25/52 - Zooventure!

We were lucky enough to attend a birthday party for some dear little friends of ours last week... at the Zoo! It also included a special guided tour by a Zookeeper to meet and even feed some of the animals! The kids were so excited... and I was glad to have kids to use as a gateway to meeting the animals too :) To make the most of this rare Zoo visit, we stuck around after the party and racked up a six hour stay! It was such a lovely day with our little clan and our friends - relaxed, fun, exciting and surprisingly sunny too! Animals are cool :)

Lily

Oh yes, my four year old is just feeding a tiger some raw meat. No big deal, huh?!

She was super brave and super loving it!

Eli 

A brave little Eli took his Emu feeding task very seriously indeed!

(I can't stand Emus, as I grew up on a small farm and when I had to 'go get the cows' from the bottom paddock after school each day, the Emus on the farm would chase me. Terrifying for 8 year old me! I did my best not to pass my phobia on to the kids but I did give the Emu 'the old side eye' when it came to close to me!)

Miles

He was enthralled with all the animals. Ha!

But in all seriousness, my chilled out Little Mister happily cruised around the Zoo for six hours without complaint. He amazes me how he just happily rolls along with busy family life, getting toted here and there. I try to prioritise his sleep and rest needs as much as I can but with the reality of day to day life, I am grateful he can be so happily flexible - we love having him be part of the family fun!

Project 52: A portrait of my children once a week, every week, in 2013.

More highlights from the week that was...

Lined up and listening to the Zookeeper's instruction before the
fun  begins!

'Did you see me, Mummy?!'
Hand feeding an Emu... she was loving it!

Emu was pecking so quick, can't believe I managed to capture him!

Eli fed a kangaroo some grass.... very cautiously. Then he gamely touched his ears. Getting away with that, he
tried touching his foot and Mr Roo quickly jolted his foot away. Lesson learned, Eli walked away, accidentally treading
on poor Roo's tail!! Thankfully Eli did not get the swift kick that he certainly could have!! Just glad this kid survived the day all around, haha.

The highlight of my day - feeding the giraffes!

The under 4's needed an adult to assist them feeding the giraffes... I looove these beautiful creatures and was so glad to use Eli as a gateway to get up close myself, haha! Aren't they just so beautiful. With very long tongues!

Ha, Eli really made him streeeetch!

Got it!!

Getting to know a snake.

'I did it!!!!'

My wonderful friend who hosted the party organised a delicious lunch
and a bunch of classic party games for everyone. So hilarious seeing
everyone getting involved, especially in Pinata-whacking!

The classic Sack Race. First the dads raced, then the mums (I was involved in
a big Mum-pile-up and almost died laughing), then the big kids and finally
the littlies. Eli finally put his 'bouncing like a pogo stick' energy in every day life
to use and was jumping around like a mad thing. Too cute!

Boy and Bear

Two Lion Buddies. These guys really made me smile - cute and majestic at the same time.

Battle of the Sexes: Lily and her buddy Edmund wrestle it out.

After seeing our clever percussionist friend Bree on Playschool all week, Lily told us she had set up a 'real' band in her room w 'real instruments for everyone'. We discovered she had made this makeshift xylophone (or marimba?) inspired by Bree and had instruments for everyone in the family - clicking hairclips, tapping wooden coat hangers, etc!! She insisted we sing a 'grown up song' and for some reason Mark could only think of Meatloaf's 'I would do anything for love' (!!) so thats how we formed a family percussion band bashing away on our instruments and singing like crazy! We are a strange bunch, I realise.

Crayon drumsticks for her very own percussion band!

The heavens declare the glory of the Lord!