We spent the day at the African Lion Safari, arriving at 10 and staying until 7:30. It was a long day, but the girls had a great time.
We explored the discovery center where the girls were fascinated by animal skeletons, ostrich eggs, and the feel of the different animal furs they had on display.
We made sure we made it to the Asian elephant swim since the girls were quite taken by the elephants - especially the baby. We got to see him quite close up and were interested to see that the trainers were using a dog as a herder for the elephants. The dog was the one to lead the elephants into the water and would round them up when it was time for them to return to their reserve.
We also enjoyed an elephant demonstration where they displayed the different tricks the elephants had been taught. Aislinn especially liked the elephant doing a handstand on the balance beam. We were happy to hear the trainers commenting on their use of positive reinforcement only in training the elephants.
We visited the game reserve twice. Once by car at around 2 p.m. and again at 5:30 on the bus tour. It was fun to see the difference in the animals between the two times. At 2 most were
sleeping, and later in the day, they were much more active. The girls got to see an ostrich right up close as one decided to peck at its reflection in the window of the bus where we were sitting.
We also got an close up view of the mommy and baby monkey in the picture and the bus stopped for about 5 minutes waiting for the last 3 monkeys to climb down from the roof. The cheetahs and rhinoceros' were also big hits with the girls.
Later in the day we watched a Bird's of Prey demonstration, and Aislinn and Tara went up to ask questions about this last bird. A Falcon, but the exact kind is eluding me now. The girls wanted to know how old it was (2), and what colour it's eggs would be. (white with brown speckles.)
After, when we visited the discovery center, we were actually able to see and egg which the girls thought was pretty cool.
They commented on the size of breakfast an ostrich egg would produce, and decided it was more than they could eat, but maybe if they shared it.
In all, we had a great day. Never even made it into the splash park. We decided the animals were far more exciting, although we did take a short break for a some ice cream.
The girls hanging out with the goats in the Pet Center.
A better view for the Asian Elephant swim, good thing Jeff is 6'3.
Our Pasta Box has been with us for a year now! I had forgotten it had been so long. It makes an appearance out of the depths of the pantry closet and spends about an hour or two spread open on the kitchen floor about once a month.
The usual use of the box involves the "find the beans" game, and the addition of about 15 mid-size rocks was a new surprise for me, but made a good "crumbs" base to the cake.
