• 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: Smithsonian Institution – National Museum of Natural History

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    Standing at the banister looking down on the elephant and floors below.

    The girls were thrilled to go to the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History.  Brina especially loves anything associated to animals.  Since we did the Smithsonian Institution of National Air and Space Museum yesterday we thought this will be a great next adventure.  Thankful for some fun times together!

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     Touring the National Museum of Natural History

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    OOOOOOOUCH Karlie!  This one has a lot of teeth!

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    Brina and Jake checking out the armadillo shell!

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    Doing their names with stamp calligraphy

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     Having fun exploring with my Brina Bee

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    Brina reading the sign and soaking it all in

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    Learning more about animals

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    Wow!  Some cool looking animals!

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    One big giraffe

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    Checking out the fun displays

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    They had a huge elephant in the middle foyer of the building.

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    Touching a piece of rock from Mars…..fascinating!

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    Karlie thought this rock was so cool

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    Whoa….look at those rocks!

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    The Hope Diamond is a 45.52-carat dark blue diamond.  It has traveled from India to France to Britain and now the United States.  The Hope Diamond is also described as the “most famous diamond in the world.”

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    It looks like the elephant is coming toward them!

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    Super excited to visit the Smithsonian Institution – National Museum of Natural History

  • Fun at the Zoo!

    Greenville Zoo and Window Art

    Watching “Joy” the elephant play

    We were able to squeeze in a fun trip to the Greenville Zoo with our cousins during summer vacation!  A big thanks to our sweet cousin who shared zoo passes with us!  Joy the elephant was playing with her tire while we were there.  It was the last week Joy was at Greenville Zoo.  A couple days later they were transporting her to a new zoo in Colorado.

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     Sweet girls!

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     Hanging out in the shade at the Giraffe exhibit.  There were 3 giraffes in the pen and the Momma is expecting another one any day now!  Great times with the cousins!

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     The turtles were very fascinating to watch!

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     A quick picture of the girls on the bear as we worked our way through the zoo!

    We spent the morning at the zoo then headed to Cleveland Park to eat a picnic lunch and play on the playgrounds.  It is always fun going on special trips with cousins.  Thankful for a fun time together with family!