Bringing my monkeys to the zoo

After we dropped Joshua off at GOAL camp, I loaded up Megan and Daniel to check out the Central Florida Zoo. It was a fantastic trip. We were there just as they opened and we left around noon, when the temperature was too hot to be outside.
I loved this sign. It made me smile that somebody at the zoo still has a good sense of humor. I read the sign to Megan and she laughed herself silly.
I couldn't resist this picture of Megan. A goat had just licked her hand.
Yippee for another butterfly garden! Megan was in heaven.

The elephant was a big hit. The kids loved how enormous he is. It gave Daniel a chance to use one of his favorite new words - "gigantor". Thanks to Night at the Museum, one of our favorite movies!

The zoo has a new water play area. It is included in the price of admission to the zoo. It is really cool - except for the slippery stone walkway that surrounds the water play place. Daniel took quite a spill. He looked just like Charlie Brown - his feet went right out from under him and his head hit the stone walkway with quite a bang. He was in a pretty foul mood for most of the day afterwards.
Megan (in her green and white striped swimsuit) and Daniel (wearing Buzz Lightyear). As if I needed to comment on which kids they are - we are always the palest people in any crowd!
There were climbing animals that squirted out water.
A view of the water park. There were so many cook things to play with. I was so glad we got there early, before it got too crowded. A family pass was just a little bit more than general admission, so we got an annual pass with the intention to drive out again a few more times in the early morning to enjoy the water park before it gets crowded. Not to mention the awesome animals. These kids had a blast. Some of the favorites were the llama and the kangaroos. I laughed so hard when the turkeys were gobbling and Daniel freaked out and ran over to me. I'm pretty sure he thought every animal in the zoo was going to eat him!

Megan had herself a seat on this stone turtle. I thought she looked so cute that she deserved a picture!
There is a merry-go-round and a small train ride at the entrance of the zoo. The kids were so excited about both of these features. I told them that if they made it through the zoo and water park with no time-outs (tantrums, fighting, whining, etc), we would ride both the merry-go-round and the train. They were wonderful the whole time!

Daniel chose to ride the giraffe. However, he made the mistake of looking behind him while the ride was going. I guess the horse behind him looked like it was charging for him. Daniel shrieked, "he's going to eat me!", and proceeded to quiver the entire rest of the ride. He was pretty traumatized from the merry-go-round. The train ride was really fun. We were the only people on the train! The conductor was quite funny as he yelled over the engine to point out different things along with way.

A sweaty little group shot. Maybe I should start getting group pictures before we've been out in the 100% humidity and 90 degree weather.