We’ve had absolutely gorgeous weather here for the last two days. The august heat and humidity have disappeared, so I decided a little outdoor play was in order for my friday off of work. I called MeMum and BigDaddy and convinced them to go with me to the zoo.
We have a wonderful little children’s zoo here in northern Indiana and I haven’t been to visit since the kids were little. Our zoo has three main attractions — an African Veldt, a Rainforest, and an Australian Adventure. Plus a few areas with typical zoo animals that don’t really fit into those three areas.
My favorite area has always been the African area. Jenny asked me in an e-mail today what I thought of the African area. I loved it Jenny! It’s much nicer than it used to be and I really enjoyed myself. There are some really interesting animals, and of course, the old standbys.
We had fun watching the little striped mongoose colony — babies pictured above. You can’t tell by the picture, but those little guys are pretty tiny — they’re about the size of your hand.
My very favorite part of the day was watching all the kids feed lettuce to the giraffe. Lots of giggles and excitement when that very long tongue (the picture only caught about 1/2 of his tongue!) brushed up against some little person’s hand.
I was especially excited to see the new baby giraffe, as there’s been a lot of advertisement about it since his (her?) arrival. She(he)’s adorable!
Gotta love those classic stripes.
We skipped the rainforest, thinking we might not be able to see it all before we got too tired. On the way to the Australian Adventure, it’s fun to stop and watch the penguins play. It amazes me how they can survive the summer heat.
The Australian Adventure was fun for me since the animals that we saw seem to be fairly common non-zoo animals that I see on some of my Aussie friends’ blogs. They have an aviary that you can walk through.
Another nice thing about the Australian area is that it is more open than the other areas. There are no cages between you and the birds. Or the kangaroos. There are marked paths to stay on, but if a kangaroo choses to come onto the path, you can just reach out and pet him.
So, my Aussie friends, is this what it looks like when the neighborhood ‘roo decides to pay your porch a visit?
I thought the dingo display was the most interesting. The info talks about how split Australia is on dingos — many people think they’re pests, while others value them. It sounds a little like the struggle that we have between ranchers and environmentalists over wolves. These dingos were born last year in Australia.
The dingo display said that it’s believed that there are only 75 pairs of pure dingos left in the world. This pair is the only pure pair in the U.S.
After Australia, we made our way to the exit, stopping to see the giant tortoise on the way out. This muddy old guy was fun to watch for a few minutes. They can live up to 150 years of age. Kind of fun to think that my great-great-great-grandchildren may someday visit this fella after I’m long gone.
So that was our fun day. Tomorrow it’s back to work, cleaning out the garage. Then, another play day on Sunday. In the meantime, the bandaids are proof that I’ve quilted every night this week.
Well, the bandaid on my pinkie isn’t a quilting injury — I smashed my fingernail three months ago and it’s at that stage where it wants to rip off so I have to protect it. Man, those things take a long time to grow out!
Have a nice weekend!
XOXO,
Anna
come to california and go to the zoo with meeee!
oh my stinkin’ heck.
i can’t believe your poor little fingers!
you need some of those suede fingerpads.
thanks for the wonderful pics.
That is one of my mom’s favorite zoos. She loves the rainforest the best, too bad you missed it. Your fingers looks sore.
I need to go to the St.Louis Zoo. It’s an awesome zoo and I havent been in over 20 years. Maybe I’ll do that now.
Our weather has been beautiful here too. I hope we don’t have to pay for it next week.
You need some happy bandaids!!! :-) I’m just sayin! I’ll send you some St. Louis bandaids!!
Great zoo pics! We go to the Henry Dorley Zoo in Omaha most summers, but we didn’t go this year. Most summers it’s so hot though, it’s not that pleasant after and hour or so. I’d love to go there in cool weather.
Oh how nice your zoo looks and I cant believe there is an australian part too! No we dont have kangaroos on our doorstep, they generally stay in the paddocks of farms and you can see them best around dusk or dawn! I can tell you that one day we had a gray kangaroo bouncing down our road because of the fires, and it was quite a sight, wish I had the camera. The kids were so excited to see one in the suburbs! Dingoes are mostly in the top part of Australia I think, although there is a dingo farm near where I live which I havent visited where they breed them. I think they are quite beautiful in a way, although I dont think I would have one as a pet. I think I may have to take my kids to the zoo soon when the weather warms up a bit! Hope your fingers are healed soon, it must be so sore and frustrating!
Oh! MOngooses/mongeese are some of my favourites! They and their meerkat cousins are seriously full of vcharacter. Hope you’re having a lovely weekend xxx
What a neat day, I loved seeing the baby giraffe and the mongoose looks like a meercat. We have plenty of the parrots around here but the kangaroos and wallabies mostly stay in the bush. They may do that in the country if water is short.
Brilliant zoo pictures!
What incredible pictures! I love zoos! That giraffe tongue is amazing…I’ll bet it makes the kids squeal! Be careful cleaning the garage, your hand already looks sore! Take care!
What a great zoo with great pictures. And what a great way to spend the day.
