Trip to the Zoo

Props to the random stranger that took this...it might be one of our best family pictures to date.

Bears have claws and sharp teeth, they are not to be underestimated.

This nice Bear sent Emilia into a growling frenzy. Gavin was kind enough to point out the Bear's sharp teeth and claws to every stranger that passed by. No, he did not mean his mother...

Emi & Gavin howled with all their hearts but could not get this Wolf to howl back.

Ammon feeding Gavin to a Polar Bear.

Emi running for her life from the crazed Polar Bear.

Anyone else feel that the surrounding exhibits are sometimes more entertaining than the sleepy animals?

This is a MANDRILL-not to be mistaken for a baboon, which was brought to my attention rather pointedly by a more than annoyed college student wielding a clipboard. With similar arrogance I now shove the Wikipedia reference in your faces.

The Mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx) is a primate of the Cercopithecidae (Old-world monkeys) family, closely related to the baboons and even more closely to the Drill. Both the Mandrill and the Drill were once classified as baboons in genus Papio, but recent research has determined that they should be separated into their own genus, Mandrillus. The Mandrill is the world's largest species of monkey. The word mandrill means "man-ape" according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
(Still looks a heck of a lot like a baboon to me....)

Emi & Audrey looking like lunch to the surrounding fishes.

Orangatan

Elephants are Gavin's favorite animal today.

"Elephants are big and gray.

They have a long trunk."

-Gavin

Gavin & Emi do fantastic Elephant impressions, you should ask to see them.

We are huge fans of great displays. Especially if we get to climb on them...

Allen's Swamp Monkey

I'm not all that clear on what makes them Allen's but they are apparently his.

(wikipedia confirmed this...)

The Snake display is WAY more animated than the live snakes at the zoo...

We are pretty big fans of Crocodiles at the Henrikson household.

They are always chasing us during our pirate ship adventures.

Daddy: "What does a Crocodile say?"

Gavin: "Tick Tock, Tick Tock."

Not sure why we go to the zoo to see the monkeys...

Giraffe trying to give two pretty girls a kiss.

(Thank you plexiglass!)

Zebra

"Zebras are from Africa."

-Gavin

Hippopotamus

Hungry, Hungry Hippo.

3 minutes into the car ride home.

Happy Mother's Day!

A couple of years ago Ammon gave me a tree for Mother's Day. It is located just outside my kitchen window and like my kids, I am surprised by it's growth. Unlike my kids it is always still and always calming to look at. Unless the kids are shaking it, then I am not so calm.... But I digress. This Mother's day I am the proud recipient of a garden stone created with love by the kids with a little help from their daddy.

Unfortunate Hair Cut

Dear Gavin,

Sorry for buzzing off all of your hair while I was bored on Friday. Please forgive your mommy she didn't know what she was doing (at all). Your daddy is partially to blame for having left the clippers within mommy's reach. Fortunately, you are incredibly handsome and can rock your new summer hair-do. Oh, and lucky us-your hair WILL grow back. But as your newly exposed scalp is adjusting to the the light of day and you are feeling unnecessarily chilled all over your freshly shaved head-please, please, please know that your mommy is very, very, very sorry.
Love,
Mommy