Austin. Mom. Blog. » animals

Madagascar 3

Dianna — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 17:29:29 +0000

The boys and I went to see “Madagascar 3″ on Friday. I was hoping it wouldn’t be the typical “not good” movie since the first movie is usually the best. We lucked out. It surprisingly was entertaining. It began slow, but picked up in the middle. The movie begins with the main four characters still wanting to return home. Their home originally was a zoo in New York City. On their way of trying to make it to their destination they get paired up with a circus. Alex (the lion), Marty (the zebra), Melman (the giraffe), and Gloria (the hippo) decide to perform with the circus in hopes of making it to New York City. Performing well for a sponsor will lead to New York. It was not only funny, but also inspiring. Alex gives a speech on staying true to who you are and sticking together as a family. They end up in New York, return to the zoo, and find out it truly wasn’t their home anymore. They all realize they have been truly “living” outside the zoo. I think it really touched my heart because it shows us all again that it is about the “quality” of your life. So, the animals stay with the circus and stop pursuing the idea of returning to the zoo. I believe that was a good true ending to the Madagascar trilogy, but with enterainment, you never know what they will come up with next.

San Antonio Zoo

Dianna — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 04:04:11 +0000

Zoos are definitely busy in the summer. I haven’t found one day out of the week to go when they aren’t busy. We visited the San Antonio Zoo on a Thursday. We arrived at 11:00 and the first parking lot was full so we had to park in a second lot. The walk was quite far, but we were about to take a long walk through the zoo, so we didn’t mind. Fortunately the parking is free. The zoo included animals like bears, elephants, tigers, giraffes, monkeys, and the newest exhibit included hippos. The zoo had a really cool kids section. Inside an air conditioned building there was a set-up of fishing poles with magnets to pick up fish. It also included a little playhouse for pretend play and small tunnels like caves the kids could go through. Not too far from the designated children’s area is a petting zoo. The boys got to feed and brush several goats. Any interaction with animals are fun for our boys. It took us three hours to walk the zoo. We were heading to the car, but Collin (my 4 year old) saw some train tracks. We couldn’t pass up the chance to let Collin ride the train. It’s going on two years that he loves trains. Andrew (my 6 year old) at first passed on riding with us, but decided to go at the last minute. It was $3.00 for adults and $2.50 for children. It was worth the money. The train ride was actually pretty long and enjoyable. There were several areas surrounding the zoo we had never seen before. So, the train ride concluded our trip and we all had a great time. When I asked the boys what they liked best Andrew said the hippo at the zoo and Collin said the train ride. Typical!

Andrew in front of Giraffe Exhibit

Boys Pretend to Fish

Petting Zoo

Riding the Train

Spring Break is Over

Dianna — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 02:12:46 +0000

I know it’s been awhile since I have posted anything, but spring break was here and now it’s over. I’m sad to say it’s over. It was so nice to have the boys home all week. We had such a great time. Now I’m looking forward to summer. We had a fun filled packed week. We arrived at Fossil Rim in Glen Rose, Texas at ten a.m. Monday morning. It was starting to get busy, but it wasn’t too bad yet. We enjoyed feeding the animals, but our best part were the giraffes. Out of our sunroof, my husband fed two giraffes out of his hands. Our two sons were smiling ear to ear. It truly was an awesome experience. We toured the property within three hours. The weather outside was windy and cold so being in our vehicle was perfect. Unfortunately the weather kept us from going to our next adventure. We were going to visit Dinosaur Valley State Park, but the weather prevented us from doing so. We proceeded to the hotel and relaxed for the rest of the day. We stayed at Embassy Suites and loved it. We went with another family and had conjoining rooms. Andrew and Collin (our two sons) loved it. All the kids ran back and forth and we felt like one big family. The hotel also had an indoor pool, full breakfast, and complimentary drinks from 5:30 to 7:30. We couldn’t ask for anything more. We stayed two nights. Both Andrew and Collin continue to ask when are we going back to the hotel. Fortunately summer is not too far away. Well, Tuesday arrived and we went to the Dallas Zoo. Out of all the zoos we have visited, in my opinion, Dallas Zoo has the best kids area. The boys got to ride a horse for $2 each, pet a pig, pet a rabbit, crawled in a mongoose tunnel, fed birds, and so much more. We could have stayed at least two hours in the kids area. Everyone was getting hungry so we had to cut it short. Our favorite animals to see were the gorillas. They were some fascinating creatures. The zoo had a monorail you were able to ride for $3 each to observe the animals and get information from a tour guide. My youngest son, Collin loved riding the monorail because he thought of it as a train ride. I still have a lot of information to share about our spring break, but for now I will end this post.

Fossil Rim

Children's Zoo at Dallas Zoo

Austin Nature & Science Center

Dianna — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 21:41:57 +0000

Austin Nature & Science Center is one of Austin’s hidden treasures. I honestly didn’t know it existed until six months ago. We were looking for something different to do and came across Austin Nature & Science Center. To get there, you really need to have directions. It’s located on Stratford Drive and if you aren’t looking for it, you might pass it by. Once we finally found the Center it was worth the confusion. First, I must say it’s totally FREE. There are several animals to see. Our boys’ favorite was the raccoon. There’s also a cute little fox. Keep in mind this isn’t a zoo, so don’t expect to see a lot of animals. The next area we went to was the Dino Pit. The boys loved it. There’s four areas with sand, shovels, and buckets that the kids can play with and uncover bones. This is where we spent the majority of our time. To clean the sand off, there’s a small stream you can get your feet wet and rinse your hands. Our boys always seem to have fun when water is involved. You might want to pack extra clothes in case they get too wet. The center also has a naturalist workshop. Their motto is “please touch.” You can touch anything from snake’s skin to fossils. The boys enjoyed looking through a microscope at different slides. On certain days you are able to bring in one of your findings and trade it for something else. When the weather is nice and not so cold we plan to visit again.