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It’s Sunday evening.  Sam is asleep and Ellie should be asleep.  It’s dark outside and it’s almost Christmas.  We realized that we had not taken the girls out to see Christmas lights.  Janie had the brilliant idea to go to the zoo.

Right now the Birmingham Zoo has “Zoolight Safari“.  I’ve never seen so many Christmas lights and decorations in one place.  Yes, there even was an entire 12′ by 12′ winter wonderland.  They had two snow-making machines near the entrance and since it was 38º, it stuck.  Most of the animals were not available, but the petting zoo was still open and it’s always a hit with Sam.  We got in free since we’re members so we just had to buy tickets to ride the train and carousel.  Both were quite decked out as well.  There was lots of music going and some of the lights were synchronized to the music.  Janie and I had Shazam going for several of the songs.

You should have seen Samantha.  She RAN everywhere and wanted to do everything.  Well, almost everything.  She wasn’t too keen on seeing Santa Clause (who by the way was sitting on a rather spiffy Zebra fabric chair).

Here Janie and “Baby” are posing as elves.

Ellie was a good sport all night (and never took that nap).  I guess she had plenty to look at.

Some of the decorations.  I was planning on making a panorama with Hugin, but my hands were too shaky.

Jingle Bell Carousel.  Check out the video.  Sam finally spotted me about the fourth time around and from then on yelled “Daddy!  Daddy!”

The Train Ride.  This is a big deal since Sam has been very weary of riding the train lately.

We plan on going back next week.  Anyone else want to come?

Samantha went to her Nana and Papa’s house last week.  She spent 4 nights/5 days away.  It was sure quiet around here.  I was glad for the break, but so glad to have her back.  I thought I would get so much done during that week, but Ellie decided not to cooperate.  She has decided that 4 o’clock (both AM and PM) are her trying times.  Oh well.

We didn’t have any plans last Saturday morning, so I asked Sam what she wanted to do.   She wanted to go to the zoo.  Since we’re members, but haven’t been since before Ellie was born, I thought it was a great idea!

Samantha took a nap that afternoon, and continued to take a nap all this week!  Yay!  I think it was because her room wasn’t so bright and hot.  The weather earlier this week was dark and damp, so it must have been easier to sleep.  Today broke the streak though.  I think 6 days was a great run!

In the midst of that though, I got a stomach bug.  Ew.  I was out of commission for about 24 hours.  Brian did a great job keeping the girls away from me in the midst of his busy work week.  Thanks!

We went to the zoo a few weekends ago. It occurred to me that we hadn’t been to the Children’s Zoo or play area yet, so I wanted to try it out. Samantha rode the carousel, pet lots of sheep and goats, and checked out Alabama’s Wild. And of course, we couldn’t leave until we took a train ride. At one point in the petting zoo, the sheep started baa-ing. It was surprisingly loud, and all of us were thrown off-guard! And now, she makes a different sound for a pig. Before, it was just breathing in and out sort of. Now, you can tell she’s really trying to snort. It’s funny. It was a quick visit, but well worth it.

We had a great weekend. No one would ever imagine that Samantha had surgery on Thursday! We went to a Barons game on Friday night and the zoo on Saturday. I’ll post zoo pictures soon. We saw Carson (and family) and Sydney (and family) at the zoo! But, check out the pictures from the last month.

We did get some bad news on Friday though. Our day sitter, Paula, turned in her notice. We’re sad. She is taking over her parents real estate business. I know how much she loves working with kids, so I hope it works out for her. Paula, if you’re out there, we will miss you dearly.