Off to the Zoo

We went to the Wild Animal Park/zoo today! There is my English friend Naomi on the left with Noah in the stroller, and the three other children besides December are Ann's children. She's Canadian, too!

The zookeepers were doing a Keeper Talk on the Caracal, a small wild cat with long tufts on its ears. It's a very neat animal, although it did hiss and get angry a couple of times during the talk.

A gorilla -- or "min-keeee" (= monkey), according to December. Almost every animal she saw after the gorillas was promptly named "Min-keeee." She just learned how to say monkey yesterday, so I think that was part of her exuberance.

A meerkat, or "Meowww, meoww" according to December. I tried to explain that this wasn't a kitty, it was a meerkat, but since I was saying "meer-CAT" in my explanation of what it was, I think the distinction got lost, and December didn't really get the difference.

December loves her monkeys! She wanted to sit in this monkey's lap on the car.

The zoo made me laugh today. I find it a bit funny that even though this is the last place to find Christmas-like weather, everyone still decorates for Christmas with snowmen, snowflakes, and anything Christmasy and snowy. So, at the zoo, there were Christmas lights all around, with lit-up plastic snowmen and various zoo animals. Also, there was a hill that you could go sledding on! Hehee...they bring in snow (or create snow), and lay it on this tiny little hill, put haybales around it (as guard rails for the kids), and let the kids go at it! It made me laugh. All these kids sliding down this teeny little patch of white ice (man-made snow never turns out as good as God-made snow) surrounded by bales of hay. I should have taken a picture of how crazy-looking it was :). It made me laugh.

We leave tomorrow! I should really be packing right now, or moving every last item out of the kitchen (the cockroach-sprayer people are going to come and vanquish all of the nasty cockroaches tomorrow, and we're not allowed to come back in the apartment for at least four hours). So we won't really be able to come back into the apartment much before we leave for our trip. That means that everything has to be done by the end of tonight! If you think of us, please pray for us...there is forcasted snowy weather for the roads we'll be encountering. I'm especially worried about the roads during the middle of the night. Mixing bad roads with a sleep-deprived driver creates a deadly combination!