Baby Bear

Great news! Mrs. Shrock is going to have a baby! She has known for a while but on Friday we got to see pictures of the baby inside her tummy and watch the baby on a DVD. The baby weighs about 9 ounces right now and is about the size of a tomato. Mr. and Mrs. Shrock don't know if the baby will be a girl or boy yet, but they've got some names picked out just in case. They have to wait until it is born in March. I attached one of Mrs. Shrock's pictures so you could see what it looks like right now. I am so excited and can't wait to have a baby Baylor bear!

Palmetto State Park/San Antonio, Texas

This weekend I went camping at Palmetto State Park which is near San Antonio, Texas. We slept in a tent and roasted hot dogs. There were lots of kids staying at the park enjoying the fishing and hiking. We went on a hike and saw a real armadillo. You have to be careful there though because the area is swampy so snakes like to hang out. We also had some ducks hanging around our campsite because we stayed next to the San Marcos river. The next day we went to see the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. This is a very old place where there was a famous battle. We also visited the San Antonio Zoo. It is huge and has so many animals! Can you guess what my favorite part was? ....The bears of course! They had some of my speckled bear relatives which I had never seen before. It was a great zoo but bring your walking shoes because they built the zoo on a big hill!

Baylor Bears

You can go to Baylor University and find lots of bears but their are two special black bears that live at Baylor. They are Joy and Lady. They are the Baylor mascots. They are very nice and have a beautiful home. If you go to Baylor I suggest you stop by and see Joy and Lady. They even don't mind when Mops stops by even though she's not sure what they are doing in there. Sic 'em Joy and Lady!

Tulsa

Last weekend I went to see Mrs. Shrock's family. They live in Tulsa, Oklahoma which is a much bigger city than Waco. We stayed at Mrs. Shrock's grandma's house. I also met Mrs. Shrock's mom, sisters, brother-in-law, aunt, nephew, and Mr. Shrock's parents. We had so much fun. We went to the rodeo and to Woolaroc in Bartlesville, OK, which is a really fun museum full of Native American and western things. The only part I didn't like were all the mounted heads. But we found out all of the animals had died naturally on the ranch surrounding the museum. You should check it out! Here is a picture of me and Mrs. Shrock's nephew Derek.

Provident Heights Elementary

Today I visited Provident Heights Elementary in Waco, Texas. Mrs. Shrock teaches a section of TED 1312 Introduction to Education. This class is for students who want to become teachers someday like Mrs. Shrock. The students have been learning how to work with 3rd graders to tutor them in reading. We went to the school for the first time today and the college kids met their 3rd grader. They introduced themselves and learned how many 3rd grade words they could read and spell. They did a great job working with their student. I really liked the cafeteria too! All of the paintings in the hallways were so neat to look at. I can't wait to go back!

Mops

Mops is the dog that I live with. She belongs to Mrs. Shrock. She is about 1 1/2 years old. She is a Chinese pug but she was born in Buffalo, Oklahoma. Mrs. Shrock got her from her aunt and uncle's farm where they have lots of puppies. Mops got her name because it means "pug" in German. We are great friends! Pugs have short noses and big eyes. They are small dogs which is good because she'll be a good size to play with me. I like her curly tail best! She is a nice dog but you've got to be careful because she likes to chew!

Lake Waco Dam

Yesterday I went to the Lake Waco Dam. You can hike or ride your bike up to the dam. We drove to a spot and parked the car and then hiked up to the dam. There are several places to start from and several ways you can hike or bike on the trail. Bring your walking shoes though it's a pretty long hike. It is really neat to look off of the dam. You can see lots of boats in the water and you can see the big gears it takes to run the dam. We also saw lots of buzzards but I'm not sure why they kept circling around. We went late in the afternoon and the sun was so pretty.