Ross Park Zoo

7/26/08

We had some time before celebrating my niece Kennedy's birthday so we decided to go to the Zoo before it got hot. Well we didn't quite make it before it got hot! I guess you could say I got my workout for the day. I definetly sweated enough to feel like it!!

I was so proud of Mason, he went into the little barnyard to brush the goats hair. This is a major accomplishment for him because he gets scared when he is around animals, particularly dogs. When he saw his brothers brushing them he decided to try too. It also helped that the goats hardly moved, if they were standing up and walking he wouldn't do it.

This Zoo is a little different than most other zoo's we've been too. In this Zoo you will only see animals that you might come across in the wild here in the West. For example Deer, Elk, Big Horn Sheep, Mountain Goat, Ducks, Geese, Antelope, Coyote, Bears, Fox, Eagle, Hawk, and of course Buffalo (Bison) to name a few. The Zoo is also located on part of a hillside so most of the trails are uphill. This proved to be challenging at times. My mom and I would get a running start to go up the steep hills, quite a show if you could see you'd probably laugh too. I'm sure my mother was not impressed with my lack of compassion towards my children. If anyone knows me I hate the heat and hate to sweat even more, so I get grouchy!! And I was, so I looked for shade a lot and drank lots of water. In the shady grassy area the boys played on an awesome Tree House. It is actually build around and on a HUGE tree and it is a place of learning too.

Grandma and Kennedy coming down the tree slide with Mason right behind. *smile*

Grandma Bullock shared her knowledge of the Tee Pee to the grandkids. Oscar and Zachary loved it, the rest of them just thought being inside of the big tent was cool. One thing she pointed out was the prayer rope that starts by the fire and goes straight up to the opening in the tee pee, I had forgotten about that. She also explained that the tee pee always faced the East because when Jesus comes back to the earth he will come from the East. Thanks for sharing your knowledge mom, you're the best. I sure wish I had you're paitence!!

The art on the inside and outside looked pretty authentic to me, they did a great job.

So we made it through the hot zoo and the boys loved it. Thanks Lil O for suggesting we go.