Baby Giraffe

After we finished our pizza, we headed to the zoo.

The newest member of the zoo is a baby giraffe, born on October 22nd.  He was named Kiko, which means "Autumn's child" in Swahili.  He was 5'8" tall and weighed more than 118 pounds.  It was estimated that he will grow to be about 16' tall and will weigh as much as 2,600 pounds.

Kiko

Autumn
(Kiko's mother)

Giraffes are the tallest of all mammals.  Mature male giraffes can stand up to 19 feet tall and weigh as much as 4,000 pounds.  Female giraffes can stand up to 16 feet tall and weigh as much as 2,500 pounds.

Giraffes are social and live in small groups or large herds.  Adult giraffes roam over a large area to feed almost exclusively on the new shoots of shrubs and trees, with Acadia trees being their favorite.

After a gestation of 15 to 16 months, female giraffes give birth to a single young.  When born, the calf will stand approximately six feet tall and can weigh as much as 150 pounds.  The calf can grow an inch a day and double its height in a year.

source:  Greenville Zoo

We saw other animals, too...

even farm animals....

It was a gorgeous fall day...perfect zoo weather!  :)

Pizza Certificate

On October 1st, the Pizza Hut Book It! reading program began for this school year.
At the end of the month, T was awarded a certificate for achieving his reading goal for the month of October.

We went to Pizza Hut for lunch today to celebrate his accomplishment...and since T's papa had a vacation day from work, he came with us!

T received a reading passport...

and a personal pan pizza...

Mmmm!

which was very hot...

HOT!!!

and ever so yummy!

Good work, T!  :)

Astronaut at Publix

Next, we went to Publix (grocery store) for their event.

T enjoyed playing the games they had set up:

   Toss the spiders into the jack-o'-lantern...

   Toss the rings onto the 2-liter soda bottles...

   Choose a fish...and hope it has an "X" on the underside....

He also had fun collecting candy...

and ended up with quite a stash!  ;o)

Halloween Gift

My sister and niece surprised us by stopping by this afternoon with a Halloween gift for T.

My niece had made chocolate chip cookies and Jack-o'-lantern sugar cookies and had packaged them (along with a KitKat candy bar!) in a Halloween cello bag.

She also gave T a Snoopy window cling...which he promptly placed on the window by our kitchen table.  :)

T likes his gifts...

and he loves his cousin!  :)

Home-Bound

Yesterday was our last day at Disney World.

I didn't want the *Magic* to end!

This morning, we packed up and headed for home.  It was a good trip...until we had a flat tire on our rental vehicle about an hour from our destination.

We ended up arriving home three hours later than we anticipated...which made for a very long trip.  It all worked out, though.  :)

Magic-Bound

This morning, my parents-in-law, my husband, T, and I headed toward the most magical place this side of the Mississippi -- Disney World!  :D

We are staying for a week in my parents' timeshare in Kissimmee, Florida...located five minutes from Disney World.  It doesn't get any better than that, does it??!  :)

Orange

This is an orange meal I packed for T to take to co-op tomorrow.

bottom layer:

• crunchy Cheetos
• pumpkin-shaped sandwiches with Twizzlers vines

top layer:

• mandarin oranges
• mini cupcakes with orange-tinted frosting (both) and orange sugar (top) and orange nonpareils (bottom)

Linked to:

   Bento Blog Network
   Bento Blog Network

Black is the Color

This week at Bento Blog Network, the challenge is to create a meal based on a color. Since T's favorite color changes often (sometimes on a daily basis!), I decided to go with black.

• black spider mini Oreo cookie with black licorice legs and orange sprinkles eyes; three additional cookies underneath
• mini cupcake with black icing and black spider icing decoration
• celery sticks in black cauldron with Parmesan peppercorn dressing on side
• pitted black olives on sword picks
• "black" bat-shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with black sprinkles eyes
• crunchy Cheetos
• fruit punch Juicy Juice with eyes attached to glass

T looked at his lunch and said, "Cool!"  ~That was fun!  ;o)

Checking it out

Linked to:
   Bento Blog Network
   Muffin Tin Mom
   Bento Blog Network

Fall Tree

This is a fall-themed meal that T enjoyed today.

• tree trunk = pretzel rods
• tree branches = pretzel sticks
• leaves = leaf-shaped peanut butter and orange marmalade sandwiches
• maple leaf = Dare (brand) Maple Leaf Creme Cookie
• applesauce with fall leaves sprinkles
• milk in yellow cup with fall leaf stickers

T went for the cookie first.  :)

I'm not sure why he felt the need to stack up his sandwiches after eating his cookie? :)

Check out some other totally vegan meals at Bento Blog Network.
Check out some other autumn meals at Bento Blog Network.
Check out some other trees meals at Bento Blog Network.