Hope your fingers get healed up quickly. They look tender.
oh your poor fingers!!! Love the photos…all I can say is wonderful creation :)
it does look like you had a nice visit!! i took the kids tuesday and we saw that tortoise getting ‘sexy’ with his mate…ummm. kids thought that was interesting although they had no idea what was going on! zoo empoyee told us it happends about ONCE A DAY!
your poor fingers!!! hope they heal swiftly!
Wow! Great pictures! I feel like I was there!
looks like you had a wonderful time, enjoying the weather and the zoo!
What a nice day out!
Re smashing the finger – I did that a few months back as well and it’s just grown back to the part where it doesn’t bother me anymore. One thing I did, because I couldn’t stand the band aid – I put a dab of crazy glue on the nail to hold it together (I forget who told me about that trick), and it sure does work. I had to reapply it every couple of days or so, but so much better than a band aid – in my case anyway.
Wow! Those neat and tiny quilting stitches came at a high price! Great zoo pics. Every place we’ve lived we’ve always loved going to the zoo! That giraffe tongue is amazing—glad it didn’t touch me…..
What a great zoo! I haven’t been to our zoo in years. I think I need to correct that asap!
Hope you have a happy weekend, Anna. Take care of that pinkie.
I love your zoo pictures! On one of our holidays in Australia, we got to feed orphaned kangaroos – I must find the photos (pre-digital!). Your poor fingers!! I’ve had so much on the go this week, I forgot to post about my lovely Bunny pattern – I’ll do it next week. Had another play with the new machine this afternoon – I’m lovin’ it!!!
Oh, Anna, that zoo visit looks like fun. I am longing for cooler weather so we can get out and about again. And your poor fingers. Ouch and ouch again!!!
What wonderful zoo pictures! I’ve been to that zoo, but it’s been many years, and I definitely need to go visit again one of these days. But until then, it sure is nice to look at all your lovely pictures. :)
I LOVE to go to the zoo!! MANY years ago before kids, we lived in DC and we would go to the zoo every week :)
Loved the pics, thanks
SheilaC
What a wonderful zoo! The grandson’s just love going to the ones here. I’m glad your weather has cooled off. My sister is leaving here tomorrow to go back to our hometown in Michigan and she heard it’s in the 90’s. I’m hoping it cools off while she’s there.
Take care.
Thanks for bringing me along with you to the zoo!! Great pictures! :-)
What a fun day out – your photos are amazing!!
How fun that you went to the zoo! I don’t think I have been to any since the kids have grown up. Maybe when the grand kids arrive, we will go again.
Wow Anna that first picture looks like a cartoon, too funny. I love the baby giraffe. Please be careful with that quilting, your stitches look beautiful by the way!!
We took the grand kids to a petting zoo when they were here. Tho it’s not quite a zoo it’s the closest thing to one since I haven’t been to a zoo since the kids were small. Love your pictures. I can’t believe that it’s only half his tongue.
Ouch! I think you should claim something fun and dangerous, like you saved everyone at the zoo from a rabid porcupine and quilled al your fingers!
All those animals look fab! But i love the little bumble bee on the quilt the best!
What a fun day! We have a zoo right here in the city and I’ve never been to it. In fact, until tonight, I didn’t even know where it was. Hmmm… maybe a field trip?
Love that little giraffe. All babies are cute.
thanks for the zoo tour Anna! that’s really cool that your parents would want to go there with you!
Fantastic photos Anna! We have flocks of the rainbow lorikeets/rosellas in our trees every year, hundreds of them, they are the blonde’s of the parrot world and get completely drunk on the nectar in the trees and fall on the ground *smile*. Your fingers resemble mine at the moment, more sticking plaster than skin *smile*. toni xxx
first of all: ouch. your poor fingers!
Second… I love zoos… I know animals should be free and all that… but still where else could you see them that close?
What beautiful pictures you took! I love the giraffe and the dingos!
That little bee is pretty sweet too!
Healing pinky hugs!
Lolly
Thanks for the tour through the zoo, your photo’s are fantastic. Loved seeing all the animals, especially the giraffe with the long tongue.
I love the zoo, lucky my girls are still small enough to enjoy going with me. Love the photos especially the rainbow lorikeet. I used to have a hand reared one and she was a delight.
I’m a zoo-girl and when the doctors told me to go walk during the first hours of labor, we went to the zoo…it was just a few miles from the hospital. And you mentioning the zebra stripes made me think of Sheri Lewis and Lambchop. She sang a song about the horse in striped pajamas.
thanks for the zoo visit – I love zoos.
hope your fingers heal up soon
I have never been to a zoo such as yours. It looks very impressive to me.
Take care of those fingerprints.
Jody
g’day Anna
I think its mostly farmers that dont like Dingo’s and tourists on Fraser Island (the worlds largest sand island in Queensland)… the Lorikeet’s in your pic are native to
our area and they are VERYVERY noisey en masse.. they travel in large flocks, we had about 40 in our Bottlebrush tree just last weekend..
the penguins aren’t silly petal, its hot, but the water is cool(er)..
We dont get kangaroo’s on our porch (we call them verandah’s here) but I see them on my way to and from work often, seen one just on Wednesday night having dinner at dusk on the side of the road…
We are so very lucky to have so many cute animals here!
Lissa
Australia