When I found out just how long I'd be flying solo without Christi, Elsie, and Emery to keep us company - I decided it was imperative to call in the reserves to help. So, I sent out a text to Mom to see if she'd be willing to utilize the Groupon I'd just purchased to go to Wildlife Safari. She jumped on the idea, and we settled on making it a happy end of the week by planning to go on Friday.
I'd made the mistake of telling Whitley ahead of time that we'd be going, though, so she was pestering me all week as to what day we'd do the "safari" and see the animals.... "Why not today, Stephie?"
In the future, I think we'll have to do more than one loop through the safari section. On this day, we couldn't lollygag too long as we had to leave by 3pm for Boise - so we only made one circuit. However, the animals are always moving and doing different things - so next time, we'll take more advantage of this experience.
Immediately, Whitley settled into Grandma's lap and kept her eyes peeled for emus. She remembered those big ol' ostrich look alikes as being really scary, but as is typical for Whitley these days, she had a curiosity she couldn't let go of in wanting to see them anyway.
Our first big sighting was the giraffes, though. There was a little one and a larger one right next to the road.
Such MAJESTIC creatures!
Off to the right was the hippo pond.
Uh Oh!!!! It's an ostrich, not an emu, but that didn't matter to Whitley.
She assumed her fear position in the front seat, trying to hide beneath Mom's legs so the "emus won't get my eyelashes". (No idea where she was going with that....but she went off for a while on the subject).
Note her little head on the bottom - as you see just the neck of the very investigative ostrich. (Yes, the window was fully closed).
I swear, this guy had Whitley's number and knew how to terrify her. (Of course, I could have pulled forward, but Mom and I were laughing so hard - and kind of enchanted by this guy who was literally pecking at our mirror and window).
Finally, once Whitley got to the point of full on wailing - we moved forward and left Mr. Curious behind.
Next up - the bison. They were just being fed as we drove by - so we got a good view of all of them - including the adorable twins in the background.
Such a neat place for these animals to live.
Despite being here on so many occasions, there's always something new to watch or see. On this occasion - these guys with antlers (some relative of deer), were sparring and just hearing the clicking sounds of their antlers impacting was impressive.
After the drive-thru - we did the walk-thru in the village area. We got to see Dayo and Pancake - looking so grown up these days.
Mom was impressed with how well this pony was taken care of...she would definitely know.
And, I was impressed that the donkey let me pet him this time. =)
Whitley did this pose all by herself. =)
The playground area (where she made fast friends with some boys her age) wreaked havoc with her hair. Too funny!
And, finally, multiple efforts to tickle her enough to smile to get a selfie with Mom and I. She matches the flamingos!
We swung by McDonald's on the way home. When Whitley relayed her day to Travis that evening, she reported that we had lunch at "Uncy Johnald's". Too funny! "He has good chicken nuggets too!". What a goofball - and such a fun day sharing her enthusiasm and antics with Mom!
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