We Love Our Zoo

This is our 6th year as members of the Fort Worth Zoo and we just love it!  Each year we buy a pass for most members of our family (the ones who are over a certain age) and in just 2-3 visits we more than pay for it.  The nice thing about having a pass is we don't have to feel like we have to be there ALL day to get our money's worth.  We can go for a couple hours or for a longer time.  Ethan is convinced this is HIS zoo so he acts as the official tour guide and tells us where we need to go first.  I printed off a worksheet for Ethan and Reagan as part of their homework in which they needed to find certain animals in the zoo and when they do they could color it in.  We then come home and learn about where each animal lives.  Ethan has been learning about elephants and the continents of Africa and Asia so as we passed each sign that had an animal from one of those places we would talk about it.  

Also, the zoo is the perfect place for a little physical therapy. Oh Yeah!!  This mommy is all over PT with a view!  Reagan has goals that include pushing her own wheelchair community distances so why not practice here where she can also learn about animals. We also practice our counting as we count how long it takes her to get up the big hills all by herself.  Now some people at the zoo have commented rather abruptly how terrible I am for not pushing her up the hills but I simply smile and reply that is why I am her mommy.  I am so proud to say that Reagan is getting faster and stronger each time we go!! Hudson also practiced his PT by pushing his sister in the stroller as he walked.  Hudson simply does not like to walk so here he has to.  Let me tell you that nap time is quite successful on these days.  

This day we had Miss Sarah and Miss Glennda come with us. Miss Glennda is Hudson's sign language teacher so she was signing all the animals for him and for us.  The neat thing is that all of the kids get to learn the signs as well.  Once again, learning is taking place.  Ahhh, the beauty of home schooling is that the world is our classroom!!! Miss Sarah usually comes with just Ethan to the zoo so her path has always been to certain animals but this time she was able to see other animals which was fun for her.  The kids love both girls (they are younger than me so I can call them girls even though they are grown adults) so that makes it even more fun! The only thing missing this day was our Daddy!!

I absolutely love this picture of me with my children!!

Miss Sarah has such an amazing heart for the children and you can tell they all love her!

Mr. Zoo Guide

Hudson just saw the turtles swim by and I was trying to sign "turtle" to him.