Lions and Tigers and Bears - Oh My!

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On Saturday, it was 90-plus degress and humid.....so we headed to the zoo! Ok, you can stop laughing at us now....even the animals were in hiding, it was so bloody hot! They probably figured no one would come out in this miserable heat, so they didn't have to be on display. Little did they know, a little heat doesn't bother us. Ha - we vacationed a few years back in Virginia and it was 110 every day.....90 is blustery compared to that!

Ok - seriously, I may or may not be still under the influence of heat stroke as I write this.....

It really was a great day to be outside and it is nice to have some air-conditioned buildings to duck into along the way. Not to mention the frozen lemonade stop that we made along the way. I do believe Jared may have melted away had we not found the stand when we did.

Our trek is always the same. Start at the front....make our way to the back, which is known as the African Safari and hop the train back to the front.....end of trip. It takes us about 2 hours to do that. It may be quicker when our feet are not melting to the pavement. We'll test that out one day!

On the train ride back, Jared was looking very serious in his picture. Well, duh, that was because he was working on wiggling out a loose tooth. Shortly before the train left the station, he very calmly pulled it out and handed it to me. "Here, Mom - I lost a tooth". Oh - Ok - thanks, Jared.

In the last couple of years, they have revamped the butterfly house. It is pretty cool to walk around and just have butterflies fluttering about. At the same time, they do caution you to watch where you are walking. I did. Because, you see, I was not going to be responsible for the demise of one of these. I also cautioned my kids as I did not want to be related to someone who caused the demise of one of these. We made it out alive (us and the butterflies).

It really is a fun place to hang out on a sunny afternoon. We have a family membership, so basically we can go when we please. I like that....kids - bored....hey, let's go to the zoo! But, really, when are my kids ever bored?!?!?!?

*we did not actually see any lions, tigers or bears. They are part of the African Safari and when we reached that part and the train station came in to view - really, nothing else mattered.....