13 | August | 2012 | realteachermom

Meet the newest addition to our family, “Baby Gecko”:

He (or she?) is a leopard gecko. Lily had her eye on him every time we went in the pet store to get crickets for the anoles. Well, anole. We had 5 at one time, but they’re not very hardy creatures, and sadly we are down to one.

John decided to surprise Lily with an early birthday present.

Anyone who knows Lily knows that she loves leopards, leopard print, anything leopard. Her grandpa calls her Peg Bundy (affectionately, of course.) We also decided that adopting a trio of leopard cubs through the World Wildlife Fund would be a terrific gift for our little lady. I just had to explain that we wouldn’t be able to bring them home, but our donation would help feed them and protect them. She was cool with that. So it’s only natural that she would fall in love with a cute little gecko covered in leopard spots!

Phoebe loves holding him, too:

After all the gecko excitement and some lunch, we jumped in the car for an impromptu trip to Great Adventure:

Season passes are definitely the way to go. We paid $69.99 each for the amusement park and safari, plus an extra $50 for unlimited parking. This was our third trip so far, so it has more than paid for itself. Plus, we got coupon books filled with extra savings for friends and family and discounts on souvenirs. Next year, we will probably add Hurricane Harbor, the water park.

We love going on rides! Lily is exactly 44 inches, so we were all able to go on Rolling Thunder and Runaway Mine Train.

Blue raspberry ice!

We also went on Sky Screamer. This one is not for the faint for heart.

Twenty-four stories high at 40 mph! What were we thinking?? The girls loved it though!

The wait for Sky Screamer was so long, that by the time we got off, we were like a bunch of misfit dwarves–hungry, cranky, sticky, sweaty and itchy! Not wanting to eat greasy and overpriced park food, we got on the highway and stopped at TGIFriday’s. We inhaled this plate of nachos.

I was very excited to find a new spicy black bean burger on their menu. This gives me hope that chain type restaurants are finally starting to realize that people want options besides meat, cheese and carbs. Many places put meat all over salads and pastas, bacon on their vegetables, beef broth in the soup. Many a time I have ordered a salad “without the chicken,” and have been served a $9 plate of wilted iceberg. This is one of the reasons I started eating a little fish. I figure a grilled piece of salmon and some steamed veggies are far more nutritious than a plate covered in cheese or completely devoid of protein.

I definitely do not miss eating meat, and would probably become ill if I ate a “real” burger, but it was nice to wrap my hands around this bad boy. It came with the works: sliced avocado, lettuce, tomato, pickles and caramelized onions. It did come with cheese and a smear of spicy mayo, which I will probably ask them to omit next time. I contemplated subbing the fries also, but I decided to only eat a couple of them.