Riley and Avery

We were hoping that going to the zoo on Saturday instead of Sunday for Mother's Day would mean a less-crowded zoo. It was still crowded, but not too bad. It also was the first nice weekend in recent memory (rain last weekend and snow the previous weekend) so I think that impacted the crowds as well. We had forgotten how big a "regular" zoo was, we were so used to our nice little mountain zoo. We saw, maybe, a quarter or a third of the zoo. It was nice to walk a nice, level zoo. The mountain zoo here can really get tough, because, well, it's on a mountain.

We tried to get in the animals that we wouldn't see at our zoo, but the girls were upset that you can't feed the giraffes at the Denver Zoo. The sea lion and seal show was cool. At the age of 32, I finally know the difference between a seal and a sea lion. The ones that look like sea lions are seals and the ones that look like seals are sea lions, that's what I figure. I thought the slick and sleek ones were seals, but they're sea lions. The ones with claws are not sea lions, but seals. Whatever.

Once again, we had "fun" with Riley in the gift shop. I never would have thought that I would hear "Even though these are only $4 (a collection of miniature poison dart frogs), I will just buy them and lose them. A total waste of money!" Ah, allowance, I love you! However, she is so darn indecisive when she's spending her own money! Oh, my goodness, we were in the gift shop forever! At the end of an exhausting day, deprived of coffee, I'm in no mood to handle her indecisiveness. I sure hope it gets better!

The weather was totally wrong yesterday. The Weather Channel said high of 59, so we wore long sleeves and jackets (except Avery, who is determined to wear her favorite shirt regardless of the weather) but is was sunny and warm, but not too hot. Really, a perfect day for the zoo.

I ordered a new pair of sandals. I can't wait for them to come in the mail! Yippee! I actually went to REI to look at them and try them on because they had them on sale. Of course, they were out of my size. So I tried on a non-sale version to get my size, hoping that I could order the sale ones from REI.com. However, I found them on another site for 60% off (actually, I think it was more than %60, but whatever). Dude, they're regularly $95!! I could never pay that much for shoes (or anything) but that doesn't mean I don't still want the product. Everyone raves about these shoes, so hopefully they'll live up to the praise. Here they are, Chaco X/2 Unaweep sandals. Hopefully they'll be here on Monday! Plus, the woman in REI (a customer) was also shopping for Chacos and she said that she already has a pair and she wore them for 5 years before the sole wore out, so she sent them back to Chaco and they re-soled them for free. Sweet. I'm tough on my shoes. I'm not the type of person who gets tired of my shoes and wants new ones just because. I get attached to my shoes and would wear one pair for the rest of my life if they would last, so I don't mind plunking down a few extra dollars.

That's what's nice about having a set amount of spending money each month. I am actually spending money on myself for once. I never used to do that! In a weird way, spending money on myself actually saves us money. Weird how things work. I used to satisfy my spending cravings by buying things for the house (a coat rack, a table cloth, etc.) and on the kids (puzzles, book, computer software, etc.) but now that I can spend on myself, I do, and stop spending on other things. Plus, with the girls getting allowance, I rarely spend money on them, except for clothes and some educational stuff. No toys. So I can buy myself that pair of shoes I really crave without guilt. It's nice, for once, to not feel guilty for spending money on myself, because I have to spend money on myself. The budget says so!

Did I just write more about my new shoes than about the zoo? Nearly :) I'll add more to the zoo section...

I am starting to doubt our garden's ability to grow. I think the dirt is too dense for dry Colorado. The top layer is so hard. I think I'll mix in the good potting soil I have in the garage. I don't have enough to replace the hard dirt, but a good mixing with quality soil should do it. At least that's what everyone is saying. I wanted to give the garden a few more days. We planted on the 4th, so I think 6 days is enough for something to sprout. Nothing. Perhaps it'll be a Mother's Day project around here.

Oh, I almost forgot! We looked at the Congress Park neighborhood and loved it! It's an "older" neighborhood, with tree-lined narrow streets. Really lovely. We hope to find something there next summer. We also saw a community garden that really piqued my interest. Riley loved it too, and Avery didn't care. The zoo, however, may be a case of too-close-to-drive and too-far-to-walk, since it's nestled within City Park, depending on where in Congress Park we move. It would be perfect for a family bike ride once Avery can pedal a bike. Or I could get one of those thingies that go behind a bike.

Ugh. I have to go back to Denver next week (Tuesday) for an informational meeting at Denver University for their master's program in teaching. I am so not ready to make that long drive again. There is another meeting at the end of this month, but since Fall registration has already started at PPCC, I want to go to the meeting earlier so I can change my classes if DU has different course requirements. Waiting until May 28th would be cutting it close. So off I go on the 12th. Yay. Although it will be nice to make the drive alone without two fighting kids in the backseat and Riley's incessant questions.

We have no plans today. I said that I just wanted a nice quiet day at home, cleaning. I think this means that Rudi sleeps in (he's still sleeping at 12:30pm) and I get to clean. I think we ran Rudi ragged yesterday :)