The Perfect Zoo Day

That "mild" virus I mentioned in my last post was not as mild as I lead on. We continue to be suffering at the Roehrig Residence. Everyday this weekend someone and usually more than one child had a fever and was out of commission. Each child is now very stuffed up with Violette and Noelle contracting a cough. Tom and I tried to stay busy while nursing those who were not feeling well. The days were long and uneventful for the most part as the children kept us entertained.

Max has become our little clown, making us laugh at every turn. He is such a daddy's boy these days even though he is more like me. His favorite phrase is "No Mommy!". Even when Tom takes away something he isn't supposed to have, he immediately seeks me out and says, "No Mommy!" even though I had nothing to do with the punishment. I would ask for a kiss and he would run to Tom and say, "No Mommy, Max kiss Daddy". He does have a sweet side, calling Violette "cutie" all the time and giving her toys to play with. When she is crying he says, "I know, I know, Violette" copying exactly what I say to her. While Noelle was put in time out Max poked his head around the corner, pointed his little finger at her and said in a stern voice, "Noelle stay in time out two minutes!". We refer to him from time to time as a Bossy Boiler (a reference from Thomas The Tank Engine) and he will boss us to "call Max Bossy Boiler". Another funny thing that made me laugh uncontrollably happened during a diaper change. I let Max get up and run around, um, free. He looks down to, I assume, check out his "stuff". While bending down his t-shirt covered things up and he says in a shocked voice, "Where my penis? It's gone." I lift up his shirt and exclaims, "there he is" and a HUGE smile appears on his face!

We added two new fish to the household this past week. Noelle had a black goldfish with eyes that were very large. She appropriately named him Googly Eyed Head! Max named his little fish, Nemo, as that movie is their current favorite. Both fish soon died. Max's was first to bite the gravel. I didn't bring attention to the death, but Noelle pointed it out and ran over to Max and brightly said, "Sorry bud Nemo died. Look at him, he's dead". Her fish died the next day and she wasn't upset at it. She told me "That's okay. The garbage truck will just eat Googly Eyed Head and Daddy will buy me a new fish." We only have one fish now, Max's new one, named Shark Bait (another name from Finding Nemo). Max commands, "I feed Shark Bait now!" multiple times a day. Of course if we don't let him then he throws himself into a major tantrum!

Tuesday we decided it was time to get out, even though the children were not 100%. It was pouring down rain at our house, but the radar showed the rain missing Toledo. So we packed up and headed out after a quick lunch. The zoo was deserted, thus the title "The Perfect Zoo Day". I have been, on multiple occasions, at the zoo during the week and I have never seen it so barren. The rain held off and the sun even decided to shine down upon us for awhile. It was wonderful for us to enjoy as a family. Of course we did not visit every exhibit, but we did explore a good portion, and spent some time in the new children's zoo, Nature's Neighborhood. It truly was the perfect zoo day!