stingray bay clarification. and other zoo comment replies

the stingray bay exhibit is hands on. you put your hands in the water palm up like you are feeding them and they came swimming by curious and looking for food. so in order to touch them you have to hang your hands in the water. they were slimy. and smooth. the stingers were clipped off the stingrays (like fingernails they said)
the kids were counting how many times they touched one. Peyton got up to 45. and liberty had like 37 times. there are sharks in there too. bamboo sharks (i touched those) and nurse sharks i didn't get over there to see. it's a giant tank and crowded with people around it. so by the end the kids were kinda drenched. but they thought it was the coolest ever. and dried fast
there are Cownose and southern stingrays.

the exhibit will be there until the end of April when it heats up here . we'll have to go again to that before it leaves.

I didn't expound on the pictures becuase i was posting these when my sister hotmama came over to help me do a hair bow photo tutorial for that enrichment mini class. when I'm done I'll post it for you guys too.

and Lance's shirt? we call it his Barney shirt. it is Barney purple. he had matching with the kids from the GAP when Paxton was a baby7 years ago, he hates it and only wears it when he's out of other clean clothes. he'd normally wear black like the rest of us. but he was at my moms when i picked him up.

hair dos on the girls ? is never optional , sometimes they are lame(just a ponytail and bow). but they always have their hair done when we go somewhere. at home they look ratty sometimes, but i prefer clean faces and hair combed kids too but I have gotten more relaxed. i used to curl their hair everyday. but that doesn't happen any more either. and the boys? well sometimes they think they look fine without it combed and it depends on how pressed for time we are if i fight them or not.
and of course if i feel like crap, i let it slide. you can tell how good i feel by how my kids look. if i feel like A$$, they look like it. and all my standards are in the toilet. it's a survival skill i finally learned.

but thanks for thinking they were cute and matchy. i do that so if i loose one i can know what they had on. and also so everyone knows they are all with me(mine). not just bringing spares along.