The Zoo

Hi there. I know - it's been a little bit. I want to tell you about our Easter, but I'm going to tell you about our trip to the zoo first.

Today I took the kids with me to do my running around in Sioux Falls. Jack makes this task MUCH harder than it needs to be. First of all, we have to stop and talk to all the 'babies' he sees. Now, they could be 3 year olds, but nonetheless - his babies. He was trying to coax a 'five' (or pibe as he says it) out of a youngster in the beauty supply house.

The problem with Jack is that he doesn't listen....to anyone. I'm not used to that. Nathan and Claire have always been pretty well behaved, but Jack?, well, Jack is a different cat.

After suffering through two supply stores, the party store, and Wal-Mart, it was time for a surprise trip to the zoo.

Jack loves animals. It's his life goal to know exactly what Drake (our outside dog) is doing every single moment of the day. Usually he finds him sleeping in the back yard. He'll come and grab my hand and whisper "Meer! I show you something!" He loves that dog (as long as it's from a distance).

Jack was introduced to a video called "A day at the San Diego Zoo" at Tracy's house. We made the $5 purchase and were able to empty the dishwasher without the help of Jack. Ever since - he's loved animals. We buy him animal book after animal book. In therapy he's golden - as long as it has to do with animals.

I knew this trip would be up his alley.

And it was.

Nathan really liked this camel. I didn't bring my camera, so these pictures are from my phone. Natey thought this camel was trying to "look handsome" for his picture. He might be right. He looks very proud.
Jack loved the monkey's. There was a baby there that was adorable. I tried to get a picture of it, but it didn't turn out too well. He doesn't look near as small as he actually was.
There was an even smaller monkey hangin' out with its Momma. I took the picture, but black and black don't really show that well.
However, once you lighten the picture, you see near her right foot - is her precious little baby.
Here are Jack and Claire enjoying themselves. They were so stinkin' cute!
I loved the giraffes. I was curious though; one was light brown and the other was dark. Anyone know why? They were sure beautiful.
Jack really, really loved the bears. Claire was pretty much done by then, so we had to tear him away from the bears. He wasn't happy about it.
He found this gong thing that made him pretty happy. Getting a picture of him was near impossible. This was the best of many.
And last but not least - the tigers. They were pretty active today. They freaked Natey out. He wasn't a fan....well that's not totally true - he liked them from a distance.
It was the perfect day for a trip to the zoo. All the animals were out and moving around. Usually we go in July when it's so hot all they do is lay in the shade - which is never close to where you are.

Jack offered each animal a high pibe, but we had no takers. Well, an ostrich almost took him up on it and gave Nathan a heart attack. Thankfully the SCREAM! that Nathan let out scared the ostrich. He was positive that Jack could have lost an eye. Good old 'do as you're told, Nathan' saved the day.