Safari Park

Since I posted about your daily routine, we had been trying to find some ways to get out the door before 3:30 pm.  Our main issue is Chris's workout time comes after breakfast (before it is too hot), and then it is lunch and naptime, so we're not ready until late afternoon.  Yesterday, Chris decided to try something different.  He planned to go for a long run (nine miles) at 7:00 am.  Then Eliot would be waking up around 8:30 am when he got back.  Problem solved, right?  Instead, Eliot woke up at 6:30 am that day!  Whaaat?  I know that isn't super early, but it was so different than his usual time--it seems like he just had to disrupt our plans.  Of course, he was super whiny, grumpy, and clingy the whole morning until he got his nap since he woke up too early.  Geez.

Today, though, Chris decided to exercise in the evening so we could head out to Natural Bridge for the Safari Park!  We got out the door at 10:00 am and arrived at the park just in time to buy the last two tickets for the park's 11:30 am wagon ride to feed the animals.

I had been looking forward to taking Eliot to the Safari Park for so, so, so long.  My parents discovered it when I was 15 and we were on vacation.  In the past 11 years, I have been five times.  Ha.  Anyway, I was a little worried, though, because we recently took Eliot to a roadside petting zoo and he was acting afraid of all of the animals.  I think part of the problem was that he needed time to warm up.  Eliot is super shy for the first ten or fifteen minutes whenever he gets someplace new.

Before we knew it, Eliot was throwing feed for the animals.

And saying new words, like deer.

He was so excited about the buffalo eating with his tongue out that he gave it a try.

When we went through the petting zoo area, he was not shy at all about petting the goats.

We also learned that Eliot is a snake enthusiast.  Chris has just asked if we were going to show Eliot the snakes and I said I didn't really feel like it (they're at the end and I was hottt and hungry) when Eliot saw this 113 pound python in the distance.  He ran up to it sooo excited.  We had to hold him back!

One of the awesome things about having a little babe around is showing him the fun things I enjoyed while growing up.

Sometimes zoos make me sad.  I worry about whether the animals are happy or feel confined.  At the Safari Park, though, the animals can roam all over the place.  And they get fed a lot.  You really get the sense that the people who work there love their jobs and the animals.