Wild Birds of Prey

After a few days of recuperating post grandparent visit\birthday celebrations, we got back into the house hunt yesterday. Now it's time to catch up blogging. First up, a trip to the zoo! (Hey, it's us....we can't go too long without seeing some animals.)

I took off the first Friday of July through Dylan's birthday so I could have some time to 1) spend with my parents while they were here, 2) have a super long weekend and 3) have plenty of birthday time with my little boy. July 1st was a beautiful sunny day so we headed up to the Stone Zoo, which is just a stone's throw from my in-laws, so they joined us. The primary reason for our visit there was to see the Wild Birds of Prey show. It toured here 2 years ago and Mike and I went to see it when I was very pregnant with Dylan. This time, I was only a little pregnant with #2. Let's hope being pregnant isn't a requirement for any future tours of the show!

We left with plenty of time to get to the last show of the day at 3:00. Unfortunately, we didn't think the long weekend traffic would start so early. For most of the last 30 minutes of our drive there, we had no hope of making the show. I was bummed! I warned all in the car that we would be going to the Saturday morning show if we missed it! Once we got there at 3 on the nose, Mike dropped us off so we could show our pass to the ticket booth for entrance and get a head start. Wouldn't you know it, I was behind a lady in line that was getting tickets for a big group and seemed very confused on how to do so. Grief! By the time she was done with her transaction, Mike was already standing with us and tapping his foot in impatience. We quickly flashed our pass and started a mad dash to the little stadium for the show. Right as we got there, they were yelling "last call" for the show and closing the gate. Whew! We made it! Thank goodness they were running a few minutes late.

The show had a theme of water conservation this year. So, while they introduced birds, showed them off and often had them fly back and forth right over our heads, they preached conservation to the crowds. The birds were beautiful, entertaining and well trained. It was a fun show!

Afterwards, we got to see the bald eagle closer. What a handsome guy! Then, they had a bird trained to take donations! What a great idea.....money went to a good cause and you had some great entertainment giving it to them.

Dylan Handing Over a Dollar

Then, it was on to see the rest of the animals at the zoo! Dylan was a pretty happy boy having both sets of his grandparents with him. That just doesn't happen very often. He had a lot of fun roaming around with them and looking at all the wildlife.

Monkey Trying to Grab Dylan (and his dad lifting him up closer....geez!)

Following the Bear

Hanging with Bumpa

Dylan with all his grandparents and the bear!

Cheesy Grin (Dylan, not my parents.)

With Nana

Pretty Cougar

Blooming Cacti

Jaguar

2 Flamingo Babies
(One getting fed by mom on the mound just left of center and
one to the right of center practicing it's one legged stance.)

Pretty Tame Chipmunk (not caged) Letting Me Get Very Close

After our zoo fun, we went to Chili's for some dinner. Dylan's at that age where dinner time is when he starts falling apart and eating out has not exactly become our favorite past time with him. In spite of that, he did pretty darned well on this outing....for the first 45 minutes to an hour. I can't remember how long we were actually there, but about 15 minutes before we left is when he started falling apart. At that point, he and I went for a walk outside while the others wrapped up. Then it was time for the trek home and Dylan went straight to bed. That was a lot of excitement for the little guy!