R is for triceratops

Ok, this post is a week late in coming but better late than never, right? Last week was a great week - I went out a total of three times!! It was a record! Monday we went to the playground at the church across the street, Tuesday, the baby and I went to my mom's house while the girls had school, and Friday, we went to the zoo!

My kids' cousin, Pamela has been here for the past few weeks just hanging out with her dad and my girls' dad and I had asked her if she got bored just hanging out with the guys and she said, "Um, yeah, I think I've been to every car store between Knoxville and Gatlinburg!" So I invited her to go along with us. Lauren spent the night Thursday night so she would be there to help me out also and on the way, we ended up picking up her little sister, Reegan, much to my kids' delight.

We're here! After lunch at McDonald's, we were off to explore the zoo and stopped by the rocks at the front for a quick picture.

Lauren and my baby checking out the first animal we came to....

...a very lazy, sleepy bear just hangin' out on a branch! :)

Next we went into a little building where they have a new place called "Wee Play." It has all kinds of interesting stations for kids to play with and lots of small animals for them to see - like mole rats (ew!), bunny rabbits, guinea pigs, lizards, small eels (snake fish as the baby called them), and.....

...a boa constrictor snake!! lauren walked right by this guy and jumped as she turned around, realizing the snake he was holding was real! :) Everyone was brave and pet the snake and thought it was pretty cool.

One of the play stations in the Wee Play place.

Ok, this little guy was very interested in watching us while nibbling on a snack so I had to take his picture. So many times when I've been to the zoo in the past, he has been hiding away in his little home so I was kind of excited to get to see him. :)

The real animals aren't the only fun things at the zoo, I mean, who hasn't wanted to ride on a Lion's back?? :) Reminds me of Narnia and when Lucy and Susan ride on Aslan's back.

Ok, so truthfully, this was probably my middle child's absolute favorite animal find while at the zoo! She LOVES those fuzzy little caterpillars and last summer carried some around and named them after her cousins, Kate and Margot. :)

Reegan enjoyed being a helper and pushing the stroller around for a while and I was happy to let her! My girls always made sure they were walking right next to her the whole time.

Next we went to explore the monkeys and gorillas and there is a board along the sidewalk with buttons you can push to hear the different monkey sounds. The baby did NOT like this and jumped into Lauren's arms to keep safe. :) He and I went to the zoo just the two of us back in the fall and he burst into tears that time, so just holding tight to Lauren was an improvement! :)

Here was yet another fuzzy caterpillar, however, that is not the main story behind this picture, but what happened about 45 seconds before this was taken. On the left side of this pic, just above the log wall, is the top of a trashcan. We were walking along with the little girls right in front of us when the baby decided to look at something on the other side of the little wall. As he leaned over to see inside the trash can, an enormous, furry, frightening creature, obviously escaped from some cage, jumped out squealing and ran away! Lauren, Pamela, and I all three yelped and jumped back...and then jumped forward to rescue the baby.....from a squirrel! HA! Scared us to death for just a few seconds! The baby wasn't really phased, just took a step back and then went on to discover the caterpillar. Go figure.

Next the kids walked down these rocks pretending to be some sort of animal, however, I have forgotten which one. :)

Red pandas have always been at our zoo, but they now have a home in a new cage and location in the zoo. I had to take a picture of it - they are just so cute and were always my favorite animals at the zoo when I was a little girl. :)

"Look, Kiki! It's a triceratops!!"

"Haha, yeah, actually that's a rhino, buddy."

"Yeah, that rhino's a triceratops!"

Another animal to ride on! Only this particular day at the zoo we couldn't actually find the real version of these large turtles. Oh well.

Wow!! It's a...... really large stuffed teddy bear?! (You can see the teddy bear lounging on the rocks in the left of the picture) A few minutes later a kind lady pointed out the real animal in the cage but it was perched high on a shelf curled up in a ball and sound asleep and I am still not sure what it was!

We also go to go in a quiet building that had barn owls in it. Personally, I think this was one of the cutest owls there! ;)

Aww! Four baby birds in a nest! And being squished, just like real baby birds! :)

Ok, so I was hot and a little sweaty and look just oh-so-great in this picture, but it was cute of the baby happily sitting "top of head, Kiki, top of head!" :) We had an awesome time at the zoo and loved being out and exploring all the cute, funny, and sometimes a little scarry, animals that God has created for us to enjoy. :)