Zoo trip

I have to admit that I was impressed by the local zoo.  If you haven't been, I highly recommend it.  It was small enough to cover in a morning. but had an impressive number of animals. 

Cooper was excited from the start because the first animal he saw was a peacock.  This one was without tail feathers, but he still loves them.

 The flamingos were a hit.

 This guy got a slight scream out of me as he sailed overhead with his breakfast in his mouth. Glad he didn't drop it.

 A very protective Black Swan momma.

 The kids said he was giving a thumbs up.

 The orangutans were hilarious ... like old men just hanging out.

 Quite possibly, the stinkiest creatures I have ever seen, the Galapagos turtle.

 Happy to be upwind from the rhinos and the turtles.

 The longest tongue we have ever seen.  He finally got brave enough to stick his hand out there.

The giraffes were a big hit with all the kids.

 Another of his favorites.

 A fun surprise to see these little guys play.

 Look carefully and you will see the little guy hanging on.  She stopped to pose for me.

The first comment from Cooper was that these were spider monkeys, and he was right.  They looked just like spiders on the fence.

All in all, it was a great field trip.  The kids did really well and wore themselves out before the spring music concert later that night.

Wordless Wednesday - A boy and his toad

For more Wordless Wednesday posts, check out 5 minutes for mom, Go Graham Go, Two of a Kind, Working on a Full house and 7 Clown Circus!

Toad Hunting

I am so glad I put a small garden in this year. Cooper is learning where food comes from and the habitats that garden's allow. We recently found a creature that Cooper was happy to chase back into the garden.

I just hope he doesn't kiss him.

And I hope he doesn't eat the veggies before they are ripe.  We recently had a lesson in how to tell a ripe blueberry from an unripe one.  Lesson learned ... I hope.

Animals for the Holidays

We traveled down to North Carolina for a little Thanksgiving celebration with family. Who knew we would spend so much of the time with animals. They were everywhere!! Don't say I didn't warn you.

We started out with Cooper getting walked by a very small dog.

Then he spent a little time with a bulldog puppy that wanted to be the baby. How pitiful is that face?

Hanging out in the window with Middi.

Then we visited Crooked Creek Acres, my little sister's mini-farm. Cooper fed the goats and "rode" a donkey.







Cooper wrapped up the weekend spending a little bonding time with Papa and holding Middi. Let's just say that Middi tolerated Cooper amazingly. He spent as much time as possible carrying Middi under one arm. All I can say is that is she is a patient little dog.

We did spend some of the time doing normal Thanksgiving stuff. Lots of time with family, eating great food ... thanks Mom.

A boy and a puppy

You have to love a boy and a puppy. While visiting my parents, they were dog-sitting for the neighbors across the street. This is their new addition, Mac. I love that Cooper was trying to get Mac to chase him. And yes, his shirt says "nothing but trouble."

"I wasn't doing anything, I promise."

"You can't catch me, I'm the ginger bread man."

I love his face and waving arms at the end. Can't you feel the excitement?

Four Generations and a Donkey

Well, we tried for the perfect family photo when visiting my little sis's "farm". We determined there was no way to get a perfect picture with a toddler and a donkey ... so this is what we got. She currently has four miniature donkeys (two are babies), four goats, and a bulldog. The little guy pictured below is Tardy, her latest addition. He was named that because it took him forever to get here.

They don't say stubborn as a mule for no reason. I won't say which one was stubborn. Actually they were both pretty well-behaved, but we did not get the perfect photo no matter how hard we tried.

Cooper loved feeding cheerios to the donkeys, but didn't want them to eat off his hands. He ended up throwing them instead.

Hope you enjoyed the videos. We had a great time visiting with the family. More pics of the rest of the weekend to follow.

On a parting note ... Cooper was ready to help out. I don't think he quite had the right tools.