Zoo....Again..

I think about a month ago on a trip to the zoo the kids and I stumbled across the Sea Lion Show- which is really only a tiny bit sea lion, so I don't know why it is only called the Sea Lion Show, but the kids really enjoyed it. Teigue discovered that they pick someone from the audience to go up on stage and hang out with the sea lions. Since we were wayyyy up at the tip top of the stadium, he was not chosen on that day. I had mentioned to him that the next time we watched the show we should sit down in front so that he might possibly get picked. Well today Mr. Fox marched his little almost 4 year old butt to the very front row, sat very tall and raised his hand as high as his little arm could reach when the trainer asked for someone to come up and hang out...and was completely and utterly devastated when another, and much older, boy was picked. We decided, after many tears, that staying in our seats was probably better, as the sea lion was probably very stinky and most likely gave wetter kisses that even Jayno does...and that is really wet.

All was not lost, however, as we did get to see a wolf up close and personal. I do not have a picture of this as little Miss Addicted to All Things Canine almost jumped over the barrier to give the wolf some love. We need to get her a dog. Today.

(Notice the sweet hair that our little lady is sporting lately.)

OK- so this next picture was not taken today, but notice the bird in the background? It's a Western Crowned Pigeon and we see them all the time when we walked through the aviaries. It's a really pretty bird, and seems to be quite social. Today this little pigeon was just a tad bit more social than the kids wanted.

They were doing their standard throwing leaves in the waterfall when I noticed the bird heading our way. I pointed this out to the kids..but then the bird kept on coming...and coming...and coming. Next thing I know, Stella is scooting on her butt backwards, almost falling over terrified, screaming. I grab her only to see Teigue bolt off as fast as possible, arms waving above his head, and also screaming as loud as he can. By the time I get Stella in my arms, Teigue is almost at the other end of the aviary. I have him come back, only to have him run off again because the bird has decided to stay and get closer to him. I go and put Stella on a bench, run and grab Teigue, come back to find Stella once again screaming because the bird now wants to be her friend. This whole episode lasted maybe a minute, but there was not one moment in that minute that either child, especially Teigue, was anything but terrified. We quickly grab our things and run out the double doors, panting and red faced- the kids, not me. The first thing that Teigue says when we get out? "Did you see how brave I was Mommy and how I protected Jayno from dat bird? I was brave, wasn't I Mommy?". Yes, my love, so very very brave.
The kids were never in any danger from this bird at all, and the whole situation was really quite humorous. I say this because the 5 or so people watching...me included...found it difficult to suppress the giggles that were trying so very hard to come out.

We were at the zoo today for close to 5 hours, so we had two separate groups of treasures. The first is before lunch (when I only had my hands to hold treasures with), the next is after (when we had the help of the bucket our lunch came in).