God Loves the Zoo too!

Yes, who are the freaks? We are. We being Jeff and Kim and our un-suspecting children.  At this point, attempting Church on Sundays is so very difficult we have decided to take a little hiatus and have begun attending Church of the Cincinnati Zoo. God is in all things, right? But, seriously, the thought of Church and keeping Connor and CC amused is very tiresome. One toddler/pre-schooler is enough of a challenge....but 2 sitting in a pew kicking the person ahead of us? Ugh.

This is NOT to say we will never attend Church again, it's just saying, we are on a break for a bit. Until the kids understand what, "Shhhh" means. God is in our lives; we pray each night, and Connor will close each book he reads with a very energetic, "AMEN!" This fall we hope to return and try a few new Churches.

Until then, we have been having family time at the Zoo.  Most trips I bring my camera to document our excursions. Here are a few highlights from the last few trips. Some pictures are like this:

Love her little humidity induced curls and her beads

Connor and a Turtle

Entering the Jungle Trails

Seriously too Cute for Words



Then I can also catch moments like this:



Connor's response to this meltdown is priceless

.......

Must poke elephant in the eye

I do shoot the animals when they cooperate:

Penguin at the Bird House

Rest in Peace Baby Suri
Our Zoo's baby giraffe who passed awayin June 2011

White Tiger (Thanks Siegfried and Roy!)

Every time, I swear these guys are either posing or looking to eat a small child
or that poor possum that decided to visit them (and never left the enclosure alive)

Our Majestic Giraffe

African Rhino

I also catch animal moments like these:

Polar Bear's head stuck in a tire

Peng-pengs playing "leap frog"

So, with all my pictures I hope to create the kids a Zoo- A, B, C book (minus the leap frog picture). I think we should be able to round out all the letters using our Zoo animals.  But, besides the animals, we are making some wonderful memories on our visits. It is amazing how much we all get out of each Zoo trip. We vary our trips each week, and we all have our own favorite areas.  CC loves the African Penguins at the Children's Zoo, Connor loves the Polar Bears, I love our Jungle Trail that winds through a bamboo forest, and Jeff loves the Watering Hole (the best beer at the Zoo) :) We are professional Zoo goers. The kids stroller is awesome; we have rain gear, we have fans, we have snack and drink holders. All four of us now go with our own coozies to keep our drinks cold. Heck, one watering hole knows our orders by sight!  (Summer beer for Kim, Stella for Jeff, Popcorn for the kids, and a soft pretzel) It is fun, super fun family time. I hope the kids never out grow the zoo. I know it will get super-un-cool to go with their parents, but we love it. I can see Jeff and I having a Zoo pass forever. We will be that old couple on their little rascals drinking their beer laughing while the bonobo's (like a Chimpanzee, but different) throw "clumps of dirt."