Playing Hooky

Last Friday, as I was turning on cartoons for the boys in the morning, I saw some breaking news from Lakewood (we really never make the Seattle-based news) so I tuned in, much to the dismay of my kids ("MOM! This isn't Ben 10!!"). Anyway, the breaking news was that Lakes High School (you know, the notorious high school I graduated from) that is right down the road from my house was closed for possible cases of Swine Flu. Being a little neurotic and slightly paranoid, I decided that, even though Rix doesn't attend Lakes (yet) that Lakes students share our buses and it's possible that these Lakes students that might be infected have siblings that go to Rix's school (Rix's school is in the same school district as Lakes). Instead, we called in "sick" and I took the boys to the zoo instead. I was very brave to take them by myself, but they were so good and had such a good time! The weather was perfect and the zoo wasn't very busy. We went out to pizza for dinner and attended a Rainiers game that night with Dave and Lindsay. We left Cole with a babysitter while we went to the game - he has a tiny attention span and would only last a couple innings. And I know, I know, I took them out in public when the reason I kept Rix home from school was to keep him from getting sick. But I figured he wouldn't be in serious contact with anyone at the zoo and dinner was with some clients that Bryan was doing a side job with. I kept lots of Purell with me and made sure all hands were washed before eating.

Cole and Rix at the aquarium. They loved having the fish swim towards them.

Cole especially loved the fish. He would point and scream every time one came near him. I think the fish thought it was a game because they kept coming back! Or maybe they thought Cole looked tasty...

I managed to get them all looking at me!

The beluga whale kept swimming in circles, so he'd swim right by the boys every thirty seconds or so. They LOVED it - can you see the excitement on Rix's face? (Sort of see it?)

The Point Defiance Zoo has a new Kids Zone - and it was a mad house. Although the zoo wasn't busy, the kid zone was crazy! I had to ask a teenager to get out of this toy because it's meant for little kids - and he was sleeping in it. Hmmm....anyway, Cole thought this toy was awesome.

They have these slides (I think they are supposed to be slug trails or something?) but they are fun but slow. They also get hot in the sun.

Bryce being unphotogenic it the aquarium. :)

Rix meeting Rhubarb at the Rainiers game. They do this thing where you can "Run with Rhubarb" - you run through right field and through a side gate. Notice Bryce is nowhere to be seen around Rhubarb. He's scared of him.

Rix and Lindsay - I think it's in Rix's blood to make faces for the camera.

Bryce and me at the game. They had so much fun watching the game now that Rix is in T-ball and they understand it a little better.

Dave and Bryan - note above where I said it's in Pearson blood to make faces for the camera.

We bought Rix and Bryce some licorice rope (ew). They thought it was so cool!

Overall playing hooky was a lot of fun, and I'm not against doing it again if the weather is awesome and I'm up for an adventure with my boys. It was a fun day to spend with them doing things we normally don't get to do on the weekdays because Rix is in school.