This was the first time I have ever taken four grandchildren to the zoo with me. I was a little hesitant at first, but ... either you brave it and try it ... or ... you don't! The three older kids and I have often gone to the zoo together, and Kaity and I have done zoo adventures too; but there is a lot of years between Kaity and the older kiddos. I prepped the children ahead of time, reassured them that we would see each exhibit they wished to see, asked them NOT to whine while they waited a tiny bit, PRAYED for the Lord to help us, and ... we had a wonderful time.
Meet "Baldy" the Cockatoo. He is new at the zoo this year. His space is behind the penguin house in a nice shady spot, a little down from the Macaw (he is new too). Baldy talks if he takes a notion, and he has the BEST voice. The children were so delighted with him!
They used monkey ropes for a little while ... all of them are good climbers.
Kaity and I went into the barnyard to visit with the goats and sheep. The other kids decided to watch us from outside the fence where it was less smelly.
Kaity brushing the goat's hair. She thought this was pretty cool.
We then walked down to the Budgie place. The birds were super friendly. I love it when they land, two or three at once, on our bodies.
Kaity was still a little overwhelmed at how aggressive the birds were. She was finished feeding the birds quite quickly and decided to watch from outside the cage. Christopher was waiting out there to keep an eye on her.
All of the kids are wonderful with animals. They connect so easily with them and just love being with them. Look at Matthew's face. I just love to see him like this.
The birds really loved Emma's hoodie for some reason. She was a little bit surprised how many birds could land on her at once.
Aren't these great pictures?
One little bird loved Emma's hair so much that it crawled behind her hair and sat on the back of her neck for awhile. Emma was cracking up.
These are some of the sweetest moments to put in my memory bank. Such happiness.
We certainly could not neglect the stingrays ... so we walked on down to their pool.
Kaity-Girl was not very excited about putting her hands into the tank to touch a stingray. We talked about "Finding Dory" and Mr. Ray ... but she decided she would NOT touch a stingray.
I love watching the children interact with these beautiful animals.
There are TWO young stingrays this year and they are so cute!
The boys are SO gentle with them!
We decided to go and visit the grizzlies and saw a few large cats on the way ...
It was a perfect weather day to be at the zoo. Mid-70's and sunny with a gentle breeze. I love it here.
A mountain lion. We never did see the snow leopard because it refused to come out.
Kaity wasn't a bit frightened of the grizzlies.
We took a little snack down by the pond and visited with Nessie for awhile. We ate fresh fruit and cookies and granola bars.
Christopher pointed out that Nessie's head moves! Changes direction! I had never noticed this before.
Dear sweet Emma ... how could you be nearly 14 already sweetheart? What a wonderful granddaughter you are. I love you so much.
And Kaity-Girl, true to form, mimicking everything Emma does. Kaity adores Emma.
We took ourselves over to the playground for a little fun before going home.
It is a very nice playground. I'm so glad the kids are still at an age where they can enjoy climbing and exploring.
Kaity would invariably climb up up up but then she was too afraid to come down down down! I was her rescuer every time!
We played for an hour at the playground. We met many other children. We relaxed and visited and explored. Does it get any better than this?
Good-bye Nessie! See you soon!
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