The Audubon Zoo

Travis, Holly, the kids and I went to the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans July 28.

The day was hot and muggy and it rained while we were there, making it even muggier when the sun came back out. Notice Dawson's hair the picture. His hair is wet from sweat, not the rain. His hair didn't dry until we got in the van to go home. The rain didn't dampen the spirits of my children or the animals, though.

The chimps are some smart and funny creatures. The thunder started rumbling and they got out their pieces of cardboard and held them over their heads. They could have gone into their inside shelters, mind you, but I think they were having just as much fun looking at the funny people as the funny people were having looking at them! One was multitasking and eating a banana while holding the cardboard over his head.

Jillian is a smart and funny creature, too. Pillaging the bottom of the stroller for good loot is what she did during most of her ride around the zoo in the stroller. She found all kinds of good stuff in there like diapers, wipes and a sippy cup filled with water. Jackpot!

We spent quite a bit of time in the insect/reptile area. We had to familiarize ourselves with the creepy crawlies that live down here in the south. I'd never paid much attention to snakes and reptiles before, because I didn't cross paths with them too often. I see some kind of creature here every day, so I think it's time for me to learn. We also saw the birds snatch worms that the caretaker was throwing. He'd throw the worms up and one of the birds would dive down and catch it in mid-air. Quite impressive.

The kids were delighted to get to feed the giraffes. Did you know giraffe tongues are blue? I didn't either. Madalynn our animal lover did, though. She learns things about nature and doesn't forget. Sometimes having her along is like having private tour guide. She gives us all the info she knows about everything. I enjoy listening and am amazed at the facts she can remember.

Madalynn also bit the dust when we were there. I now know how someone coined the phrase, "Bit the dust." Madalynn tripped on a crack in her flip-flops and face-planted into the gravel. Sand was in her mouth, all over her face and her knees were scraped up. She insisted she was too hurt to walk, so Travis just threw her over his shoulder and told her he'd carry her the rest of the day like that. You can see by the ornery smile in the pictures that Travis had full intentions of her deciding she didn't like the ride daddy was giving her so she would walk on her own!

We ended our little zoo tour with some slushes from the zoo cafe. We were so hot! Jillian even enjoyed sharing a slush with her daddy, which she thought was a real treat.

We didn't see everything at the zoo this time around because there was just too much to see in one visit. We went ahead and bought a year family pass to both the aquarium and zoo (actually cheaper for our family of six than buying one round of tickets individually), so we'll see the rest another time.