Anoles and Trains

Last night Chloe had a friend over and they decided to sleep in a tent on the back patio.  This morning we promised to take the kids to Fiesta Texas.  We packed in the car and arrived early to secure quick entry to the park.  We rode rides and found out, for certain, Brett does NOT like rides.  ANY RIDES.  He likes the train that drives through the park and tolerated the bumper cars.  I took him on a moderate roller coaster and the look of horror on his face and the terror in his eyes made me want to stop the roller coaster and take him off.  He was incredibly scared.  The "log ride" features a picture of Brett hugging me for dear life.  If you've ever been on that ride, it has no height or age restriction, it is very mild.
Brett's favorite part of the Fiesta Texas experience besides "Miss Kitty" , the train, was the wildlife.  He made me snap the photograph of the lizards before he jumped in to a bush on the edge of a large water feature.  The piece of wood the lizards are sitting on is one of the bridge supports for the water feature.  Luckily I was able to grab him before he went tumbling into the water on a chase for the anoles.

The emptiness on the train is a good indicator of the traffic at the park until around 2pm when we exited the park.  I was reminded of the expense of visiting an amusement park and also of the difficulty of eating gluten free, unless you count the candy store, YUM!  We had to drop Chloe's friend off at swimming and then we arrived at the house.  I really wanted a nap since last night I woke up at 1pm and spent the next 3 hours worrying about the raccoon finding my kittens and I wandered the property in the middle of the night armed with a flashlight.  I was more of a danger to myself than the raccoon who is hunting my chickens.  I was so incredibly tired and worried that I took an Advil PM (I'm fairly certain it is an expired bottle from 2011) at 4am.  Needless to say, the 7:30 alarm came too early.

Our neighbors were over for a visit when a friend called and invited us over for dinner.  Our neighbors had come to visit the babies and shortly after they left , we went over to have dinner and swim with friends.  When I say swim, I mean the kids swam.  Dinner was delicious, but my mind was focused on arriving home before dark to collect eggs and get the chickens put away before the raccoon has a chance to strike again.  This morning there was a deep hole dug at the door of my chicken coop.  Luckily, the door is built on a 2X4 which requires a deep and long hole in order to bust in to the coop.  The wire goes down 6 inches around the perimeter with wood along the base and then cedar logs stacked against the inside and outside of the border of the coop.  It is FORT KNOX, but this raccoon is starting to get hungry.  I've turned my attention to the tiny, helpless kittens who are living in the barn and are unable to be moved or protected unless I bring them indoors.  I like being married, so the kittens are required to stay in the barn.  All this thinking and writing is reminding me about the lack of sleep I had last night.  I think I better get some rest.

I am thankful for the beautiful weather spent outdoors with my family (Day 110).  Goodnight Friends.