Tiger Safari Campout

Steps we took while camping out at Tiger Safari:

1. Commence taking WAY too many pictures.

2. Arrival and campfire time.




















3. "Hayride" - attempt one. We had just begun our trek around an empty field when we were graced with an unknown girl who let us know that "something happened" and we would have to go back. We would try again later. (there was lots of fun speculation about what that happening might have been - all of us hoping it was not an escaped animal! - it turned out that the girl's car had been broken into)




















4. S'mores. Yum

5. "Hayride" attempt #2. There was indeed hay. We did indeed ride... we're still not sure why as there was really nowhere to go or see. The kids didn't seem to notice that and had a great time. Jackson wanted to go a third time. Um, no thanks.

6. Walk to the barn to see some animals (so there actually WAS somewhere to go, but instead of taking a hayride to get there we went around in circles, parked the tractor and walked to said place). This was everyone's favorite part of the weekend - I'm pretty sure. While there we...

7. Held a baby red fox.




















8. We held a baby lemur - SOOOO cute! You had to hold tight to it's striped tail and it would love on you and chew on your fingers. It gave lots of kisses.




















9. Loved on a baby kangaroo - which has grown quite a bit since we last visited - you might remember video I posted of this same kangaroo sitting on Lincoln's lap. Not it likes to hang out in this yellow bag to give it the same feeling of being in his mama's pocket. It will continue to be bottle fed for two years.




















10. Lincoln and cousin Jeffrey spent most of the animal loving time singing with a bird. They had a great time trying to get it to talk and sing to them.






11. Return to camp through the dark by way of lions, tigers and bears, oh my.

12. Enjoy a few last minutes of campfire songs and prayer before for lights out (Jeff putting out the fire with a shovel) - "You missed spot Dad." - Jackson

13. Sleep. Hmmm. Not so much. This part did not go so well for me. Let's not dwell on it. I did however have a full heart moment when Jackson turned to me just before drifting off and said, "I love you guys."

14. Awake to daddy's fire ablaze and lots of happy faces. We had a visit from "China" (that's the dog's name), Jeff made a yummy dutch oven breakfast casserole, and we made a homemade teeter totter.




















15. Lose patience waiting for a guide to come and get us and decide to wander around the park on our own.



















16. Finally find someone ready to take us on the official tour. MUCH more fun than wandering around on our own because they know more about all of the animals and they let us interact with many of them. Holding and petting, riding the turtles and feeding a deer, tiger, bear, and petting zoo animals.

Another Day, Another Mess!

These boys are good at having a good time. I wish I were brave enough to jump right in there with them. I considered it today... nah.

Outside

IN THE FRONT YARD
We love to play with our neighbor kids and have a few traditions built up. We play a lot of soccer (learned by watching the infamous uncle 'soccerJohn') and there are always wagon rides. Often we pretend we are on a tour of the zoo, or the omniplex or the world. Lincoln likes to be in Japan by showing off his Kung Fu Panda moves. The hose is nearly always a snake... "aaaah!" We've also had several rousing games of t-ball and one talent show. There is a basketball hoop, but I'm really the only one tall enough to make baskets yet. It isn't regulation height or anything, but then again... neither am I. Being the mom does give me the height edge, at least for a few more years.

IN THE BACK YARD
We seem to find houses that have no grass in the backyard. It is a trend that I hope to avoid in any future house purchases. It seems to also be a trend to wait a year to put grass in. For now, fun in the backyard consists of dirt digging, and if I'm not watching carefully - or in this case I prepared for it by stripping the kids down - mud. Lots of mud. I figure boys need some quality time with the mud. I'm ok with that as long as they don't share their love with the carpet.

You might have guessed that we spend most of our outside time in the front or at the park.