Meet Garvey the Gorilla

Hi, my name is Garvey, Garvey the Gorilla. I'm a stuffed friend in Mrs. Westfahl's Pre-K class at Parkland Elementary. Each weekend I'm going to get to go home with a different student in her morning class to experience life in their family. This past weekend was my first trip & I got to spend it with Tatum & her family. Wow! What an exciting first weekend. I'll share a little of my journey with you. (BTW, Tatum took the above picture of me. Didn't she take a great one?)

I didn't realize this, but they already had a fun mini-vacation planned so not only did I get to spend the time with a new family, but I got to actually go on a fun trip. We were going to Dallas.

Tatum & me buckled up & ready to leave.

The first event on the agenda was to go to the Rainforest Cafe. This is an exciting place to eat. It actually has a thunderstorm every 20 minutes & then the animals start going crazy about every 10 minutes. It was really fun.

Tatum & I had our picture made by this giant frog welcoming us to the Cafe.

Here you see me pictured with an adult gorilla. This gorilla was one of the entertainers at the Rainforest Cafe & was nice enough to have a picture taken with me. She would shake those trees around & speak in gorillaese with the other animals.

We stayed in a hotel & you will never believe this but Tatum & I had the coolest bed! We were both amazed when Tatum's parents pulled this bed out of the couch. We thought it was comfy, but what I understand is that most adults don't. Maybe we were just the right size. Tatum has a really cool little brother that got to sleep with us, too.

When we woke up on Saturday morning we went to this really cool McDonald's. It had a safari theme, probably because it was by the Dallas Zoo. There were animals inside, but we thought it would be fun for us to all have our picture made with the giant gorilla eating french fries outside. I hear that the french fries at McDonald's are yumm-o!

After breakfast, we were off to our next destination, the OSU/Baylor football game or what Tatum & her brother call the Go Pokes game. Not only was this my first Cowboy football game, but it was Cross's as well. It is customary for you to wear orange &/or other OSU apparel to the games & Tatum's family helped me to participate in this tradition. I wore an orange & black bandana & they put an OSU tattoo on my cheek. It was an exciting game to go to.

One thing that was really neat, was that we got to be on tv. The game was being televised on the Versus network & because we were so adorably cute, the camera man filmed us. What was funny is the camera guy would say, "Ok in 45 seconds start showing your guns & saying Go Pokes." like we understood that.

Here's a picture of us being filmed as proof for those of you who didn't get to actually see us on television.

Tatum & I got our picture made with a cheerleader &...

PISTOL PETE!

This dude's head weighs 45 pounds, & in the words of Cross, "Pistol Pete doesn't speak really good."

Here we are with Tatum's whole family. Her mom & dad are super cool!

On Sunday, we went to church at Fellowship Church. I stayed in the car because we weren't sure if the people in Tatum's class would let her hold onto me. I kept watch over the car & caught a few more Zzzzs.

After church & lunch, we went to the Dallas World Aquarium. It was way cool. There were all types of animals here & it was full of several different kinds of plant life.

Here we are starting the tour.

There was this big pool that had some swan floating on it, turtles, fish, & a manatee swimming in it. Tatum's mom kept trying to get the manatee's picture, but it wouldn't swim close by so we chose this friendly turtle to pose with instead.

Later, we got to a different tank that contained stingrays & SHARKS! All types of sharks; hammerheads, some saw tooth looking one, & some like the one you see in this picture. What was really cool is that they would swim right up to the glass wall & then over you. DUDE!

We also saw flamingos,

This big python,

these really cute penguins, & many other things. There were even some of my relatives there.

Our final adventure was a relaxing ride in a carriage around downtown Dallas. Our driver's name was Mr. Larry. He was full of all kinds of facts about Dallas. He showed us a big red pegasus on top of a building, a big wall with whales & dolphins on it, & a big, tall, weird shaped building made of glass.

I sat with Tatum & her mom.

Mr. Larry's friend that was doing all the work was Prince. He was this big white horse that really liked us to scratch his nose. Tatum's mommy even scratched his nose. That was really brave of her, since she is kind of scared of horses.

Prince was nice enough to pose with me for a picture.

Tatum's class learned about responsibility a few weeks ago. She must have really listened, because she was great at keeping up with me & took good care of me. Mrs. Westfahl sent 2 books to read I like & she made sure that her mommy or daddy read them. She even let her friend Kyla that also came on the trip read them to us.

I had a fantabulous time with Tatum & her family. I can't wait to see what other types of adventures I will get to go on with Tatum's friends in her class. I know it will definitely be hard to top this one, though!