Rachael's Yellow Room

The first color that Rachael could identify was yellow. Yellow has always been her favorite color. When she was three she said that she wanted her room to be yellow. I told her that if she still liked yellow when she turned four we would paint her room yellow as part of her birthday present. Well it still is yellow. Finding the right shade of yellow turned out to be harder than I thought. It took three paint stores and of course expensive paint but we found Rachael's ideal yellow. For some people it may be bright but to Rachael "it is perfect" (her actual words.) Her room is full of odd angles. When we bought the house it was a dark blue and cave like. The yellow really brightens up the room. In fact for me it would keep me from going to sleep.

In July we painted the room with a little help from the girls. I have found with every project we take on we learn an important lesson. The lesson on this project is primer is important no matter what the paint store guy says and no matter how light you think the color is that you are painting over. Primer is your friend, eight coats of paint is the enemy. Also, brown tinted caulk can help with edge problems.

When we went to put it the room back together I found out I was like Bambam from the Flintstones - stronger than I thought. I put a hole in the wall while trying to put up a shelf. Fast forward four months and the hole is fixed and the room is finally picture worthy. Note the curtains and bed skirt. Nana worked her magic when I couldn't find anything pre-made.

Halloween/Soccer Pictures

September 15-16 Part II - Finally

Overnight at the Cincinnati Zoo

Grace’s brownie troop voted to use some of the cookie money they earned last year to attend one of the overnight programs at the Cincinnati Zoo. Twenty two girls and mothers attended the Wolf Woods Overnight – one of three programs the zoo offers. What a great program! We had two Zoo employees with us the entire time and we learned more during that trip than all the other times I have been to the zoo – combined. We had the zoo to ourselves!! We went on a night hike – no flashlights and spent a lot of time in the Wolf exhibit, reptile house and cat house. The focus was on predator vs. prey and animal adaptations. Some of the many things we learned:

• How to tell an Alligator from a Crocodile - the Alligator’s snout is shaped like a C – more rounded while a Crocodile is shaped like an A – more pointed.

• Alligators and Crocodile's have a third transparent eyelid allowing them to see under water without hurting their eyes.

• The special adaptation of a fishing cat – paws are somewhat webbed so they can catch fish out of a stream or lake – this cat likes the water.

We also spent some time in the education center getting hands on experience with several animals. We slept in the Wolf Woods Education Center on the floor in sleeping bags. In the morning we had a light breakfast and toured the zoo in the daylight. The zoo opens at 9:00. When visitors started to slowly arrive it was a little sad to know we had to share the zoo again. I highly recommend this program, the girls all loved it. Craig, Hannah, Rachael, my parents, Emily and Drew joined us once the zoo opened to the public and we had a great day together. The next week at school Grace had to write about two animals and one of their structures and purpose. She was well prepared!