austin zoo

we got to experience the austin zoo for the first time a couple of weekends ago. one of ellie's classmates, carmencita, celebrated birthday number 4 there, and we were on the list of honored guests! we were greeted by several peacocks running wild, one with only 1 leg. they were bold - wandering all the way to the edge of our picnic area and everything! and they had GIANT beautiful feathers, too.

the kids posed for a picture - such cute kids :)

ellie with a longhorn. sorry, cacky, i know this makes you puke a little, but there were no metal bears. 

my kids were definitely the cautious ones of the bunch. (granted, kaleb was strapped into the stroller.) they stayed a couple of feet away from most fences. campbell, on the other hand, reached through the fences to touch the animals - and this as the petting zoo portion, so it was ok.

we watched the tigers play. one was in the water and with a giant ball - he'd splash us over and again jumping in after jumping out! there were 3 tigers, all a very good size. this was where the crowds gathered most.

the girls (lilah, one of ellie's classmates, tagged along for a bit while her mother changed a diaper on her baby brother) really liked the girl lion.

they even posed for a picture with her!

the austin zoo is a rescue zoo, meaning that many of the animals were taken from bad situations. that's right...of the 2 male lions, one was a former pet to an individual and the other was part of a circus. i'm not really sure who wakes up one morning and thinks it a good idea to buy a pet lion.

after much animal-watching, we all met back at the picnic area for lunch. whoo hoo!

kaleb and daddy shared some goldfish :)

and everyone took a great nap before church! i think we'll make a return trip to the zoo sometime when we can really just enjoy it on our own. we did get to ride the train, which was a letdown for me, as it only went out in the woods and then returned. we sasw no animals on our trip, just trees. and wooden figures of space ships and aliens. not really sure what that was about.