Monkeying Around at the Ft. Worth Zoo

From the very beginning, the animals had the kids' attention.  We stopped to check out the chimps and they did not disappoint.  There was a highly energetic three year old that was swinging all over the place and even bumped the glass a few times right where the kids were standing.  She was so fun to watch!

There was also a seven month old baby that held tight to his mama the whole time.  So cute!  She was really protective of him and did NOT like the other big chimps getting anywhere near them.  If they tried to get close, she'd holler and scamper higher up their jungle gym. 

Then we walked over and got a great view of this awesome Silverback Gorilla.  He came right up to the glass and just stared at Lila.  She backed way up, too!  Still not convinced that beast of an animal couldn't just come through the window.

This pic doesn't even do it justice because he was huge! 

We finally tore ourselves away from watching the gorillas and made it over to see the orangatans.  They have one of the best jungle gyms around town.

As Lila said, "he's weally hairy!"

After that, we went over to see the rhinos...

the super-fast cheetah...

and then caught one last glimpse of the baby chimp.  His mama let him take a few steps on the grass before she scooped him up again.

One of the most anticipated exhibits of the day was going to see the elephants.  We'd heard that they had two new babies born pretty recently and couldn't wait to check them out.

And they were so cute!  The littlest one was born in mid-August and weighed a whopping 228 lbs.  We thought that was huge until we saw that the one born the month before her weighed 330 lbs at birth.  Good grief!

They wrestled and ran around just like a couple of toddlers.  And they even got in trouble a time or two with their mama's!

One of my favorite spots is hanging out at the koi pond and watching the ostriches and giraffes.  It makes for a nice photo op, too:)

Giraffes are such awkward creatures when they try to touch the ground, but they sure are pretty.

In all my 33 years I have never set eyes on a black rhino, let alone one with a baby.  They are covered in this armor and have short, stumpy horns, instead of long ones like their cousins.  God's designs never cease to amaze me.

We were also excited to see the beautiful white tiger...

and got a kick out of watching this small, funny looking black bear pace back and forth 42 times.

We were hoping to see the big male lion, but it was his nap time when we stopped by.  The two female lions were awake, but they're not nearly as exciting and didn't ever feel the near to give us a good "roar!"

Instead, we moved on to let the kids feed the birds inside this huge netted area.  Jackson wasted no time and fed those birds like a pro.  His little sister, on the other hand, was not so brave.  She maybe fed one bird, one time, and then declared that she was done:)

Our time was running out, but J really wanted to make it over to the Texas Animals since that's where they had the new baby jaguar.  On our way there, he hopped on this big scale and it told him that he weighed as much as 10 chickens.  Good to know, I guess!  He wasn't quite as heavy as a goat, though.

We found the baby jaguar, along with the alligator and alligator snapping turtle.  This thing freaked me out!  It was as large as a sea turtle, but it lives in north eastern Texas, in FRESH WATER.  Heaven help me if I ever encounter it while swimming in Lake Texoma.  After all that excitement, we bought some tickets to ride the train back to the entrance.  The kids got to choose a souvenir (Lila got a cute, pink lemur and J got a waterglobe) and then we were off to Pa and Roxie's house for a visit.  It was the perfect zoo day with our little fam--hard to believe that the next time we go, Baby Girl will be with us, too!

Part two of our Fort Worth day trip took place at Luby's.  Jared's grandpa and his wife Roxie dine there every day for lunch.  Every single day.  And now I see why!  They get treated like a king and queen.  All the employees know them and they take such good care of them.  After we got through the line, we got seated at our reserved large booth.  Didn't even know that was an option at Luby's!  The waiters carried the trays for the kids and Pa and Roxie and were so attentive the whole meal.  And the food was delicious, too.  We spent two hours with them and were so thankful for that time.  We hope to see them again soon for the holidays.  Maybe I'll see if Roxie can bring some of Luby's homemade banana pudding for Thanksgiving.  It was that good!