We've Moved!

About a month ago, we left our home in Carrollton, Texas and relocated to Aurora, Illinois. Dallas to Chicago - a big move for us! Robert was offered a promotion with the condition that he would have to relocate. We happily accepted and now we're in a new place. Moving was a big headache and we had some hiccups selling our home in Texas (including a check that the title company mailed to Aurora, Colorado instead of Illinois), but things are smoothing out now. 

Our house in Carrollton, Texas

Good-bye Texas!

I have to remind myself to not say Ill-i-noise. Emily keeps telling me that it's "just like Texas here!" The weather hasn't been "just like Texas" here; seems like the high temperature has only been 80 degrees instead of 95+. Robert loves his new job and the company car that came with it. We've made friends and started sightseeing. We're working on getting licensed for foster care in Illinois. 

Hello Illinois!
We had a family picnic the first night in our new place.

All in all, we are sad to leave our friends in Texas, but we are very happy with the way life is turning out for us in Illinois.

Zoo Animal Profile Cards

Guys. Seriously. Sometimes I am just awesome/crazy. We received passes to the Dallas Zoo for Christmas and I decided that it would be a fun learning opportunity. So I made cards for each kind of animal at the zoo. And laminated maps. 

We are going to be learning all kinds of things over here! Like what a rock hyrax is and what reticulated means.

 And did you know there is more than one kind of zebra?! Yep.

Our plan is to see every animal at the Dallas Zoo before the year is up. We'll put stickers on the cards of the animals that we've seen. 

Lest you think I'm too awesome, I did not do the research for the cards. I totally copy-and-pasted all of the information from the Dallas Zoo's website. But I DID do some really sweet formatting. Here are the files:

Mammals
Birds
Reptiles and Amphibians
Invertebrates

I printed them out on cardstock using my home printer, laminated them and then cut along the lines. I'm thinking about punching holes in the cards and putting them together on a ring. But it might be handy to have them separate. We'll have to see what works best for us.

I hope you enjoy them!

P.S. The Dallas Zoo has an iPhone app! I wanted actual cards for my 4-year-old who is more tactile, but the app is really cool too. You can find all of the same animal info on the app. On each profile page, you can click on the "Map" button and it will show you exactly where in the zoo that animal is located. The app also lists the schedule of events for the day. And it has an awesome "Friend Finder" You get a PIN number and your friend gets a PIN. You share your PINs with each other and the Friend Finder lets you see your friends each others location on the map for 24 hours. Neato!

P.P.S. After looking at the map, I just noticed that the zoo's list of animals is incomplete. Where is the info for the koalas? Emus? Lorikeets? Red crowned crane? The app map says there are camel rides, but the one printed from the websites doesn't say anything about camels. Do you have camels or not?! I need to know!! What about the koi and owls I've seen in the Children's Zoo? Not having complete information drives me crazy! Obviously. I might be sending the zoo an email. Time for an update people!