The Traveling Zoo

So, the Grandparents came for a visit after going down to see Aunt Laura graduate from college.  It was nice to spend time visiting,eating, playing and running errands together. We were happy to be able to have Gram attend our church's Mother Daughter Banquet with us.  It was the first time we got to bring a Grandma with us! 

The kids also thoroughly enjoyed getting to spend some one on one time with Gram, taking turns riding in the Grandparents rental car, and playing Greed with Gramps(don't ask me why it is blue and underlined...it just did that on its own and I'm not going to fight with it.)

While they were here, it was decided that we should take a little Road Trip to the Indianapolis Zoo.  Our kids have been wanting to go there and see the dolphins and the underwater dome for quite a while.  So, plans were made after much deliberation about where to stay, when to go, etc.  We also were able to arrange to meet the our Aunt and Uncle from Terre Haute at the Zoo since its about half way between both of us.

We divided the kids up between the vehicles and off we went together-ish to Indy!

Much to the delight of the children, we were staying in a hotel with a pool.  Which is always a good way to entertain and wear out children while traveling away from home.  

Since it was a weekday, we pretty much had the whole pool to ourselves.  It was a great!  The boys, and perhaps a grown up, had a contest to see who could make the biggest splash when jumping in the pool. There was NO DIVING because the sign said, "NO DIVING".  However, it failed to mention doing Cannon Ball jumps, which lead to MUCH splashing.  I won't mention by name who made the biggest splash, but I will say that "the bigger they are, the harder they fall splash".                                              As you can see, Emily is not a big fan of swimming.  She is all sparks, fire, and enthusiasm until she gets to the pool and then suddenly...she's struck with the "I'll just sit here and rest for a while" bug.  Truly, there is no middle ground for her feelings...she's really happy, really sad, or completely petrified.  Which is the case with swimming.  No, there has been no traumatic event that triggered her response.  Just life, water, and how she feels about water.

The first thing we went to see was the Dolphin Show!  The dolphins did several neat tricks, dives, and jumps while the trainer lady narrated and rambled on about pollution, conservation and saving the earth.  I'm all for being responsible and taking care of the world around me, but...Just tell us facts about the dolphins, and show us what they can do! We just came to see the dolphins, people!  

Brian, Ethan and Emily went to sit down low in the auditorium so they could be closer and probably get wet!

 A dolphin swimming backwards and balancing on its tail.  I can't balance on the ground, let alone, on water!

From the Underwater Dome, a dolphin swims above in the pool that we sat and watched the show.

 Next up, the Gibbons!  Everybody loves a good show by those Gibbons!  They yell and holler like nobody's business and put on a great show.  They are one of my favorite things to see.

  Titus and Emily found a place near the bats to compare their arm span to the wing span of a nasty giant bat. Too bad, they both only qualify for a medium sized nasty bat.  That means they had a 20-22 inch span versus the Giant Bat that has a 36 inch span!  Oh my, ick!  I would have a  heart attack if I saw a bat that big!  Nasty.

There was a big, brown bear pacing his habitat.  Probably having hunger pangs as he looked out over the crowd of small children gathered around.  Thankfully, there was a rather large, deep ditch that stood between us.  

Emily watched for a while and said, "I think he probably thinks I look tasty!"  

Yep.  A tasty morsel, indeed.  

We saw a Box Turtle and an Iguana sharing a salad.

 Some adorable little lizards hanging out on a shady spot.

 Of course, the Giraffe is always fun to watch.

No trip to the Zoo is complete without seeing some hairy Baboons picking nasty's out of another Baboons hair.  That is so sick on so many levels.

There was a Mama and an adorable baby Elephant.  At one point the baby was playing in a mud puddle and shooting muddy water out of its trunk.  Just like a kid.

I got to touch a shark in the Shark Touch Pool.  They just swim around and around, and around, and you can try to touch them as they pass.  NOT their fins, and NOT their face, and certainly NOT by their mouth.  

For obvious reasons.

 These penguins cracked me up! Particularly, this little fella, he just stood there looking like he was in a game of Freeze Tag. Maybe he was mad and standing there in frozen protest to something.  He didn't move at all.  Even when a guy came in and was passing out fish to all the penguins, he just stood there.  The Penguin feeder guy even came right up to him and put a fish in his face, but nope, he wouldn't even acknowledge the guy or the fish. Funny.  

 Here we see the wild creatures know as the Hayden Clan.  Scary.

Gram and Uncle Boice having a rest in the shade. Sophie was taking a spin on the motorized cart thing that Phyllis used to get around.  

Gramps and his big Sister Phyllis.   Brother and Sister Trouble.

 Obviously related.

We ended our day with dinner at Chick-fil-a, complete with Ice cream!  A yummy end to a fun day.  

Sweet contentment.  Snoozin' and snoring all the way home!