• Travel & Vacation: Orangutan Easter Egg Hunt at Atlanta Zoo (Atlanta, GA)

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    He’s eying that cool looking pinata egg with sweet Easter treats inside it!

    Another one of the neat events at the Atlanta Zoo was the Easter treats for the animals.  We were able to get front row viewing at the Orangutan Easter egg hunt.  It was super cute.  There was a Mommy with a little one which the girls thought was adorable.

    The Easter Eggs were made of jello and placed throughout the pen, pinata eggs full of special treats, leaf baskets with goodies, and cardboard cutouts with peanut like substance on the back for the orangutans to enjoy.  They had a lot of fun finding and snacking on their treats.  Even the baby found some.  They had paper garland hanging up which the orangutans enjoyed moving and playing with as well.

    You can read more about our adventure at the Atlanta Zoo on my Travel & Vacation: Visiting the Atlanta Zoo (Atlanta, GA) and Travel & Vacation: Lions, Tigers, Seals, Reptiles, Bears, and more at the Atlanta Zoo (Atlanta, GA) blog posts.

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    An edible Easter egg in the tree and one on the rock in the background….waiting to be found!

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    Swinging out to get the Easter garland

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    Oh yeah, this eggs mine!

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    Climbed up on top of the platform for this pinata treat

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    Enjoying the goodies inside the pinata Easter egg

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    Holding the cardboard cutout of the bunny rabbit and licking the treat off the back of it

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    Hanging out near the hammock picking up and eating eggs, delicious!

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    Look closely, he’s got a green jello egg in his mouth

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    Momma and baby

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    Sitting in the shade – Mom and Baby (the baby is not really little, but obviously still under its Mother’s care)

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    Mom and baby kisses

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    Licking the goodness off the back of the cardboard Easter egg decoration

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    Mom and baby looking for some more treats

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    The baby wasn’t too sure about everything at first so it stuck near its Mom at the beginning of the Easter Egg Hunt

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    The baby is getting brave.  He is climbing the pole to get the Easter basket, with a little Chick, and goodies.

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    Made it, now to grab it and head back down.

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    The Mom watched the baby climb, get the treats, and bring them back down.  Then she took the items from the baby and ate them herself, ha!   The baby did get some treats, but Momma Orangutan got the first dibs!

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    Rearranging the Easter Garland in their pen.

  • Travel & Vacation: Lions, Tigers, Seals, Reptiles, Bears, and more at the Atlanta Zoo (Atlanta, GA)

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     Lioness pacing on her rock

    We had a blast seeing all the animals on our recent trip to the Atlanta Zoo.  We arrived just as the Zoo opened in the morning and stayed until closing.  The kids loved seeing all the animals, the activities, and special events.  It was a busy, packed, and fun day together.  We walked all over the area of the zoo several times over.  The morning was a little cooler, but it was very comfortable by mid-morning (not too cold or hot).  You can read more about our adventure on my Travel & Vacation: Visiting the Atlanta Zoo (Atlanta, GA) blog post.  

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     The two lionesses were playing and pouncing on each other while we were there.  They were so fast we weren’t able to get a non-blurry picture of both of them together.  It was neat to watch them playing around instead of just sleeping on their rock.

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     Better watch out….

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     Tiger giving himself a bath.

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     Out for a stroll

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     The seal was catching the fish they were throwing at them.  You can see the fish right in front of him.

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     Karlie and Brina learning about snakes.

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     Karlie having fun

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     Learning more about this little turtle

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    Curled up and watching people as they go by his cage

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     Brina fascinated by all the animals

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    What’s in this one!?

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     Karlie and Mommy having fun at the Atlanta Zoo

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     Me and my girls!  They are growing up so fast.  Thankful for these little adventures together as a family!

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    Brina was always good a spotting the animals really quickly, not sure how she does it so fast!

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     The snake was following the heat from Karlie’s hand

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     Jake and his girls at the Atlanta Zoo

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     Jake is always so good about explaining and showing the girls different pieces of information about the animals.  The snake is acting like it might try to strike Jake’s hand through the glass in this picture, but it never did.

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     The bear brought this branch with leaves on top of the platform so he could eat it by himself without the other one bothering him.

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    Fun times!

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    They loved learning about all the different wildlife.

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    Love my family!  Grateful for the opportunity to hang out at the Atlanta Zoo for the day!

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    Such a rough life…. They look so cute and cuddly.

