Zoo Day!

Our weekly home school co-op was canceled this past week due to last-minute electrical work on the church in which we meet. So we went to the zoo! A family from our ward and co-op joined us too, which was fun.

The kids really love the splash pad at the zoo.

And the playground at this zoo is amazing too.

This squirrel was looking for food! He wasn't afraid of anything. We had a tough time keeping him out of our strollers. He would just jump around them and not run away when we tried to shoo him.

Eddie had to climb to the top, naturally.

This gorilla was hilarious- made me think of how my kids loll about on our couch at home...

Sweepy baby!

This tank was cool- it had giant catfish and turtles in it too!

Love strollers that recline for the sleeping babies!

Rosie and Emery were deciding where we should go next, using the map.

Read to 'em and slip...

Eddie read 'Buggly Bear's Hiccup Cure' to Rosie and Rex- they loved it!

 He also came up with a slide n slip- they had a lot of fun doing this.

GOPHER Tortoise Surrender

Well, we had to give up Olive. I had posted a "found" ad on Craigslist in case anyone was missing her, and a tortoise collector asked for a photo because he wanted to buy her. I sent him one, and he told me that what we had was actually a gopher tortoise, and that they were endangered, federally protected, and illegal to own or even handle.  Woops. So we had to surrender her to a wildlife preserve nearby. But they said we can come back and see her again anytime.

While we were there, we got to see some Gray Wolves, Florida panthers, a black bear, an orange Bengal tiger and a GIANT white Bengal tiger. We got to hear a little bit of the tiger's story, but the video has disappeared from my photos! The photos don't quite illustrate the size and power of this feline. Anyway, the guy in the photo with him said he purchased him in order to rescue him from being sold to the circus. Needless to say, Eddie new desired pet is a tiger!!

So we said goodbye to Olive, and the preserve's director's daughter jumped in the photo too! Eddie was glad that she'll be nearby, and at a place better for her.

Galapagos Tortoise Encounter!

Saturday evening as we were driving to Stake Conference, we passed a tortoise walking on the side of the road. "Cool! look, a tortoise!" we said, and continued driving for a few more seconds. Then we realized it was a LOOSE TORTOISE! so we turned around and picked it up, and took it home.

We spent the weekend learning what it needs to eat, and providing it with lettuce, apples, kale, and other leafy greens that were going bad in our refrigerator.

This morning, we learned how to tell the gender, the age, and the species of the tortoise. 

After learning it was not the "boy" tortoise that Eddie wanted, we named her Olive, since her shell is an olive color.

We also discovered that she's likely a Galapagos tortoise.

We also learned what the different parts of her shell are called.

All in all, she's a beautiful tortoise!

We will probably put up fliers nearby where we found her, in case she's a runaway and some poor child is missing her. So we'll see what happens! 

But no matter what, it's been terrific tortoise time!

UPDATE: Here's a video of Olive eating out of Eddie's hand...

Exploring Islamorada!

On Labor Day, all the beaches in Homestead were closed due to the Hurricane Dorian Watch, so our family beach day plans became an excursion to the Keys. We went down to Islamorada, and found a great beach we'd never been to, and saw a fantastic blue crab (several, actually). We enjoyed the extra bouncy, hurricane wind waves.

Then we went tarpon feeding! It was really fun to watch the big fish fight over the bait, up close and personal with the food chain. Then we got some shave ice, which was sooo sugary yummy, and then called it a day and came home. We really enjoyed the cooler temperatures that day! Looking forward to getting outside more as the weather cools down this Fall!