The Zoo

We went to the zoo today.  Wyatt has been to the Ft. Worth zoo once before, and to the Philadelphia zoo, but this time he seemed to be more interested than he was in his previous visits.  I spent a lot of time getting him out of the stroller and then putting him back in (they have stuff like plants and fences in the way of viewing for the little ones in most areas, so I have to hold him up for him to be able to see anything).  At first he didn't want to get back in the stroller, but I told him we were going to see more animals.  After that he would say "one more" while holding up one finger when I put him back in the stroller.  It was so cute.  He also said it when we got back home, and I was sad that I didn't have one more animal to show him.

(Unrelated to the zoo but to the phrase "one more" - Wyatt said that to me yesterday when I was reading him a book before naptime.  I didn't teach him the phrase intentionally - but I guess I say it enough that he picked up on it.  When I finished one book he said, "one more" - which was so cute I couldn't resist reading one more.  Then he tried it again - I was tempted to cave - but I put him down for his nap instead.)

The elephants were the animals he got the most excited about (they are so big they were also easier to see than many animals).  He made elephant sounds and did his arm like the elephant trunk.  He also pointed out the ball they had to play with (that boy loves to throw balls).  Other animals he enjoyed were the tigers (he likes to roar), the otters, and the coyotes.  At the very end of our visit we went into the bird area where you can feed the birds these seed stick things.  He loved to watch the birds, but he wasn't too sure about feeding them.  Mommy did most of the feeding the birds while he just watched, mesmerized.  He really liked to hold the stick when the bird weren't trying to eat off it though.

Overall it was a fun morning at the zoo.  I started the morning with one group of friends, then another group met up with us, and when we split up I spent the rest of my time with the second group of friends.  It was nice to see so many friends today.  I even ran into my sweet sister-in-law right before I left - all because we accidentally went the long way out.  It's a small world, especially when the weather is perfect and it is half price day at the zoo.

My friend Shelby took this when we were feeding the birds.

I took almost no pictures (I was just enjoying watching Wyatt look at the animals and talking with friends) but here are the ones I took.

Macy - the only girl in the bunch! 

Wyatt.

Max.

Jaxon sitting on the alligator.

Wyatt in the stagecoach (with Macy in the background)

Deck

Justin had the deck blocks already laid out and level so they were able to get started.

Some of the tools.

Dad helped me on a Home Depot run and then covered the whole that led to the crawl space under the house.  If he hadn't done that they would have built the deck right over it and we would have just had a big hole under there for all the critters to crawl through.  Thanks Dad!

Who does it take to build a deck?  Two engineers and a mechanic. 

Decking is coming along.

I am so thankful that my wonderful hubby built me a deck in our backyard!  We used to have a porch, but it was falling down so last summer Justin removed it.  Then we decided to buy a new car (we love our Subaru) and wait on building the new deck.  At last it is here.  Yeah!  A million thanks to those who helped.  My brother-in-law Kyle, father-in-law David, and mother-in-law Gena spent the entire day with us Saturday getting it done.  Thank you so much everyone! 

Grandma watched Wyatt while they built the deck - which let Mama take care of running errands and getting food for everyone.

The little part sticking out was Hunter's perch for a little while.

It's done!  Adding deck furniture.

The men and their completed project.

I love my new deck!

Sitting area.

Eating area.

Stairs.

View from the sitting area.

Tractor

I know I have dirt on my nose - isn't it great!

Wyatt loves playing on the "tractor" otherwise known as our John Deere riding lawn mower.

This is my tractor.

I don't even mind the noise cancelling ear muffs because the tractor is so much fun.

 Wyatt isn't just happy to sit on the tractor, he wants to "ride" so Mama drove him around the lawn while Daddy was working in the backyard.  He loves it!

Grandma is so funny - especially when she lets me ride the tractor.

 Wyatt got to spend a lot of time on the tractor this weekend while Daddy and his helpers built the new deck.  He also has the object permanence concept down really well.  This makes it hard to distract him from the tractor - even when it is put away in the shed.   Sunday as soon as he woke up from his nap he wanted to go outside.  I thought - good, we can spend some time enjoying our new deck.  I was wrong, Wyatt didn't want to enjoy the new deck, he wanted to ride the tractor.  He cried the whole time as he pointed to the shed and said "door.  He wanted me to open the shed so he could get a tractor ride.  I was not interested in getting out the lawn mower, and he wasn't distracted by anything else.  Even when we returned home from small group Sunday night the first thing he says when we pull up to the house is "ride."  First things this morning when he got up he wanted to go outside and get a "ride."  That boy loves his tractor.

 Here is a picture of Wyatt who pulled out all the books from one of the shelves on his bookshelf looking for the Tractor book I had just put away.  Why did I put it away?  Because as I read it he pointed to the tractor and said tractor and cried.  I know it is because he wanted to ride it too.  He didn't seem to understand that it was just a picture.  (Earlier he got upset because he couldn't pick up the keys that were in a picture of another book - he likes to play with keys too).

 Here is the a couple of better pictures of the Tractor Book I found for Wyatt (I bought it after I knew of his fascination with tractors.)

Wyatt also likes his toy tractors, especially the one the Greats gave him (that is my paternal grandparents - his Great-Grandmother and Great-Grandaddy).  It makes noises when you push certain buttons, and it even goes forward by itself for a little way.  He recently started trying to ride this little toy tractor.  He sits on it and pushes the button to make it move forward over and over and over - but of course it won't go anywhere because he is too heavy.  It was only designed to pull the little plastic animals in the wagon, not little boys.  He won't give up though - he tries it at least once every day.  I have a few pictures of him with this favorite toy tractor as well.

The first day he discovered trying to ride his toy.

Middle of the night play when he was sick.  He pushes the footprints where the animals are supposed to go so it will make the animal sounds even without the plastic animals.

This toy tractor was at the doctor's office.  He was so sick he only played on it for a couple of minutes and then was done.

And here is the hat that Wyatt should have for when he rides the tractor (this is Mr. Ron's - our next door neighbor - hat.)

To summarize - Wyatt loves tractors!