Next Stop: Fresno Chaffe Zoo

Zoo days are the best. The kids love the zoo. We weren't sure about going this time, because the weather turned so hot, but we powered through anyhow. It turned out to be a great day. We took plenty of water, frozen and not, hats, sunscreen, and lunches. We were ready for anything...I even had extra clothes for all the kids in case anyone decided to vomit, wet their pants, etc. Of course, since I brought them, we ended up not needing the extras...don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. Here we are at the start of our day. I didn't take a lot of pictures with my camera, and the cds we made at Costco of Elle's pictures aren't working on my computer...you'll just have to be satisfied with the few I took from Mama Tess' blog...I know our blogs are almost identical now!

There were a lot of great animals to see at the zoo. The kids always like to see the monkeys, tigers, and elephants. Those are probably Josh's favorite animals. He loves to makes their noises. We were lucky we went when we did, because they were also having a sting ray and shark exhibit, where we could touch them. Neat!
Josh was very brave and wanted to touch the sting rays very badly. Of course, in his efforts to get their attention by splashing, he was probably scaring them away. Carly didn't want to put her hands in the water. She said "they scare me." Touching sting rays isn't really my thing, but I wanted to show Carly that it wasn't scary. I was actually pretty proud of myself for doing it. They have a weird texture. Almost slimy.
The last time we went to the zoo with the Skinners in St. Louis, Carly wouldn't let Papa put her down when we were in the goat petting/feeding pen. This time she walked right in, pet a few goats, then grabbed a brush and started grooming one. Josh followed her lead and warmed right up to the animals. I think my dad is right though...they have creepy eyes.

Next, on to the Giraffes!!
I was pretty anxious for the kids to feed the Giraffes. Josh calls them Zebras for some reason. Probably just easier to say. You may wonder what he calls a Zebra. Those are Zebras, too. Josh fed the Giraffes first, and after his turn, I learned my lesson...don't give all the leaves at once, otherwise, they pull back too soon. Carly was pretty impressed with their long tongues. When she talks about it, she stretches her neck really long, and sticks out her tongue as far as it'll go.

There was also a great bird show at the zoo. There were several different species of birds, and they flew in and around us, sometimes literally right next to us. The kids liked the talking parrots the best. The trainers had them singing songs, and laughing. It was great.

I was feeling pretty brave, and so when they asked for a volunteer to participate in the show, my hand shot up. The trainer had me sit on a stool, and get my camera ready for a great shot...a large horned owl was going fly right at me and land just above my head. As luck would have it, right when I was supposed to take the picture, Elle's camera shut off.


The trainer gladly took this picture with the owl right behind me. It was quite the experience. The owl moved so silently.

It was such a great day, and a wonderful culmination of our time in California.