It's a zoo in here!

Lions and Tigers and...Giraffes?

I have great intentions of posting updates of our wonderful adventures in the evenings of the day they happen.  However, I like to live in a somewhat clean house and I have this weird obsession about having a clean kitchen -- even if the rest of the house is less than desirable.  So I'm a week late in posting about our last weekend adventure.  But I suppose better late than never. 

Last Saturday we took a day trip to the Abilene Zoo.  Hubby called me from work the day before and suggested we go.  We've been saying for some time that we can't wait to take the kids to the zoo, so we drove a couple of hours to Abilene.  It's a teeny-tiny zoo (20 acres) but just about right for this particular day.  Isaac, who was previously ecstatic about going to the zoo (and even energetically sang the "Daddy's Takin' Us to the Zoo Tomorrow" song all Friday evening) was oh-so-enthusiastic by the time we got there.  Can't you just see it on his face?  Gracie was a little cranky, but she's still in the "I can sleep in my car seat whenever I want" stage.  

Gracie's bucket hat was a little odd fitting...didn't provide much protection from the sun.  But she looked adorable!

We got a late start, and by the time we made the two and a half hour trip along with lunch and a couple of Wal-Mart stops for zoo "necessities", it was mid-afternoon...and naptime.  But nonetheless, Isaac perked up quite a bit when we entered the first "stop"...the snake pit.  This cobra...I think it was a cobra...was considerably taken by Isaac.  When we first saw him, he was slithering around the parameter of his big box and upon making his way around the home stretch to the front of the glass, my 2 1/2 year old eagerly runs up to the glass cheering, "Hi, snake...Hi!!!" while waving enthusiastically.  Then this snake curls up around this huge rock, raises up, and stares at my son for about 5 minutes!  Kinda freaky.  But fun for Isaac, nonetheless.  I think the snake gave him special attention because he was so friendly.  

Still in the snake pit....

One of the great things about the Abilene Zoo is that you can feed the giraffes!  Unfortunately, we found out they have a daily limit, so you have to be one of the first 250 people in the gate to get cracker tokens to feed them.  So we'll definitely take that into consideration for our next trip.  Even so, it's still pretty awesome to see the giraffes up close and personal from the bridge that stretches across their "habitat."  I felt bad for my little guy, though, who was disappointed (and had a hard time understanding) that we couldn't feed the giraffes after Mom and Dad had raved about how neat it would be.  At one point, he knelt down by the fence and stuck out his hand and said (in the cutest little sweetest voice I could imagine!), "Come here, giraffe.  Come here, giraffe."  Note to self: next trip -- be there at 9am!  This boy needs to feed these giraffes!

Me and Gracie in front of the giraffes and the observation/feeding bridge. 

 Mufasa...

 Mufasa's wife...

 They had lion cubs, that were almost the size of the lioness, sleeping lazily along the front of the brick wall.  I didn't get a picture because they looked like a pack of lady lions -- not very much like baby lions.  At first I thought that Mufasa here was quite the stud and had his pick of the litter, so to speak.  But then I realized that the cubs advertised by the zoo weren't so "cubby" anymore.
 

 

By the time we got to the zebras and the rhinoceroses, Isaac was pretty much done.  So we made our way back around to a resting bench in the shade by the lions.  Mommy tried to get Isaac to smile for a picture by tickling him.  And Isaac played photographer and took Daddy's picture while Gracie slept in the stroller. 




"CHEESE!"

See the giraffe bridge in the background?  That's how big (small) this zoo is.  But it's great for the younger kids!

The older I get, and the older my kiddos get, the more I appreciate and cherish family time.  I love days like these!