This past week, Kinsley got to have two new and fun experiences with animals.  We have been teaching her a lot about animals lately, their names, what sounds they make, what they do, where they live, etc., so it was fun for her to see them in person.

#1 – My mom has a cousin on her side of the family who owns miniature horses.  One morning, we visited their house and Kinsley got a chance to see, pet, and ride the horses (as well as a few other animals).  While she liked them, she was way more interested in their cat!

#2 – With all the craziness going on with my granddaddy passing away, we decided to take one morning and go with my parents to Waccatee Zoo in Myrtle Beach.  While this isn’t your typical zoo in terms of size or attractions, we were amazed at how many animals they did have, as well as the great price for all you get.  We also got a bag of peanuts and I would almost bet money that my dad fed every animal in the zoo a peanut (with the exception of those that would eat him in return, like the bears, tigers, etc.).  They had kangaroos, big horned sheep, little squirrel monkeys, and ostriches, among many others.  If you don’t know me, I am deathly terribly (almost said deathly because if I came across one in the wild, I would surely die) afraid of ostriches.  Its a long story that stems out of a bad experience I had with them in college and then watching them step on their eggs and bite people on the show “Dirty Jobs.”  While I almost freaked when I found out they had them at this zoo, I managed to survive by not looking at them and pretending they weren’t there.  I will say that there is no way in the world I would let anyone I love anywhere near them, peanut or no peanut to feed them.  Ahh, it’s making my heart race just thinking about it.  So, moving on….

This next picture is of my dad feeding the turkeys.  He can make a sound that is remarkably close to the noisethey make, so close, in fact, that they start making their noise when he does his.  It was quite funny that he could get them to speak on command.  Kinsley just laughed and laughed at this.

The baboons were some of our favorite animals in the zoo.  When you gave them peanuts, they thought they should keep getting more and more, so they would motion at you to throw some their way by acting like they were throwing some at you.  If this didn’t work, they got real mad and made lots of noise.  One of the female baboons spent the entire time hissing at only me.  It could be because when mom commented that she looked like she had been nursing, I said that it looked like she had been nursing A LOT, because she was hanging low.  She must have heard and understand this (not sure if this is at all possible), because she had it out for only me the rest of the time.

Our other favorites were these baby lambs (I think?).  The babies were so new they still had their umbilical cords hanging and could barely walk.

Given that it is spring, every animal (at least every where we looked) was trying to mate.  Have you ever seen a male peacock try to attract a female peacock?  Well, I hadn’t either until last week.  It was actually really quite comical – the way they spread their feathers, the noises they make, and the way they shake their body.  I guess that is where the term “shake your tail feathers” comes from.  Poor guy, the female didn’t pay any attention to him, even though he was trying so hard!

The last two pictures are of Kinsley feeding the animals.  She really enjoyed it until she got headbutted by a goat that a zookeeper had on a leash.  Kinsley went up to the goat to feed him, after the lady said it was okay (she did laughingly say the goat may headbutt her), and he turned to her, lifted her off the ground, and back onto the ground with his little horns.  She did get a bruise from his horns and had no hesitations telling us she didn’t like the goats.  All in all, it was a great family day and very educational!