Memphis Zoo

The kids & I finally made it to the Memphis Zoo.  It's been on my to-do list for a while but we never seemed to find the time or extra money (paying for tonsils and teeth gets pretty expensive! 😏) to go.

Our home school group went to the zoo for a field trip on May 2nd and we couldn't pass up that deal.  It only cost $5 per person + the $5 parking fee.  So we packed our lunches and strollers and went!  Our sweet friend Mariah came too, partly because she loves the zoo and partly to make sure Shiloh didn't take it upon himself to jump into the penguin display while I wasn't looking.

Favorites:
Shiloh - penguins
Amos - sting rays (he could have spent all day standing there feeding the sting rays)
Samuel - Komodo Dragons (the Memphis Zoo has more than ONE k. dragon!)
Hannah - Orangutan (the were was a sweet baby orangutan that was so stinking cute!!)
Mariah - penguins
Heather - giraffes (that we didn't get to see because we detoured to look at the new baby hippo, Winnie)

Mariah completely spoiled my kids and they all left the zoo with their favorite animal.
Shiloh - a "Dory" fish
Amos - a sting ray
Hannah - an orangutan
Samuel - (with the largest stuffed animal of all because we've not found one at any other zoo) a
                 komodo dragon

Sammy | Tonsils

Poor Sammy.  He's had strep five - FIVE - times since we've moved to AR.  We would occasionally get strep when we lived in SC but I feel like every time we turn around Sammy has been sick.  Then that leads to at least one other Clark kid getting sick.

After our most recent battle, we were finally referred to an ENT.  Sam was not happy to even go to the consultation.  We had our consult in March and his surgery was April 18th.

He really struggled with his recovery.  Partly because I couldn't' get him to eat anything.  We had stocked up on Popsicles and ice cream but he didn't want any of it.  Finally we tried soups and Ramen noodles and he did much better.  Several times he bemoaned the fact that he would never eat again (sounds like me when I'm pregnant and dealing with morning sickness).  Then one day he started eating again and hasn't looked back.

We know having your tonsils out doesn't guarantee that you won't get strep again but we're praying it will in Sammy's case.  My poor buddy can't handle any more fevers and strep rashes!

I'll leave you with the video of Sammy after he was given his "sleepy juice" before his surgery.  He was a hoot!!