Zoo Years Eve (Ha!)

Today Grandma treated us to a fabulous day at the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, SC. It truly was the most spectacular zoo day ever! And we started the day only a few feet away from a Grizzly Bear!!!

Cherry Chat Chat had to come and see all of the animals too. : )
And what would a visit to the zoo be without a little sister love? : )
Look how close we got to the elephants!!!

And today, just like her daddy, Leia Rose found her fascination in maps! She really enjoyed finding where we were and where we were going. : ) You would often see her today, walking the zoo grounds looking at the map as opposed to animals.
But Annie saw the hippo! : )

Another funny thing about today was our visit to the gorilla, who was sitting staunchly with his back against the glass as if to say, "This is what I think of you annoying humans staring at me all day." Still, because of where he was sitting, we literally got within one inch of him! But when we saw the Howler Monkeys (who were howling/growling, by the way), Leia Rose booked it out of there really fast!!! Scared the heck out of her!!! : ) We saw so many other animals, too! But there were just too many to list here.
And then it was time to see the giraffes.
And we felt blessed just to get this close to one, until . . .
. . . we were THIS close to one!

We actually got to FEED the giraffes today! And it was the experience of a lifetime!!!

I really had to beg Leia Rose to come and feed one (she was a bit afraid), but when she tried, she found that they were so very gentle! They have this little hairy lip that they glide softly over your hand to get the lettuce. No wetness or slime at all! Ironically, they reminded me lots of a manatee!
And suddenly, after she saw how gentle he was, Leia Rose couldn't feed him lettuce fast enough! : )

And Leia Rose couldn't resist saying, "Zeeeeeba Buns!" Just like she used to when she was two! : )
Leia Rose regarding the zeebra's buns. : )
She also got to feed a goat, but unlike the giraffe, the goat always used his tongue to retrieve the food. : ) Leia Rose didn't like the resulting slime very much. : )
Here is the cow that inspired Annie to finally make her first animal sound! She said, "Mmmmmm" for "Moo"! : ) And a few days later, she'd add on the "oooo."

Here's everyone looking at the bunnies in the barn. (All Annie wanted to do was to suck on the fencing.) : )
Then it was time to give a big ROAR at the lion's den!
Doesn't this picture look like it's right out of a magazine?!? This is great zoo, isn't it?
And Brian and Leia Rose fell in love with . . .
Zoboomafoo!!!

Here is one of Brian's favorite animals at the zoo. He really enjoys going around saying, "Chuckwalla, chuckwalla, chuckwalla!" : )
Annie regarding a giant fish.
Annie regarding a giant alligator.
Or is the giant alligator regarding Annie!?!

Leia was pretty surprised at how close she could get to these venomous snakes. (Does this picture remind you of the first Harry Potter, or what!?! The only thing missing is Dudley.)
Then came the aquarium where we immediately saw a tank with Nemo, Bubbles, and Dory. : )
But all Leia Rose would talk about was the "Fishy Show," because there was a kind of carpeted set of stands where you could watch the aquarium through a huge window. I think Leia Rose felt like she was watching a movie or something.

There was this really cool penguin area where you could see the penguins swimming underwater! It was really neat! Leia Rose said that the penguin area was her favorite, . . . not because she could see real penguins but because they had feau rocks in there where children could pretend to BE a penguin. She made a little friend in there, and they waddled around playing "penguin" for quite a while. (It was here that my camera went a little bit funky, and somehow I lost those pretend penguin pictures, lots of beautiful flamingo photos, and my favorite video of the strange "honking" flamingo sounds with Leia saying, "Their necks are shaped like S's!")
And even more than looking at the tigers, Annie loved my impression of tiger sounds, see? "Grrrrrrr!"
We also went into this neat bird area that was all netted in, so we could visit with the birds up close. (You could also buy little cups of nectar for the birds to drink, but you really didn't need to.) Here is Annie regarding a bird.
Or is the bird regarding Annie?!?
And on the Merry-Go-Round, Leia Rose rode a cheetah. (Her clothes really made her look the part!)

Annie rode a baboon.
And, if you notice, she's wearing my silver heart bracelet that she loves to play with. Turns out, she not only like to play with bracelets, but she likes to wear them too!
Oh, what joy in small pleasures! : ) Annie and Leia Rose probably had the most fun on the simple zoo playground today. : )
And after a very grand day at the zoo in Columbia, SC, let me just say that I've been to lots of zoos in my life, and this was my favorite one of all. Perhaps it was because of the odd warm-weather day were were having, but all of the animals were out and approachable! And it seemed like we could get so very close to all of them! Heck, we fed a giraffe and had birds flying all around us! We heard flamingo sounds for the very first time, saw a bear prowling only a few feet away, and stared into the eyes of a snake! And perhaps most importantly, the exhibits were close together (not miles apart).
And, boy, did we tire Annie out! Whew! : ) (Actually, Annie is the most remarkably adaptable child I've ever seen! Apart from a bit of tiredness in the car going, Annie was happy all day! What more could we ask for! By the way, how many one-year-olds do you know who have already fed a giraffe?!? : )

Papa's & Popcorn & "Papa"

Leia Rose REALLY wanted to go in the beetle when we drove to Oma's and Papa's land today in Siler City. So here she is, squeezed between the cooler and the side of the car (but still in her booster seat, mind you). : )

On the way, Oma got a call from a realtor who wanted to show the house immediately. Well, this call really stirred things up for lots of reasons. (I wish I could say this call ended in the sale of the house, but it didn't.) So, we all stopped at a gas station and the girls and I got out to play in the grass. Well, the gas station had a HUGE flag, and I stopped to take some Fourth of July type pictures. : )

Before going to the land, we all went out to the local Mexican restaurant (because our favorite burger joint, Johnsons, was closed), and while we were there, Annie really perfected naming the parts of the face, saying "Eye" and "No" (for nose) and "Ma" (for mouth).

The biggest surprise when we got to the land was that the neighbor had built a driveway right under the powerlines. This was GREAT news because Mom and Dad don't have to clear as much land to put their driveway in! They can use it as a joint drive! Then we went to Sanford to let Brian see the model home they're going to build, and Mom got a bit sad at the reminder (mostly in regards to the kitchen counter-top tile) that it's been a while and certain options may not be available when they buy.
After dinner tonight, we did another dessert-tasting: this time with 18 different kinds of popcorn. I'm happy to say that Annie joined in with the rest of the family yet again. By the end, she finally got the "one-two-three-put-it-in-your-mouth" drill. : )

In addition, today Annie learned to say "Papa," and here's the way she looks when she says it. : )

As for December 30th, we said goodbye to Oma and Papa, spent the morning packing, and then the afternoon/evening driving to Grandma and Grandpa in Newberry. Whew! No time for pics that day! : )