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    This is a “Tanuki” it is very timid and doesn’t come out very often per one of the zoo workers that we asked.  We walked by its cage multiple times and never saw it out until almost the end of the day.  It gets spooked easy so it is not visible very often.

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    How does your Mom carry you!?  Silly girls – Brina and Karlie

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    Karlie loves brushing the farm animals. She is currently on her way to brush another one.

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    Brina talking with the zoo worker about goats and asking questions.  He was really nice and pointed out several different types of goats and characteristics of the ones near her.

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    Brina and Karlie brushing one goat.  Lots of TLC for this Mamma goat.  They always love the interactive animal adventures.

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    The giraffe is eying us while the ostrich was too busy eating to give us any attention

  • Travel & Vacation: Visiting the Atlanta Zoo (Atlanta, GA)

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     Our family at the Atlanta Zoo!

    We surprised the girls with a long weekend trip to Atlanta, Georgia over Easter weekend.  They were very excited to go explore the Atlanta area.  We are members of our local zoo so we were able to get into the Atlanta Zoo at a discount which was really nice.  The kids love animals, learning more about various ones, interacting, and so much more.

    Since it was Easter weekend at the Atlanta Zoo the animals were getting special treats to enjoy for the Holiday.  The new Amphibian & Reptile Exhibit also opened the weekend we were there as well.  There were a lot of people at the zoo, but it was so big we had plenty of time do see and do almost everything (some things the kids enjoyed it so much we did it again).

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    Pink Flamingos were hanging out peacefully near the entrance to the zoo

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    So excited….Karlie and Brina!  They have their maps out and are ready to GO!

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     The birds were sleeping peacefully all together on one branch.

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     It was a little chilly when we first got there in the shade at opening, but no one was complaining!

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     Birds of all colors

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    Brina soaking it all in.  She loves animals.

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     Playing around in the water puddles.

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     Karlie smiling as she quietly watches the birds and little kids.

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     Meerkat’s roaming around in their pen.

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     There is always one Meerkat on watch (or guard) for predators

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     They gave the Meerkats a pillow case stuffed full of hay, little bugs, and special treats.  They were a little timid about it at first, but before long they were all taking turns going into the pillow case and digging out their special treats.

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     Are you done yet!  Hurry up and get your bug so I can get my turn inside the Easter treat sack!!!

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     They look cute, but serious.  Look at those claws on this meerkat!  Yikes!

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    Rhino heading out into the sun after getting some sticky mud on itself to protect it from a sunburn.

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     This rhino was moving the stick around and chewing on it.  Must of had something tasty on it.

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     They drew flowers, easter eggs, and bunny rabbits with chalk on the rocks in the Zebra’s pen.

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     The warthogs got hard boiled and colored Easter eggs for their special treat.  They both found the first one about the same time.

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     Someone found the purple Easter egg!

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    The elephants had Easter eggs that had a jello consistency that they place in baskets made of leaves.   This elephant just discovered the basket of leaves and is moving it out of the way so she can eat her jello Easter egg.

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     Whole lot of elephants!  They had a huge pen and sometimes if you couldn’t see them on one side you had to go around to see them in a different section.

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     Jake and his girls exploring the Atlanta Zoo

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     Beautiful bird

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     Brina found Big Bird’s Nest!!! HA!

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     My two little chickies in the huge nest!

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    Karlie thought the nest was hilarious!

  • 30th Annual Georgia Renaissance Festival

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    Last weekend we made a trip to Georgia to attend the 30th Annual Georgia Renaissance Festival.  We’ve never gone to the festival before so the kids were very excited when we told them what we were doing.  We arrived just a few minutes after they opened and were surprised to see the amount of people that were at the festival.  The only traffic we ran into was the last two miles before the festival because traffic was backed up a little as everyone was trying to get in and park.  They had plenty of parking and attendants helping get the cars in as efficiently as possible.  It had rained the day before so it was a little muddy in a few places, but it wasn’t bad.

    We had a great time watching all the neat shows and going through the various shops.  The kids thought it was fascinating and were even chosen to participate in one of the shows which was fun.  The people performing were very interactive with the audiences.  There were a few “adult humor” jokes in some of the performances, but nothing that the kids picked up on.  It was Roman and bring your pet weekend so there were lots of dogs which the girls loved.  We only saw one cat though!

