Sunday, September 19, 2010

Animal "Safaria"

(First of all, thanks to Christi and Brandi for sharing your experiences at the Tennessee Safari Park on your blogs!)
"Safaria" is what Jonah called it :-)... so, here's our story of the adventure to the West TN Animal Safaria!
We decided to travel to Alamo last weekend and check the TN Safari Park out ourselves. We loved it!! We took my parents with us as part of our Grandparents' Day celebration, and the safari did not disappoint! I would highly recommend this to others. The crowd was very slim when we were there, and we got to take our time driving through the park feeding the animals and even got a little special attention when one of the workers took us to the "back room" to meet Chucky the cock-a-too and the monkey they called...oh, what was his name? I can't remember...oh well! Anyway, I can't begin to post all of the pictures we took, but here are some good ones along with some short commentary on our experience.

A camel in a cotton field. You don't see that everyday!


A lovely llama! Mary Claire loved the llamas, and she kept saying, "Bye, llama! Love you, Llama!"


I think the llama loved Jonah feeding it food! They walked right up to the window! The buckets were super handy for little ones.


More than one llama was lovin' Jan and beggin' for more! 


Zebras! I think they are one of God's most interesting and beautiful creations. Their patterns are amazing!


Do you think the person who invented hairpieces might have been inspired by the Addax from Africa?
I just couldn't get over how much he looked like he was wearing a toupee! hehe


Three children sooo excited about seeing the animals up close and feeding them.
Well, excited about all except the ostrich! Watch out for that one! I think Mary Claire was pointing at him coming towards the vehicle. That thing followed us the whole way through the park! She kept saying, "Here it comes! O-trich, o-trich!!!"


And she is still talking about the baby "gonkey". How sweet is he!


My up close and personal experience with a llama caught on camera by Jan.


Feeding camels and goats!


"Hi, goat!" she said...


Then proceeded to greet him with a goat kiss!


An encounter of species involving my dad and the giraffe. Almost looks like they are having their own conversation. :-)


Jan, my camera, and the giraffe get up close and personal!


Wow! John Owen got to hold the macaw in the "back room". Isn't he a beautiful bird?

We had a great day! We finished the day with a trip to the local DQ for hamburgers and ice cream. My sweet Jonah summed it up best by saying, "We had 2 adventures today! The "safaria" and going to a restaurant!" :-) Oh, the wonders of a child. Gotta love it.

Friday, September 3, 2010

New School Year

Well, before the school year gets too far along, I guess I better include a post about our new school year.
John Owen began 1st grade and so far, seems to enjoy it. He's doing great, I think! (Especially with the adjustment we have had to make to HOMEWORK!!)

His class tree!

His apple!


Getting straight to work! :-)

I wasn't able to take Jonah on his 1st day of preschool (his 3rd year of preschool), so my mom took him. Believe me, he was pretty happy with his "Mimi" escorting him to school! She snapped this picture of us together before John Owen & I had to leave for school. She then took some pictures for me of him in his class and emailed them to me. Thank goodness for moms! (Thank you, Momma.)


Jonah & Mommy

Jonah coloring with classmates

My sweet Jonah

We've hit the ground running, as I am sure everyone has.
My prayer is that God will watch over us all this next year with His divine protection and guidance along the way.