Playgrounds and Animal Parks.

We enjoyed a super fun-filled visit with my sister Sandy and niece Rachel this week.  I invited them to guest post, but alas, they declined.  They should be warned that this means I'll use (and caption) any pictures I want, any way I want!  :)

 

Taft Elementary School playground, Wednesday May 1st.

Ellie finally conquered the curly slide.  She started out sitting,
in a feet first position, but by the time she landed...

Tommy enjoys a ride down with his cousin Rachel.

 

 Rolling Ridge Animal Park, Millersburg OH
Thursday, May 2nd.

Zedonks. A cross between zebra and donkey. Kind of homely.

Eland.  Or in the words of our wagon driver, "bucket thief". 
He warned us that these guys will be very determined to
take the whole bucket, not just a handful of feed.

Alpacas.

Sandy won the struggle with this eland by keeping the feed bucket
inside the wagon, so he couldn't get the leverage to steal it from her.

I'm not sure what this animal was.  Did it have the scratchy tongue or the slimy one?

Pot-bellied pigs.

If I'm not mistaken, Tommy gave this feed a taste test.

This little guy has a head full of allergy goo and is really not
feeling well, but he has a fun time in spite of his challenge.

Scottish Highland Cattle

Buffalo.  Notice the nursing calf.

White Buffalo.  It didn't come close enough to feed or pet.

Water Buffalo and Ostrich racing to the wagon for lunch.

How far away from this bird can I stay while feeding him?
The ostrich won the race and Sandy learned that they can be rude when hungry.

Watusi cow and her 3-week old and extremely thin calf.

Feeding the mama

Nilgai Antelope

Elk

Japanese Sika deer

I kept trying to focus on the alpacas, but couldn't get
my lens to cooperate. Good thing. :)

For some reason this picture reminds me of "The Lion King", which is odd,
because there are no lions here.  Or warthogs either.

 

Water Buffalo.  Do you think she uses a curling iron on those horns?



Thank you ma'am.  That's right kindly of you. :)

Wildebeest, or Gnu.  This guy didn't come close to the wagon.

I think this llama looks like it is wearing Easter Bunny ears.

Llama, Llama, Red Pajama

Texas Longhorn

Up close you can see just how this guy got his name. 
I seriously thought he might hook a horn on that pole and drag
the wagon to the ground.  Bet he could have if he wanted to!

Zebra.  So much prettier than the zedonk!

Rachel petting it, Sandy feeding it.

Uh-oh!  What's over Aunt Sandy's shoulder?  Is it that pesky ostrich again?

Nyah, it's just a mama Brahma.

And her husband Mr. Brahma

Mama Brahma holds her tongue aside so that Rachel can just pour in the feed.

I hope she is just licking her lips, not sticking out her tongue at us. :)

Hmm... with that look, I''m just not sure!

Which is more exciting, petting a zebra or riding a rhinoceros? 
With the wagon tour over, we take a break for lunch before the petting zoo.

 

Duckies!!!

Rachel's finding out just how much goats like to eat.

And eat.

And eat.

And eat.

And eat!  Tommy just watched the rest of us feed the goats. 
He held onto his carrot, neither tasting it himself, nor sharing it.
He still had it in his hot little hand, quite a bit worse for wear,
when we got home a few hours later.

This monkey is eating a fruit loop that Sandy tossed in to him. 
The park had little vending machines like bubble gum machines that doled
out about 5 pieces of cereal per quarter.  Next time I'm bringing my own!

The monkeys are in the petting zoo area, but cannot be handled directly.
  Instead, you can shoot fruit loops down a tube into their cage.  As soon as he
saw us approach, this little guy waited at the end of the tube for his snack.

This friendly parrot kept shouting out "hello" from the tree above us.

Back to the ducklings!

Sandy and Rachel really fell in love with these little guys.
They named them Daphne and Gus.

Or was that Gus and Daphne?

I'm pretty sure this one is Gus.

I promise that Tommy is not squeezing a duck.
He is holding his puppy tail and his carrot.

 I Scream, You Scream, We all Scream for Ice Cream!

We stopped on the way home to have some ice cream to celebrate Rachel's birthday which is on May 4th.

I'm planning to forget all about my birthday, which is a few more days away.

A little snuggling on the couch after a long day never hurt anyone.

Sandy promises to bring my children into the 21st century.
She is showing them how to use her iPhone.

Brookside Park Tot Lot, Friday May 3rd.

 

I'm trying to coax Ellie into the tube.  She's not buying.

Tommy goes for it!

Well okay, if it didn't eat him alive, I guess I'll try it too.

Aunt Sandy passes through Dolly Bear, who was making the trip a little too slippery for Ellie at first.

Canadian Geese.  They hissed at us to warn us away.
We were going to feed the ducks, but I forgot the bread.

What a great visit!  Thanks for coming, Rachel and Sandy!
We can't wait to see you again. :)