& we're back . . . again

i'm hopeful that this time we'll stay. so let's let the good times roll:

i've been debating whether or not to put the catch up pictures/stories in one blog post. it would be a super long one (even by my standards), so i'm going to break it up into two, maybe three. here's part one: another zoo trip (i hope y'all didn't just groan). we met up with grant at the zoo after school on the 18th. we started out in the tropical bird house. sadly, just about every picture i took in there turned out blurry. this one came out great but there's no bird:

the girls were fascinated by the "dead skeleton". 

we moved towards the new african forest exhibit and lucy kamakazied her way over to the drinking fountain:

we made it to the giraffes and we're surprised and excited to see a new one, to the right (at least i think he/she is a new baby. i can't find anything about it on the zoo's website...):

so cute! he/she was sporadically running around like a crazy toddler with too much energy.

also new since our last visit, some gangly roomies for the gangly giraffes:

i really proud of the next picture:

not bad for a point 'n shoot, eh? grant and i were talking about how awkward ostriches look; with their dinosaur-esque legs, huge bodies and spindly necks. it doesn't help that this one needs its eye cleaned. btw, did you know that their eyelids blink sideways?? i didn't until i was watching them 6 feet away from me. (i just looked it up and apparently they have two sets of eyelids and one blinks sideways).

it also appears that they are fed well enough that a piece of grass is not a tempting offer.

at this point we had to turn around because we were headed the "wrong way on a one-way track". so we hunted for the real entrance to the african forest: 

we passed some of the less exotic animals:

and finally came across some grass-hut dwellers:

they showed us their musical skills:

and let us pass peaceably on to the chimpanzees:

and by then the zoo was announcing their closure so we hurried out to avoid being locked in and fed to the animals (at least that's what grant told the girls to get them moving. we are the best parents ever.).

to be continued.....