Fossil Rim

This past weekend I went to Fossil Rim in Glen Rose, Texas with the Animal Husbandry Association. It was amazing. This is the only place in the world like this, literally. They have over 1000 animals and many endanger species. We went to volunteer there and did different random jobs. Me and 5 other girls worked the front gate, 3 of us at a time told people the road rules and then sent them in to pay for their tickets. One of the girls, Jillian is an amazing artist and she drew a giraffe for their volunteer Information Board. After we finished volunteering they took us on the tour and we got to feed the animals. I hand feed a giraffe and some deer. A little pet peeve...one of the rules was to toss the food away from the car but you could feed the giraffe by hand...there were tons of car feeding the zebras by hand!!! I soooo wanted them to get bit!!! Our group stayed in some cabins and we had a blast! We played some games and tried to scare each other...that was hilarious!!!!
I have come to realize I post way too many pictures so here are just a few from the trip.

Madeleine at Music Class

In February Madeleine learned to play the violin and several new songs. She loves to sing and I will hear her singing different songs throughout the house that she learned at music class. It is really cute! March she is learning to play the Cello.

Vacations

Our vacations aren't lining up like we had hoped. Jahno had to take Vacation either before or after my spring break so he chose before. My Club had to move their project at Fossil Rim from this weekend to next weekend which ends Jahno's Vacation but starts mine. And this weekend is full with some family matters. So I am hoping that Jahno will be able to take off a little bit early Friday the 19th and we can take a weekend trip to Sea World. If this doesn't work out we are going to take a little trip to Moody Gardens. I am stressing over it because things aren't falling in place like I want them to. Oh well...there is my little vent.

Bad Blogger Again

So things have been crazy busy and I have been so tired at nights that I haven't had a chance to blog. Where to start....Last Friday I went to monitor Donley the Dolphin. When I got there I was training the new girl when we got word there was another dolphin stranded. One of us were asked to come help so I went. I was helping get the pool ready but we were having issues, the bladder wouldn't fill up so myself and another girl were standing in 52 degree water trying to hold up the pool. And then it started storming. We had to move that pool and get another pool set up. Then once the working pool was filled I got to assist in getting the new dolphin from the truck to the pool. Once she was in she started swimming on her own which we thought was a good sign. Her results came back that she had neurological problems and was suffering. She is now in Dolphin Heaven.

Trying to hold up the pool.


Got her off the truck


Trying to get her out of the stretcher


She was huge!

Monitoring the Dolphin

Today was my first shift watching Donley the Dolphin. He was found at Port Aransas as a baby. He is either 8 or 10 months and doing very well. He is self feeding, playing with toys and loves attention. 7 places applied for him but Sea World San Antonio will get him because they have a maternal dolphin which is what Donley needs. He is doing very well and is very strong. The supervisor thinks that Sea World will be coming to get him sometime next week. I have my next shift on Friday and I can't wait!!!

Another New Addition

Sunday afternoon I drove about 2 hours to look at a little Maltese Puppy. It is kinda a sad story, the lady's best friend had overdosed on meds and left her with 12 Maltese Puppies. Well with the economy she was having a hard time selling them so she had dropped the price by quite a bit. I went there to look at a little boy because she had told me that was all she had left. Well, by the time I got there the person who was suppose to buy the girl backed out so she offered me either one for the same price...little girls are usually more expensive. I chose the little girl, drove 2 hours to Kimmie's picked up the girls and headed home. Maddie loves her little white puppy. I was hoping to have a name for her before posting this but we still don't. Suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Great Saturday!

This morning I got up and went to the Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network Training. It was great! We learned what to do to help rescue live animals and what to do with none living. We also had hands on training on how to move an animal and how to capture a dolphin in the water and then we had to carry 50lbs 50 ft. It was soooo cold but it was good. I have my first shift Monday morning after I drop the girls off and before classes. We currently have a baby dolphin who will be going to Sea World San Antonio once he is able. Since he is not going back into the wild we will get to get into the water with him soon than most new volunteers usually get to get into the water. I am so excited about everything.

Once I finished I came and got the family and we went to look at puppy/dogs. Our first stop Jahno found one he really liked, they aren't sure of his breed so they are calling him a black mouth cur mix. He was pretty big but so sweet, he loved Gianna and Maddie was bouncing around but he didn't get anxious or jumpy or hyper or anything. He also thought he was a lap dog. He did not bark when every other dog, literally, was barking. The biggest problem was his tail was lethal and right at Maddie's face. The lady joked at they would cut his tail off for us because he was such a great dog. We went to several other places but didn't seem to find anything. The very last place we went there was the cutest little black dog but he was brought in today as a stray so he isn't up for adoption until Thursday. I have been looking online tonight because a lot of the adoption places cost as much as getting puppy. And at least with a puppy we are getting exactly what we want and not just settling. Anyways so the dog thing is still an on going process.

Finally, Madeleine has been extremely attached to me lately. Tonight when I was putting her to bed, we read in her bed, we usually read in the chair and then I tuck her in. So we were covered up, cuddling and I began reading. She told me we had to whisper so we did not wake up Gianna. She I whispered with rest of the story. Then as I finished she said, "Mommy, I have a secret." I asked her what her secret was. She said, "I miss the Christmas Tree!" I love the fact that she is getting so big and starting to tell me secrets. I hope it stays this way and she does want to tell me her secrets, I know there is a good chance she will hate me from 11 to 18 but one can hope right. :-)