Clearwater/Tampa con't

On Friday, we went to Busch Gardens. If you've never been, it's like a zoo and amusement park combined. It was about 50 degrees all day, so not very warm....definitely not the warm Florida weather we were hoping for! 

We've arrived! We got there around 10:30 and didn't leave until the park closed at 7 pm. 

We did the Serengeti Safari (Brenda took James on a train ride because he wasn't old enough)

We saw all kinds of animals on our safari jeep tour! 

This picture cracks me up!

We all got to feed the giraffe lettuce. Adelyn liked it, but wouldn't look. 

They still had all the Christmas decorations up. There were tons of poinsettias everywhere! Grandma and the grandkids are in the sleigh together. 

Emily, Thomas, and Adelyn were tall enough to ride this bad boy, the Scorpion. They loved it!

Saturday was MUCH warmer (high 60s/low 70s) and we visited the Lowry Park Zoo, which is voted #1 zoo in the nation by Parents Magazine. 

Family shot after the kids fed the giraffes again

They had a wide range of animals and the best part was how visible they were to kids. When I went to the Atlanta Zoo I felt like we were searching for the animals and I was constantly lifting the kids up to see them. 

Beautiful, colorful birds 

 My favorite- the orangutans! And I could have watched these monkeys all day. This video is crazy!

 This girl is growing too fast. 

 James loves the merry-go-round!

 When James saw these penguins he said, "He kiss it and make it better?"

 Oh, are we at the zoo?? Forget the fact that there are meerkats behind this viewing window....it's turned into a monster truck jam. He carried this monster truck EVERYWHERE we went. 

 They all got to feed giraffes again! This time James and Brenda got to participate!

 Their long, black tongues creep me out/fascinate me. The black is like a sunscreen because giraffes eat the bulk of the day. 

 Bobby bought James a cupcake. He's always getting the grandkids sweets. 

 This is an okapi- it's head resembles a giraffe and it's legs a zebra. Interesting mating combo. 

We were in a fenced in outdoor "room" with the wallabies. No cage- so cool!

After this, we headed home. What a great way to kick off the new year. Now it's time to get back into some kind of routine!