Forever Wild

Actual Date: Friday, July 15, 2011

"Wild thang, you make my heart sing."

Sorry I couldn't resist.  Grandpa gave Parker these very cool glasses and he thinks knows he's a Bad Mama Jama in them.

Early in the day Brian's brother Chris and his wife Jen arrived to spend the next couple days with us.  They live in Nevada so we were excited to get to see them while we were on the West Coast.  And this time we were extra excited to see them because Jen is pregnant with our very first Nephew (We actually just found out today (9/23) that he's a boy!  Parker is going to have a little buddy! I think Kyle is a good name... I'm just sayin')

We all headed out with the Wild Man to see something else a little more wild.  

A few years ago when we were still living in California, Extreme Makeover Home Edition did a show in my home town.  Brooke and I used to watch that show together when Brian was traveling so I knew we had to go down there and check it out.  It was really really wet and cold and since Ava was only a few months old so we left her with Grandpa and Grandma.  My cousin met us there with her two boys and our neighbor, Janelle met us there with her pregnant self ( I think she was due in like weeks!  She was a trooper standing out there all day.) and her daughter who is Brooke's age.  

It was so much fun to be out there and be a part of the excitement of it all. They were redoing not only the peoples home but also their business.  They ran a Wild Animal Sanctuary so they were not only helping the family but also the animals.  The best part of the whole thing for me, besides having Ty wave right at me, was listening to Brooke scream "Move that bus!" over and over again in her cute little baby voice.  

We were all excited to get inside and check everything out.  I saw what it looked like when we watched the episode on TV but I had never actually been inside.

The first thing we looked at was a room full of poisonous reptiles, mostly snakes.  Yep, it was as creepy as it sounds. 

They had a wall displaying some of the skins they had shed.   

After that we headed outside to see something a little less creepy crawly.  Gators!  Ok they are still creepy crawly to everyone except for Ava.  She LOVES Alligators and Crocodiles.  Long after everyone was done looking at them Ava was still standing there in awe.  Then one of the little ones started to head for the water to cool off.  You know what that girl said?  "Aww.  Look at you little baby. You are so precious.  Mommy look how sweet this little baby one is crawling to the water."  

Oh that girl, she's a crack up.

We saw turtles and tortoises.  

Look how cool his shell is.

We also got to see some more cool things like lama's, a horse, a pig, and some parrots.  

Next it was time to head into the best part of the whole place, the Big Cat section.  Um yeah, they ain't messin' around.  "Keep your kids with you at all times!" 

Right when we got there they were getting ready to feed the Lioness.  You can pay extra to do that.  We didn't but I was excited that we were going to get to see it.

Yikes, I would hate to meet her in a dark alley.

There were lots of other cool cats in there.

Then we saw saw the infamous "Coladas."  What's a Colada you say?  You don't know?

Racoons silly!  

Coladas= Raccoons 

At least in Ava's world.  We were all standing there looking the other animals and Ava said "Look at the Coladas!"  We had no idea what she was talking about.  Auntie Jen said "Pina? Pina Coladas?"  And then Grammy girl figured it out, she was trying to say Kola.  She thought the Raccoons were Kolas. 

There was a beautiful Black Leopard.  Her eyes were so pretty and bright green.

Look at that big belly.  When she stood up it almost touched the ground.  I think she was pregnant.  We meant to ask when we went back inside but we forgot. 

Then we saw this sign.  And let me tell you, make sure you pay attention to signs! They are there for a reason people.  One of the guys in there tried to get us a few times.  He was not happy to have us there I don't think.  

This guy could care less.  He was taking his morning nap.  I love when cats lay like this.  It reminds me of our old cat Kitty Face.  I used to love when he would lay on his back.  I would always try to rub his little tummy because it was so soft and fluffy.  I just wanted to rub my face in it.  Kitty Face however did not enjoy it as much as I did and I have the scars to prove it.  

When we were standing there looking at this Tiger he moved one of his paws a little bit and Ava got so excited and said "He waved to me!"

Parker telling Uncle Chris some big story.

Brooke striking a pose by the Coladas.

After we had seen everything there was to see outside we headed back inside and checked out the snakes one more time.  I told Brian to smile by one of the Cobras who was moving around.  Right after I took this picture the Cobra banged against the glass in an attempt to strike Brian.

It made us all jump.  Honestly it scared the ever loving life out of me.  

He even played the blinking game with him.  I think the snake won.

Parker checking out the Piranhas.  

After we had checked out all the wild animals we went home to play with our wild animal.  Chester was having such a good time at Grams.  I know people probably think we're crazy for dragging our dog with us in the car all the way to California but he loves it as much as we do.  He gets so excited when you ask him "Do you wanna go to Grandma's?!"

Later that night we headed over to our good friend John and Angie's house.  We had not seen them and the kids since last Summer so it was really good to see them.  We also got to catch up with some old friends who showed up.  It was really great to see everyone and the kids had a ton of fun swimming all night long.  

I can't believe that this is the only picture I got of the whole night.  I was definitely slacking on my picture taking this trip!