Great Animals + Great Friends = F-U-N

Last week my husband and I were going over our schedule for the week and trying to figure out what we were going to do for that day.  In the middle of the discussion the phone rang...with an invite to join some friends at the zoo.  Well...considering so far all we had come up with was a trip to the grocery store and the jewelry store, we figured we could put those on hold for a little fun!

I love spontanious moments/days!

Monkey was SO happy!  He got to ride in our friends BIG truck...AND had his own personal tour guide! 

He was definately a fan of the drums, and loved having his friend, Miss S, show him how things were done.  Next she took us to the African safari!  They explored grass huts, mud huts and Miss S loved to tell Lil Man about how the Africans make their food and how they sleep...  We even did what I think she called the "circle dance".  She made us all get in a circle and take turns going into the center and dancing.  I never thought of her dad as the dancing type, but it put on a smile on his face to see him "let loose" for his little girl! =)  Monkey even got in on the action....but only if daddy was helping.

The view from the class room was out on the "African Safari".  There were so many beautiful creatures, the only one I was quite disappointed to miss (one of my personal favorites) was the zebra.  But it's okay!  The giraffe was (obviously) in plain view and gorgeous as ever...

If you haven't noticed, I've been playing with my hobby of photography.  I'm not claiming to have talent, I just love it! =)  And Picnik is my personal online best friend right now.  If you haven't yet checked it out - DO!  It makes life SO much easier!

The petting zoo???  NOT my best friend.  But it was a first for my Monkey so I stepped back, took pictures, and let the boys take the kids in for the...ahem...fun?!?  (Choking on that word ;)  And don't worry, I made sure we ALL washed our hands 10,000 times afterwards.

Then Miss S took Monkey to the carosel.  I wasn't quite sure Monkey would love it as much as *I* would...but considering I was still feeling like we missed out at the NWW Fair this year, I insisted we give it a try.  For two bucks, it was worth the effort.  WELL worth the effort.  As you can see....he didn't scream!  He giggled, and smiled, and yipped with joy!  He had SUCH a blast, makes me sad we didn't get to do this more earlier this summer.  Good thing the zoo is here all year 'round!!!

Our friend J and his sweet daughter Miss S

The penguins were a great ending to our fabulous day!  They did a lot of swimming and little squacking.  And Monkey only tried to climb IN the tank once.  Huge sucess!  And it was extra fun having Miss S narrate it all for us.  What a kick in the pants, ball of energy, girly little sweety pants!  LOVED spending our day with her!  (And dads always like dad company, right?)