The Zoo!

Who remembers Mom singing this? - "We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo! How about you, you, you? You can come too, too, too! We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo!" Well, I taught that to the kids. They loved the zoo, and who can go to Hogle Zoo and not get a picture with your head in the lion fountain's mouth? All of the animals, all that room to run around...and, of course, my boys seeing every animal and exclaiming (in a very high voice) "Oh, how cute!" with their voice getting higher with every syllable. Makes me proud, but Rod just rolls his eyes. :)

This little giraffe was almost 7 feet tall! Only a few
months old, and so big! Her mom was about 14 feet tall! When she was born she was 6 feet tall. I'm always amazed at how tall giraffes are. One was brought as a gift to a French king a long time ago. French travellers to Africa caught one and walked it all the way back to France (minus a ferry ride across the Mediterranean)! Can you imagine seeing a giraffe for the first time with no TV to give you some idea about how big they are? WOW!

This is Zuri, the baby elephant and star of the zoo. She was born at about 200 pounds! She is almost as tall as me but looks so small next to her mother. She is barely tall enough to nurse. (and they don't nurse with their trunks, they use their mouth) Very cute and into everything. Just like a two-year old person.

Baby tigers! Need I say more? I would love to have one as a pet. This one had two siblings it was pouncing on and fighting with. Just like house cats, only a little bigger!

Have you seen Madagascar? Remember the fossa? In the movie they look more like small lions, but this is what they really look like. A big weasel. About the size of a medium dog. And, yes, the fossa got the "oh, how cute!" from the boys.