Our day at the zoo!!!

Today the boys and I decided to go to the zoo. We were walking around enjoying the animals when a man from the zoo came up to us and told me that we needed to follow him immediately that there was a code red. I of course asked what that ment and he told me there was an animal loose. We followed him to the special events building. He got on his phone and asked someone to call him when the code red was over. A couple minutes later he walked us up to the front office. While we were up there I heard another worker tell someone that she was hearing two stories. She said she heard it was a ... (I didn't hear what she said) then the other worker she was talking to shhhhh!ed her and told her to come talk to her somewhere else. About 5 minutes later the all clear was given. They said the escaped animal was a Bongo Antelope. They are the 2nd biggest antelopes in the world. Here is a picture. I think it's a conspiracy though and it was a more dangerous animal. I talked later to another worker who told me the same story that it was the bongo and then told me someone got thier codes mixed up. Code Red is for a dangerous animal such as a lion or bear. A code yellow is for a non-dangerous animal like an antelope. I'm not sure I buy it. Anyway, what a story!! Nate also got stung by a bee for the first time. He screamed so loud. We went to the first aid station and we go the stinger out and I smashed the bee even though he was dying anyway. He is fine now. Here is a picture of my precious boys too.

Hurricane Dolly

Well it's been an interesting week. On Saturday I was watching the news and they starting talking about a tropical storm hitting the Yuchatan. I figured we didn't have anything to worry about. On Sunday I saw that the projected path was leading straight toward Brownsville. It was projected to make a Category 1 hurricane before it hit land. Monday I watched the weather channel religiously. Now they had it going a little bit south. Monday afternoon the path was Brownsville again. I decided to throw some clothes in a bag just in case. Greg was scheduled to leave Tuesday morning witht he praise band for a convention in San Antonio. Tuesday morning the tropical storm was picking up speed. Greg left around 7:30am. I called some friends who have lived here their whole lives and asked what I should do. They offered for me to come over there during the storm for a hurricane party, but said they understood if I wanted to leave. They said they thought we would be fine though. Around 9:30 I decided to go get plywood to board up the windows. I figured I was the only crazy on in Brownsville. NOT SO!! When I arrived at Home Depot there were tons of people. I had to wait in line for about 10 minutes to get the plywood. If my husband had been a little more concerned for his family this would have already been done. He thought there was no need for it. I am always thinking, "Better safe than sorry." (I still wasn't sure if I was staying or going.) While waiting in line to pay I asked a worker at home depot if he was from Brownsville. He said that he was and then I told him my situation. "My husband is out of town and I am going to be here by myself with the kids if I decide to stay. Am I ok to stay or should I leave?" He said, "If you were my wife I would make you go." DONE!! I went home and thanks to my wonderful friend Racheal and her awesome kids Asha and Isaiah we got the plywood up on the windows. Then I loaded the car and drove to San Antonio. Well, I think we did the right thing (no matter what Greg says). Tuesday afternoon Dolly became a Category 1 hurricane and Wednesday a Category 2. I would have been terrified had I been at home by myself. We came back to Brownsville on Friday. There was a lot of flooding about 30 miles north of Brownsville. We lost some shingles and the kids swingset looks like its a goner, but other than that we are fine. Here are a couple pictures of flooding and damage.