other things that i forgot:

the zoo-feeding the deer (ava) to the exclusion of nearly everything else, peacocks and peahens and discovering that i do a superb peacock call, lions, tigers, and bears, bees, the 50,000th skinned knee of the trip [of about 100,000]), lemurs, all sorts of birds and a lot of monkeys. and tortoises!

kiddie acres--a pint-sized amusement park. sno cones, little trains (carter rode all by himself), ferris wheel, the airplanes, the carousel, the ponies, the cars, the boats, and one very determined 2-year-old.

the children's museum--a life-sized city bus, the diggers, the sound exhibit, the kitchen, the store, the dairy display, the vet's office, the bat bar, the train, the music room (where there is a camera that transmits you dancing on the stage to a screen in the lobby--a fact that i was completely unaware of as i did the jitterbug and the twist with ava until a kind-hearted texas father clued me in to the fact that i was shimmying for all the parents in austin.

a play for kids about a sea turtle--top row, ava on stage to 'help,' funny starfish, and lots of interaction.

a huge orange dinosaur statue

a statue of sno-cone with sunglasses on

lots of trains. real trains. long freight trains with double and triple engines.

escalators. VERY exciting.

and, how could i forget!? the oscar meyer weiner truck! a giant hotdog on wheels, doing 70 mph down route 35, right past carter's window.