The Abilene Zoo

 In January we purchased a one year pass to the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco, Tx. Along with that comes a huge list of zoos and aquariums that we can get into free as well as a large list that we get a discount off of tickets. The Abilene Zoo was on the free list and since it's only an hour from Brownwood, we decided to take advantage of it today. It's a small zoo, only 16 acres but very family friendly. They do an excellent job with the small cages and local animals.  

We bought some food for the ducks. They had some strange looking ducks that we had never seen before!

 I had just assumed it would be another Texas spring day but on the way out the door Eldon asked me to grab jackets for the children. I was so glad I did! It wasn't that cold but it was windy. We wandered around the reptile house and several other indoor exhibits for a long time. Thankfully it did warm up and we learned a lot by carefully examining all the cages and signs. The zoo keepers were doing some feeding at that time too so that was entertaining. 

A tortoise 

A Chameleon. Makayla was wishing it would go to a different place in the cage so we could watch it change colors. 

These tortoises had incredibly deep bumps on their shells.

Did you know that flamingos are pink because they little pink shrimp?

They are just enjoying God's creation!

The sea turtles were so fun to watch.

Watching the birds

Mourning Dove

Admiring the blue bills of a bird

These big guys were squawking around.

Posing in the bright sunlight beside a prairie dog statue that you can't see.

They wanted $8 for a bag of dirt to mine so we skipped that :)

So many blooming trees and flowers!

The giraffe exhibit is currently under construction but when it's done you will be able to feed them! We have done this at the Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield, Mo and it's super fun! Their tongues are so long!

They had 2 young jaguars that were fairly new to the zoo. Much to the children's delight (and ours) they were romping around in the water for a while. It must have been unusual because by the time we left at least 4 zoo keepers had gathered to watch as well.

Monkeys

Up close and personal! This guy loved attention.

Ethan was such a tropper. He barely uttered a peep the 2 hours we were there but frequently pointed an smiled.

The honeybees loved this tree. I tried to get a picture of one for my Uncle Leroy, who raises bees but never could. Sorry, Leroy.

We decided to start the children all a penny press collection. They are cheap, small, and most places have one. Eldon bought them all a penny press book to store them in.

No words necessary 

Next the zoo they have a huge park. We played there for an hour or more then also had a picnic there.

Since we have a Texas State Park pass as well we thought we would drive through the Abilene State Park since we were out that way. The campground looks very nice-much more wooded then Lake Brownwood. They also have yurts that you can rent. However, the lake in itself was a disappointment. I was wishing we would have asked what percent full it was because it was extremely low. There is no way a boat could even be put in by the boat dock.

It was a very enjoyable and exhausting day. Less naps resulted in more tears then this family needs but it was worth it for one day. Have a blessed night!