Yesterday-- San Antonio Zoo

Oops!! So sorry I forgot to update the blog yesterday! Well, better late than never, right? Yesterday we had a blast at the San Antonio Zoo, where we spent the day walking around and looking at the amazing animals God created!! We were especially taken with some Japanese ducks, which were very strikingly colored, and Dad had a great opportunity to tell us how God's glory is revealed through His varied creations, including colorful ducks. The kids had a great time in the petting zoo, although JonMichael got taken hostage by some goats! JM had a great time squawking at some birds too-- every time he squawked, they would squawked back. And Buddy discovered some magpie geese that really liked him-- whenever he walked away from their exhibit, they started honking for him to come back (either that or they were rejoicing in the fact that he had finally left them alone!) While in the Reptile House, however, we discovered that Abby has some- er- misconceptions about snakes. While looking at the 17-foot-long python, Abby remarked, "Oh look! That's a nice one. If I saw that one in the wild, I would go up and kiss it." Mom corrected her, "No, Abby, I think you'd probably want to run if you saw that one in the wild." "No," Abby said. "That's a nice one. He would like me to hug him." Later, while Dad was explaining how Komodo dragons kill their prey, Abby announced that they, too, were "nice ones" that would like hugs and kisses. Pretty brave coming from a kid who can't stand bugs or spiders!

Another favorite animal was the hyena, which was rather scary up close. Dad told us that, contrary to previous opinions, hyenas are predators more than scavengers, and that in Africa hyenas are considered more dangerous than lions (there are so many of them, and they live almost everywhere, so the chances of meeting a hyena pack are much greater than meeting a lion). Dad told us that many mysterious deaths are now being chalked up to hyena attacks. Yikes! And up close hyenas are much larger (and much uglier) than they look in pictures.

Back at the hotel that night, we all played charades. It was great, and when Josiah drew "hyena", it didn't take us long to guess what he was acting out! Other favorite charades included JonMichael's act as "Ripley's Believe It or Not", Tori's act as the Alamo, and Josiah's version of Indiana Jones (Josiah is really becoming a good actor). We all hung out and had fun before heading to bed... at 10:00!