It's a Jungle Out There

A very *HOT* jungle!

Grandma and Grandpa Vander Waal were here visiting this week, from Sunday until Tuesday, and while they were here, someone had the genius idea of going to the zoo. ("Genius" of course is said with such sarcasm as it turned out to be an excrutiatingly (I don't even know if that's a word but it was that bad!) hot afternoon. The resident "genius" will remain nameless...) We went two summers ago, when Drew was about Reed's age, when Brad's parents came with our four younger nieces and nephews. In the two years since our last visit, the zoo has expanded to include an incredible new Africa exhibit of animals. So we knew we'd see something new, and thought Drew was at the perfect age to really enjoy the experience.

Well, we were right. The zoo was great, and Drew totally loved it.

But it was stinkin' hot outside.

We saw...

meerkats

lemurs

a different kind of monkey (forgot what these are called)

sea lions (this is Rosa)

cute boy on the back of sea lion

zebras and rhinos

Drew was most excited to see the giraffes...

unfortunately he was locked up while we were there, but we still saw him and Drew was pretty thrilled about it (so thrilled, that Brad bought him a souvenir stuffed giraffe before we left...Drew has slept with him since!)

gazelles

lion

mandrills

more monkeys! :)

takins

tigers

more tigers

and goldfish.

Drew saw so much more, too, like tortoises, several farm animals, birds, Red River hogs, several reptiles (translation: many gross lizards and large snakes) and something called a Binturong. Don't ask. I'm not even sure what it is after seeing it!

Although hot, it was a lovely afternoon at the zoo.

(You can see that Reed was less than thrilled as we were leaving. A long afternoon in the heat with no nap = one unhappy camper! But I assure you he had a good time while we were there!)

Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa, for taking us (and enduring the heat)!

We had a wonderful time during your entire visit!