Stones, Angelina, and Walter

After sleeping in (all of us) and having a big breakfast, we decided to celebrate Father's Day at one of our favorite local attractions, the zoo!  We braved the clouds, loaded up the wagon, and had an interesting visit!

At the end of March, we purchased personalized paving stones as a fundraiser for the purchase of a new cougar.  And today we were pleasantly surprised to find our bricks had been installed just the day before!  I loved seeing the girls' names carved into the stone and nestled next to each other.  Natalie pointed to and named each letter.  Charlotte stuck her finger in the heart shape and proceeded to crawl around.
 

The stones were placed in an area that overlooks another part of the zoo.  It's directly above an exhibit of rather large birds called Emus.  If I knew what I was talking about or thought it would even help, I would compare emus to an ostrich.  Large.  Flightless.  Small head.  Large body.

As you can see from the photos above, Natalie is clutching a small animal in a dress.  Well, that's a newly-acquired (during yard sales yesterday) Angelina Ballerina doll - sporting a delightful yellow tutu.

We aren't entirely sure of all the details, but that well-dressed mouse took a nice, long fall into the emu enclosure.  Natalie screamed out and started crying immediately - fairly certain she was fearing for Angelina's life.  The crowds down below all turned to look. A nearby zoo intern radioed for back-up and tried to distract the emus.  Despite her efforts, several of the large birds trotted over for a closer look. And I grabbed the camera ...

Walter, in particular, was quite smitten with Angelina.  Thankfully, the zoo keeper was able to retrieve the dancing mouse!  She was returned ... dirty but all in one piece with yellow tutu still in tact!

Santa and his Reindeer

The day after Charlotte's 1st Birthday we made the trip to the local zoo for their Reindeer Festival.   All the animal sculptures are "decked" with garland.  Each animal exhibit includes a creative explanation of how the animal helps Santa - the lemurs are his sentinels, the wallaby are mail carriers, ... Best of all, a team of reindeer are on display just outside the cutest little house where Santa greets little boys and girls.

I am hopeful this will become our tradition.

Mainly because this is where we were the day before Charlotte was born last year. I found out about the induction and insisted Natalie see Santa because I wasn't sure when we'd be able to venture out of the house again ... it was a good call because December included recovery and a NICU stay and very cold temperatures and round the clock pumping/feeding ... it was such a blur!

I contracted the entire time, but I am so glad we went! 

My tiny baby bump {aka Charlotte} is tucked beneath my red peacoat.

This year, that baby bump is a little elf  in my arms!

We've had Natalie's Santa photo taken at the zoo for the past three years.  There's never a crowd or a wait.  Santa is in his own little house, just a short walk up a hill and past his team of reindeer.  It's magical, if you ask me :)   I cannot believe how much she has changed, and I cannot wait to add to this collage next year!

Comic Strip Photos: Lion King

I take A LOT of photos. Once I find a scene/subject "me likey," I just start snapping and hope I get a few goods ones - in focus, not washed out, not too dark. What I really love is when the rapid-fire results in a funny story. Thus, the birth of Comic Strip Photos ... a new blog feature that I think you'll enjoy!

NHV and Big E were back at the zoo today ... and this time they encountered a lion ... and a rhinoceros!

Click to read the captions; it's worth the click, I promise :)

You can see more great photos and Word-less-ful Wednesday
posts here and here.

Add Eeee-Paca to the List

We love our local zoo. Our family membership has proven to be one of the best entertainment investments we've made to date. After our long weekend in Denver and two days spent in the classroom, I desperately needed to run some errands and restock our fridge. But ... it was a beautiful day, and Natalie looked at me - with those big, beautiful eyes - and said, "Animals. Please." She even signed "please" in the adorable way that she does. How, in the world, could I refuse or resist? All the way there, she kept asking "Animals?" like she couldn't believe we were really going. And I reassured her - over and over again - that we were, in fact, heading for the zoo. She was excited beyond belief. She listed the animals she was looking forward to seeing: tigers, cougar, and birds.

This turned out to be an especially exciting trip to the zoo because Natalie realized that there are, in deed, a few other animals at the zoo. We always walk past their cages, but she shows little interest ... unless it's the tigers, cougar, or birds. Today, we stepped up to the alpaca pens, and Natalie called out with much enthusiasm, "Eeeeee-Paca." The small crowd around us cracked up, and I must admit that I beamed. How cute is that? Eeeeee-Paca! She then proceeded to "beep" his nose and crack up herself.

Yes, our zoo list has expanded: tigers, cougars, birds, eeeeee-paca!

FFF: Giant Tortoise BLOOPER

We have this great little zoo in our community. The sculpture animals out-number the actual animals, but NHV doesn't seem to mind, not one bit. In fact, she runs among the bronze animals and happily pets them, hugs them, and pulls on their tails. All of which is clearly not safe to do with real animals! And I love the photo ops it creates ...

During a recent visit, she had a little BLOOPER with the giant tortoise. At my urging, she backed up in between the tortoise's front legs and ... BONK! Hit her cute little noggin. Oh, look at that expression ... poor baby! (I couldn't help but chuckle ... just a little!)

I didn't actually take two photos - I just cropped the photo to show the "details" of NHV's expression ... priceless!

This was also the same day as the "nose dive on concrete sidewalk" incident. Amazingly, NHV still asks - almost daily - to go back to the zoo to see the animals.

Check out a few other BLOOPER photos at Kiss the Frog 4 Me.

Nothing Good About That ...

Running down a concrete "hill" is never a good idea.

If you're a 21-month old totally hyped on pure zoo adrenaline,

it's a terrible idea.

Catching your fall with your nose, rather than your hands,

is pretty much the worst idea I've ever heard witnessed.

OUCH!

NHV's initial reaction was to cry, and who can blame her. That had to hurt! Once I scooped her up and made sure her teeth were still intact, I gave her a good cuddle sprinkled with glances down at her cute, mangled little face. In less than a minute, she was ready to get down and take off running again. After all, there were animals to see ... and a little less skin on her nose wasn't about to slow her down! That's my girl :)

The top photo was taken while still at the zoo; few minutes after, what will now be known as the nose-despite-my-face incident. The bottom two I shot tonight while Chad was making dinner.

It was reckless running at the zoo, people ... not some form of toddler discipline ... promise!