound, and all that is in it;    let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them!
I Chronicles 16:32

A Visit to the Fort Worth Zoo

As if our week wasn't busy enough, we managed to squeeze in a visit to the Fort Worth Zoo.   Every year the Fort Worth Zoo holds a home school day, and it is the bet day to visit. 

 

The crowds are small and there zoo keepers everywhere to answer questions and allow the kids to interact with the animals.  It's a little funny that virtually every child there has a Bible name, so we heard mom's calling, Eliakim, Anna and Thadeus. 

 

It is equally amusing to over hear the home school mom's asking their kids what the scientific name of each animal is, or it's geographic habitat.  For us, we ran through the zoo, look at the pretty animals read a few plaques and even road the train.   I think the only thing we skipped was the carousal! 

 

The Fort Worth Zoo is one of the first home school spots we ever visited and with it being Caleb's senior year I didn't want to miss one last Home School Zoo Day with all three kids! My happy child commented on the blissful state of each animal; my professor read virtually every marker for more knowledge; and my artistic child took over 300 photos of the animals! 

He also spoke about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. From all nations people came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.  Kings 4:33-34

Dallas Zoo - Koala Marsupials NOT Koala Bears!

Abigail at the entrance of Koala Exhibit

Giraffes roaming

Abigail feeding the giraffe



In March the Dallas Zoo opened up their new Koala Walkabout exhibit.  This makes the Dallas Zoo one of only ten zoos in the country to exhibit the Australian marsupials.  In addition to the two koalas the walkabout exhibit also features Australian natives like the blue-tongued skink (a large lizard) and kangaroos.

a kangaroo rolling around playing

Today was just a mom and Abigail day.   It was one of the first times we’ve made it to every exhibit in the zoo.  When we go to the zoo with Caleb, he enjoys reading every plaque and tidbit of information.  Abigail on the other hand is blissfully happy looking at the animals and moving on to the next exhibit. 

One of the highlights for today was Abigail feeding the giraffes.  We have been members of the Dallas Zoo for five or six years and the improvement they have made to the zoo in that time are fantastic.  There was a time when the Dallas Zoo paled in comparison to the Fort Worth Zoo, but not anymore.  If you haven’t visited the Dallas Zoo recently, make the trip!

God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds,
and all the creatures that move along the ground
according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:25

Grisham Farms Tour

Bearded Dragon

Chinchilla

Ferret

Hairless Rat!



Abigail and Penny the Potbelly Pig

We took a little break from our studies today and headed north to Grisham Farms. It is a family owned farm and petting zoo. In the barn tour the kids petted and learned about hedgehogs, sugar gliders, a bearded dragon, a leopard gecko, a ball python, doves, bunnies, Russian chinchillas, hairless rats, tarantulas, and more.

Outside the kids learned the difference between the wooly sheep, the Painted Desert sheep, and the dorper sheep. Abigail fell in love with a Potbelly pig named Penny. There were plenty of goats, miniature horses, full size horses and cows to visit.

Many of our homeschool friends join co-ops where the meet together for a specific class or specialized study. We have always enjoyed our field trips instead. We can take a break from our work, and check out something new. A lot of times these field trips mean school starts very early in the morning or it requires the kids to bring their lap tops in the car as we drive to a field trip. And sometimes, too many outings in one week mean they have to complete their studies on the weekend. But for the most part they are a great enrichment to our learning, and an excellent motivator to complete their work so we can play!

God said to Solomon,
“Since this is your heart’s desire and
you have not asked for wealth, possessions or honor,
nor for the death of your enemies,
and since you have not asked for a long life
but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people
over whom I have made you king,
¹² therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you.

2 Chronicles 1:11-12

Fort Worth Zoo



Eric & Frankie



The Fort Worth Zoo is the oldest zoo in Texas, it is ranked as one of the top five zoos in the nation.  The zoo houses nearly 7,000 native and exotic animals, it is truly one of the best field trips in the DFW area! 

During this year’s Homeschool Days we got to visit their newest exhibit is the Museum of Living Art (MOLA), home to the Komodo dragons, gharial crocodiles and more!

And God said,

“Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds:

the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground,

and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so.
Genesis 1:24

Go from Growling to Giggling

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.Go from Growling to Giggling is the new slogan for the Fort Worth Zoo! Today was their annual Homeschool Day, filled with lots of animal programs and zoo keeper talks. The day started off with a light rain that really energized the animals. They were fun to watch as they played in the rain. The kids petted everything from longhorns, hogs, chickens, goats to armadillos! The Dallas Zoo has really become a nice zoo, but the Fort Worth Zoo is one of the top 5 zoos in the nation. Yes, Abigail is wearing her Super Girl cape, . . . why, I have no idea. On the way to and from the zoo, we listened to a Jim Weiss audio of G.A. Henty's The Lion of the North.

Zoo Visit

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In cleaning out the garage today, I came across a memory card with photos from one of our visits to the zoo this summer. Jon keeps our DMA and zoo memberships current so we can make frequent visits. This particular day, we went to see the albino crocodile and the butterfly house. But the highlight of the day turned out to be the elephant who was out and very actively tearing apart a tree, having lunch! It was fascinating to see the strength of his trunk.

Wild Thing!

We had the best trip to the Dallas Zoo today. They have recently remodeled the Children's Zoo. They have added a section called the Underzone. Kids can crawl through a burrow and pop-up in a safety bubble, eye level with a family of dwarf mongoose. There is also a new Bird Landing where children can feed live worms or seeds to birds from around the world.
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Caleb brought his calcite geode to the Nature Exchange. He's been working on getting enough points to exchange for a beautiful Tiger Cowrie shell ever since he read the book, The Secret of the Golden Cowrie. Today he finally had enough points! Abigail traded up for a sand dollar and Jess picked up two crystals.
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If you haven't checked out the new Zoo Rangers, they are a must! It is a super cool hand held GPS system, with a 4" LCD screen. It knows where you are in the zoo, and gives you great details from the zoo keepers. There are even fun Q&A's for the children after each section of the zoo. I only heard two references to evolution and billions of years, but if your kids have a Biblical Worldview they will dismiss it. But overall it was an awesome asset to the zoo experience!

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Oh, we cooled off at the pool after the zoo, with another rousing round of 'drown the cousin.' Then Jon took the boys to the Little League Majors All-Star game tonight.

President's Day

Today Jon was off work for the holiday. After Bible this morning we packed a lunch and headed to the Dallas Zoo. It was a beautiful day, perfect weather for being outside all day. We rode the carousel, walked through Africa, climbed on rocks, and went to the petting zoo! And in honor of President’s Day we listened to stories of Eleanor Roosevelt, George Washington and Abe Lincoln in the car.