Rally Day

A while back our school board voted for a change to our school calendar.  Part of the change would give us today off school so staff members could attend a rally supporting education at our State Capitol.  The purpose was to convince legislators to increase funding for education.  Since the 2008-2009 school year our state has cut funding for education by 23%, adding up to about $200 million.  During that time statewide growth was around 40,000 students.  It is sad how little value is put not just in education, but our children and therefore the future of our state and country.  When I received the news, I decided to take Carter with me to the rally.  I feel it is a stronger message to have children present.  Poor funding for education doesn't just hurt teachers, it hurts the students.  Carter may not be in school yet, but he will be sooner than I'd like to admit.  If the budget has been cut so severely since 2008, what will it be like when he is in school?  What opportunities will he not be provided due to the decrease in budget?  It makes me sad just to think about it.  

Ready for the rally!

Our school district asked that we wear red so Carter and I both dressed in red.  Unfortunately I gave him a sippy cup in the car and the little white part on the lid popped off and he drenched his clothes so he needed a clothing change when we arrived to the rally.  He wore his jacket the entire time anyway.  When we stepped out of the car and I saw people with signs, I was kicking myself I hadn't thought of that!  I wished I'd made Carter a sign that said, "Fund education" on one side and "For my future" on the other side.  When I decided to take Carter with me I planned to take him to the zoo afterward.  I had scenarios in my head for what would work best as far as napping.  I hoped he would take a little morning nap on our drive there so he could stay awake longer and then nap on the way home after the zoo.  I figured that wouldn't happen and we would need to leave the rally, let him nap, and then head to the zoo.  So I packed running clothes and looked up running trails in the area.  I figured I'd go for a run and let him sleep in the stroller.  After about 40 minutes in the car on the way there Carter fell asleep and napped for almost an hour by the time we got to the Capitol Building and found parking.  He woke up when I parked and we headed out.

I found a spot over to the side where there weren't as many people so Carter could walk around and play in the grass.  It was great because he was entertained and I definitely didn't want to put him in the stroller after all that time in his car seat!  The disadvantage was that we couldn't really hear much of what was being said.  While the speakers were making their points, people would cheer and clap.  I was cracking up because Carter would start clapping along and still be clapping after everyone else finished.  The rally was still going, but I decided we should head to the zoo because Carter was starting to get frustrated and we couldn't really hear anyway.  So off we went and the zoo wasn't very far away and was actually on our way home.

Clapping along with the crowd!

The zoo there is amazing and the elephant exhibit is the best I've ever seen.  I was so excited to take Carter!  He had a blast and even enjoyed walking some.  When we saw birds he would excitedly exclaim bird.  It was the first time I had heard him say that word!  His favorite animals were squirrel monkeys which actually came right up to the glass.  He laughed the whole time we watched them.  He also really enjoyed the gorillas.  We happened across them during feeding time so they were also up close to the glass.  We lucked out again when we arrived at the elephant exhibit about 10 minutes before their presentation.  I was extremely excited (elephants are my favorite animal), but Carter just couldn't sit still.  So we left partway through the presentation, but did find out that one of the elephants is pregnant and will have her baby in November or December.  My plan was to leave by 3:00 so Carter could nap in the car and we'd beat Ty home.  Around 2:30 we were walking to the area with zebras and giraffes and I looked in the stroller and saw Carter was sleeping so we left.

Checking out the flamingos.

He loved the tiger, pointed at it, and said "cat".

The only reason why he posed for pictures with statues was because they were surrounded by wood chips which he loved playing with!

Zonked out after a busy day!

Transferring Carter from the stroller to the car he stayed asleep, but I needed to change his diaper and that didn't go over well.  He sat and played with his feet for the first 30 minutes of our drive and then miserably started crying.  There was a stop on the highway where I wouldn't even have to exit so after 10 minutes of his crying I stopped there and walked around holding him for a while.  When I put him back in he didn't go to sleep right away, but thankfully wasn't crying anymore.  After about 10 minutes he fell asleep and stayed asleep the whole way home.  He woke up when I parked, but I rocked him for a bit, laid him in his crib, and he is taking a nice little nap right now.  And man, am I tired!  All that driving plus walking around the zoo, I could take a nap myself!