well, despite telling James on Friday night that he was free to sleep as long as he wished for on Saturday morning, he was up at 6:30. this means that i was up at this time, too. James had clearly had an interesting dream, as he woke up with one sole purpose - a visit to the zoo.
not a bad idea, as it happens, but not the best in terms of timing. James was (eventually) persuaded to let the animals sleep for a bit, in particular as the zoo only opens up at 10. after breakfast, and indeed selected highlights of The Phantom Menace, off James and i went to his beloved Lory Park Zoo!! Mummy, being a few days away from baby due date, wisely opted to stay home and rest!
before we get to the beautiful animals at Lory Park, there's one of the other reasons James loves going there - the ace play park for children!
as well as the climbing frame / jungle gym thing, they usually have the bouncy castle on the go, which James has no problem at all with.
it has been a couple of months since our last trip to Lory Park, and my have they made some changes! for a start, when you walked in you used to go straight to the meerkat (or mongoose, as James insists on calling them) house. well, you do now still go straight to the meerkat, but no more house for them - they've built a really ace enclosure for them!
another new thing at Lory Park are signs everywhere warning that the animals bite, and that you shouldn't put your fingers through the cages. now, dear reader, to you and i this would seem like common sense. alas, there have been one or two incidents of children putting their fingers in to play with the animals(or possibly just to tease them), and of course parents have gone barmy blaming the zoo.
having seen how some parents just let their children run around unattended at Lory Park whilst they sit to eat and drink i've always had a suspicion that blaming animals for biting an intruder into their living space was always a bit of a cover for what we can really only call neglect. look, if you will, at this picture.
yep, whereas James was happily sitting and watching the meerkats playing away and eating the nuts he had given them, the girl behind him (and two other boys) decided it was OK to climb in. now, there was only so much i could do, which was to tell them that they shouldn't be doing that and thus should get out now. of course i was ignored. their parents, assuming they were even there, were nowhere to be seen. should one of the kids had a scratch or bite, who do you think they would have blamed?
right, moving off my soap box and on to the true treats of Lory Park, here's some pictures for all you tiger lovers, Elaine in particular if you visit my site!
as i said, it was a really hot day today, and thus the male tiger there was wisely having a little cool down when we walked past him!
it was that hot that it would have been very tempting to jump in with him! however, thankfully there were a good number of signs around warning that the tiger would probably bite anyone and anything entering his domain, so James and i just settled for finding a strawberry milkshake instead!
and, speaking of animals that are likely to bite you, ladies and gentlemen, the king!
he really is a beauty, and i have pictured him here as he was carefully stalking / pacing a rather nice looking kids party happening right next to him! i am sure they would have loved to give the lion some birthday cake, we can only trust that they didn't pass him some!
last, and certainly not least, here's a look at some of the new members of Lory Park. first up here is who James calls "his new friend", a beautiful puma!
James was mesmerized by the puma, and that's putting it mildly! he really didn't wish to see anyone else after he met the puma - i think given the chance he would still be sat there watching him or her!
the puma certainly took a shine to James too, as he/she walked up and down following James, and then sat down and look at James as he sat and looked at him or her. the puma didn't seem too interested in playing with any other children like this - either the puma really took a shine to James, or just likes his excellent Wall-E t-shirt i guess!
for some odd reason, James was not as enamoured with the baby pumas. this was a shame as i love them to bits! i thus couldn't go and see the three of them for as long as i would have liked, but did manage to get one picture!!
well, what a lovely morning out! hope the pics are OK, i didn't take the camera with so they are off my phone.
if you are in the area, Lory Park is well worth the trip to go and see the lovely animals, and indeed the staff are dedicated and very friendly. oh, and if you take children to any zoo, if you don't think they are quite bright enough not to stick fingers through cages or climb into areas, maybe keep an eye on them!!
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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