    They had a lot of different food options as well from giant turkey legs, key lime pie on a stick, funnel cakes, and more.  The kids thought the funnel cake was delicious!  There was alcohol available for purchase, however, with it being a day event most people were drinking casually so that wasn’t a problem.  They do allow smoking so occasionally you would have to walk around a group of people who were smoking usually around the picnic areas.  Overall it was a great experience, entertaining, fun, and a good family activity.

    We got to see almost all the performances throughout the day.  Usually each show performs several times during the day so if you don’t catch one time you get another one.  We were there close to 6 hours and were able to watch at least part of every show that was performing that weekend.  It was neat to see a lot of tricks and talent.

    Here are some of the pictures from the shows we attended and really enjoyed:

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    King announcing the jousting tournament!

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    The warrior princess to be won in the knights competition

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    One of the warriors

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    Karlie and Brina on stage being lassoed by Cirque du Todd on Fools’s Knoll stage

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    He got a bunch of kids inside the lasso

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    Having fun in the performance!

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    Juggling a large knife, garden spike, and jalapeno spam

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    Cirque du Todd balancing on a board while juggling fire sticks and fire spinning around his head and feet.

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    Sirena Dog Show at the Garden Cottage Stage

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     She had a lot of different dogs doing various tricks

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    Huge poodle that could jump high!

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    Birds of Prey show, this guy flew over our heads!

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    The owl is ready!

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    We had an empty seat next to us and one of the workers would call the birds so they would land right next to us.

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    He’s got his little helmet on to keep him calm during the performance.

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    Petting the animals

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    Wheel of Death act at the Marrakech Mews area

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    He was walking and doing the jump rope while this huge wheel was spinning way up in the air.  Amazing!

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    Barely Balanced was entertaining on the Halfwit Harbour Stage

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    Juggling knives over his friend

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    Now that’s a way to stretch.

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    He is balancing on a board while she’s on his shoulders juggling the knives.  Barely Balance is a husband, wife, and friend who perform together.

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    She is standing on a large ball while they are juggling the knives around her.

    Georgia Renaissance Festival

    It started the weekend of April 18th and goes through June 7, 2015.   There were many more performances we saw while at the festival.  Hope this gives you a taste of what you will see while you are there!

    If you are looking to go to the Georgia Renaissance Festival you can use this promo code for another few days!  Also, next weekend, the first weekend in May kids under 12 years old get in free!

    Georgia Renaissance Festival Promo Code Discount:

    • Get $4 off Adult and $3 off Child (6-12) tickets!  Use  Promo Code: “castle” when purchasing discount tickets on our secure website at www.garenfest.com. Tickets are good any day of the 2015 Season (Weekends and Memorial Day Apr 18-June 7). Online discount only. Not good with any other offers.

    A special thanks to U.S. Family Guide and Georgia Renaissance Festival for offering a special discount to our readers.  Any specific product information was provided by Georgia Renaissance Festival and U.S. Family Guide, however, the opinions expressed in this post are our own.  We did receive tickets so our family could visit the festival and share our experience.

  • 30th Annual Georgia Renaissance Festival Promo Code

    The weather is warming up and there are a lot of fun activities happening all around.  If you will be in the Georgia area any time between April 18th to June 7, 2015 you may want to check out the 30th Annual Georgia Renaissance Festival.  I have also included a promotional code for you to use for additional savings!

    30th Annual Georgia Renaissance Festival Details:

    Every weekend and Memorial Day, starting April 18 thru June 7, 2015 The 30th Annual Georgia Renaissance Festival is a family-friendly event, and a different kind of theme park. Inside this 32-acre recreation of a 16th Century English Village you’ll find hundreds of costumed characters, the Queen and her Court, endless circus-style entertainment on 10 stages, shopping in over 130 artisan shoppes, food fit for Royalty, games and rides for kids of all ages, and the spectacular Jousting Knights on horseback. Patrons are invited to wear costumes and join in the fun too. It’s a whole lotta’ fun, and a little bit of History, every weekend and Memorial Day, April 18 thru June 7, 2015.

    Georgia Renaissance Festival Promo Code Discount:

    • Get $4 off Adult and $3 off Child (6-12) tickets!  Use  Promo Code: “castle” when purchasing discount tickets on our secure website at www.garenfest.com. Tickets are good any day of the 2015 Season (Weekends and Memorial Day Apr 18-June 7). Online discount only. Not good with any other offers.