The Mighty Fine McBrayers: The Animals Visit the Zoo

I have been to a lot of zoos in my lifetime. Some were super, some were….less desirable, and some were just so bad I found myself calling PETA from the parking lot to come and rescue the animals right away.

The Oklahoma City Zoo tops my list of awesome zoos.

In fact, it is actually in a close race for number one with the San Diego Zoo. Seriously! It is just that awesome.

Aunt Sara had come to spend the week with our little animals, so we decided to take her to the zoo and expose her to some of the other species in the animal kingdom.

Seth has a favorite book about zoo animals, so it was fun watching him run through the zoo and make the connection to those animals in his book. He also gave us valuable information and facts on each animal…..in the manner a 20 month old kid can give it.

Here we stopped to watch these gorgeous lionesses taking a little cat nap. Seth watched them intently for few minutes, and then turned and shared this important tidbit regarding lions in their natural habitat.

Lions. Eat you.

All the info we needed there.

Kaelan skipped and hopped and sang her way through the exhibits. She LOVES being there with the animals and would be completely content with us just dropping her off and leaving her there for a few months. Her big request was that she wanted a picture with the buffalo. She is, after all, a Centennial Buffalo. The picture with the baby elephant was an afterthought. She saw him, fell in love and requested a picture with him to show their children that they knew each other way back when they were kids.

Pictures of animals that you have probably seen a million times…….and more words from Seth, the Jack Hanna of OKC.

Bear. RRRRRRRR. Gilla (Gorilla)-Boobies? Baby Elfint (Elephant)-Trunk. Poop. Yucky.

Zoo Intermission. Taking a break.

It was Kaelan that requested a picture with her future BFF the elephant, but really it was Seth that found his soul mate at the zoo that day.

Meet Bodie.

There is a majestic little area in the zoo where you can go and hang out with the giraffes. We have been to feeding bridges before at other zoos, but what made this place super cool was both the people who work at this exhibit and deep connection Seth had with the creatures there. The zookeepers saw the excitement in Seth’s eyes as he approached the feeding area, and they set that spark ablaze. We seriously got some VIP treatment. They continued to give our kids pail after pail of food to feed the giraffes. They allowed us to pet them and stay for a really long time. We really got to know Ellie and Bodie, and I nearly cried at the tenderness Bodie showed towards Seth. When it was time to leave (after a really long visit), Seth cried and called out to Bodie. The keepers, who were also taken aback by the bond., came after us and gave us special pens and badges. They told us to come back and visit anytime and they would make sure Seth and Bodie had more time together. It was so special, we are busy building a pen in our backyard so the two of them can have sleepovers. Maybe not.

Again, see how great it would be for BOTH of my kids to just be dropped off at the zoo for a few days?

Cooling our tootsies in the creek.

You’ve probably seen or visited one of those little aviaries where you buy the little cup of nectar and the birds come in and land on your hand and drink the juice, right?

I have too, but in this joint, the birds go a little crazy, and while my husband was acting all calm and cool about the Alfred Hitchcock movie going on in that space, I wasn’t having it. After about the 8th bird landed on me and started pecking at my neck, I was out of there. I threw my nectar and ran out screaming. I left it to my husband to calmly show my son that the birds would not kill him and that he had nothing to fear.

Yeah, nothing to fear except losing your EYEBALLS!