A Visit to Animal Adventure Park!

Some of you probably remember the fuss about April the giraffe, whose pregnancy was watched by millions of people around the world. April (and her calf Tajiri) live at Animal Adventure Park, which is less than an hour from my house and right down the street from my friends Robin and George, and my beloved goddess children Nate and Sophie.

On Saturday, pal Ellen and I drove through torrential downpours to get to Robin's house. Thankfully, the rain stopped just in time for our visit to the park. We spent three lovely hours hanging out and meeting all the animals, and seeing the many they'd added since our visit last year (including my favorites, the rare white lions, of which there are only 20 left in the wild and 300 in the entire world) and a kangaroo with her baby poking its head our of her pouch.

You get to feed many of the tamer animals, which is fun, and I got to spend the day with some of my favorite people, too. All in all, a wonderful day.

Here are a few pictures. If you can ever get there, you should really go visit.

April

Ellen making new friends

Wolf!

Black bear

One of the white lions

George, Robin, and Nate taking a break

Kanga and Roo

Little goats. Not endangered, but darn cute

Me with my favorite kids (and our booty from the gift shop), with Ellen hiding

Best portapotties ever

The whole gang at the end of the day

A Visit to Animal Adventure Park and April the Giraffe

Things have been a little crazy here (what's new, I know) and I realized I never put up a blog post about my visit to Animal Adventure Park last month. Many of you might have followed along last February and March as much of the world watched April the giraffe's pregnancy progress, and the birth of little Tajiri. I certainly got caught up in it, in part because the park is practically in my friend Robin's back yard in Harpursville, NY, less than an hour from where I live.

It had been one of my goals to get to the park to meet April in person, and in August, pal Ellen and I made the trip, joining up with Robin, her daughter Sophie, and Sophie's friend Rosie. It was a blast. It is a small park, although expanding all the time, and it took us about two hours to get around the whole thing, including a chunk of time spent with April, Oliver, and little Taj (who was asleep during our visit, alas, so we could only peek at him). April really is just as sweet as she seemed with the keepers who take care of her, and Sophie and I both took turns letting her take carrots (the giraffes' favorite treat) from our mouths. Here are a few pictures from the day:

Me and April the Giraffe!

Sophie said April's tongue tickled her

More carrots please!

Little Taj!

Sophie, Rosie, me, Ellen, and April

Daddy Oliver

Look how tall!

Ellen made friends with the camels

Lots of different kinds of animals, not just giraffes

Can you tell I was happy to be there?

It was a terrific day, spent in terrific company, and I'm already looking forward to going back next year.