There's no place like home.

When I got tickets from Groupon for the African Safari Wildlife Park, I didn't realize how familiar the place would feel. Wild creatures in my face begging for food? Yeah, that's about right. That's a typical day around here.

The kids, especially Brooke and Andrew, loved it. Andrew couldn't stop cracking up. Brooke got to meet her favorite animal, the giraffe, up close. Emma and Leah watched from the back, while I hid behind the wheel with my window firmly rolled up. Not thrilled to have a huge hairy buffalo breathe in my face or get schmutzed by an ankole. (Ankole? You know, those large African cattle with long, thick horns? Yeah, those.)

They also had free pony and camel rides.  Andrew was the only one to give it a try.  And, the highlight I am sure for all of us, was the pig races.  Some guy who takes his job a little too seriously was the announcer, and there were 4 pigs, including Dale Swinehart Jr. and Mario Spamdretti, who took a couple laps around a little pen.  It was a strangely fascinating event.

And it was a good thing that the tickets were so cheap, because even though the kids had fun, they were done with everything in about an hour and a half.  So we grabbed some Subway and drove north until we found a beach.  The kids enjoyed the grub and tossing rocks into the lake.  The weather was perfect, the sun was shining, it was a breezy, cool day--just perfect for being in the fresh air. 

My little wild ones

A fun chance to let the animals roam free before they are caged up in their classrooms...