Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Or Giraffes and Gorillas and Birds, Oh My.

My family was in town so, we took advantage of the beautiful weather and took Cousins Grey and James to The Riverbanks Zoo for the first time!

First stop: The Giraffes. My Aunt Beth works at the zoo with the giraffes so, she showed us how to feed them lettuce, and made sure we were well taken care of.

These giraffes were huge! And a little scary if you ask me. They kind of nibble on your hand, but rest assured, “they don’t have teeth on the top'.” Hmmm… anyone who knows me, knows that my mind wanders, and I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about this. But this Mommy put on a happy face so, my baby boy would learn to trust this giant, pregnant giraffe named Krissy.

She nibbled on James’ hand looking for lettuce…

And she ate lettuce off of Jude’s shoulder.

Twice.

Krissy and Grey got acquainted. (As James peered from a safe distance.)

I kept the paci in James’ mouth during this visit as I knew he was a little scared. (Nothing seems to bother Cousin Grey, but as usual James can be a little jumpy. God bless him.)

When all of a sudden, hungry pregnant Krissy was looking for lettuce and nibbled on this little hand, and it even startled Papa!

She didn’t mean any harm, but it sure did scare our baby boy {as he holds his arm out like someone bit off a finger.}

So off we went! To see the elephants and monkeys and then, to see the Gorillas.

James was mesmerized by the gorillas. Maybe it’s because they walk the same way.

James was hanging in there, but getting tired. We made one last stop to see the birds.

This was his favorite part. He and Grey were in awe.

James studied this parrot with his Papa.

And then, the parrot cawed. And poor James once again, was caught off guard (which is quite the understatement.)

Grey listened to the parrot talk.

And poor James cried harder and harder each time. I’ve actually never seen him so scared. He even did the ‘I’m crying so hard, I can’t breathe thing.’ Poor baby. It’s such a pathetic cute cry though, that we can’t help but laugh. And then we all want to hold this poor baby to calm him down.

We took James home, and he slept for the entire afternoon. We had a great time and wouldn’t have wanted to share our first zoo trip with anyone else. Thanks Mom, Dad, Josh, Jude, Dena and Grey for making the drive from Florida! And thanks Uncle David and Aunt Beth for showing us around at the zoo!