We made it...

To the end of the alphabet! We actually finished at the end of April and then waited for the second Tuesday in May so we could get into the Portland Zoo for only $2 a person! It ended up being a busy day and the Zoo does not have enough parking. So to the great excitement of most the small men (Leroy didn't approve at first but recovered quickly) we had to park a few miles from the Zoo and ride in on a school bus they provide for such occasions.

We were very blessed to get quite a bit of animal action for the day! The sea lions were swimming around and playing by the glass, versus the usual blob sunning it's self on the rock.

The polar bear was scratching an itch on the log.

The elephants were the best, we got into the elephant house and there was only one male elephant not doing much so most people left. The boys were all lined up at the window when a keeper came in with a arm load of hay and a half a honeydew melon. He made the elephant back up and then lay down on command.

then sit up,

and a bow and then he got his melon. Not exactly your typical wild elephant but it was fun to watch such a big animal do those things.

The rest of his cohorts outside were busy too, the year old baby elephant was actually playing in the pool, sitting in the water and then falling over with a splash. That scene is firmly ingrained in Leroy's mind and we hear about it most mornings first thing when he wakes up, "the elapent, plashing in da wader".

Watching the elephants.

Mathew got to come along with Aunt Susie and the boys had a blast together.

The lions weren't too exciting this day, mostly sleeping.

Painted dogs

Hippos,
we're beginning to think they might be statues this is the almost identical position they were in last time we visited a year ago ;)

"Zeba-ra" (Leroy's pronunciation)

The one giraffe was indoors, not sure what happened to the rest of them there used to be at least 4.

The Alligator, I think,
tho' it could be the crocodile. I can't remember how to tell them apart and they were in the same encloser but separated with a natural rock wall.

A funny deer and ducks

Aunt Susie and the three little men.

The chimps were very active, eating broccoli (which impressed Phi) and pushing hay around the cage.

And last of all were the penguins, we couldn't find any at first and then some came swimming in and this little guy posed nicely for us before swimming off again.

Then it was back to the school bus to find our cars and head home for late naps and meeting night. :D It was definitely worth the $12 dollars it cost for all of us to get in (Gramma came too) since that is the average cost per adult on normal days.


So we are trying to decide when to start working on numbers now. I haven't decided whether to continue with the week per letter/number or how to work this. We've been playing Hide and Go Seek so that Phi works on counting from 1 to 10 so it will just be number recognition and amounts that we work on. June and July are very busy months for us so might wait for a bit of that to pass first before jumping in to this next phase. Thanks for reading and encouraging us along!