Party animals

A couple of weeks ago, Benton and Brack had spring break. To celebrate, we planned a couple of fun activities involving wildlife. Benton had been talking non-stop about "animals" for the last month or so and we knew it was time he got to see some in person. 

Our first stop was the Pine Mountain Wild Animal Safari with Nana and Papa Joe. Have you been to this place? It's weird. There's a walkabout section where you can see some creatures up close. This is not the weird part. Just your basic caged animals, photo ops, etc.

The main attraction is a drive-thru animal park where the animals come up to your car window so you can feed them. Giraffes, zebras, bison, elk, antelope - they all just walk from car to car to eat.

You put a handful of animal feed out the window and these guys just come slurp it right up. Weird, right? It's pretty crazy to have a zebra eating out of your hand. Benton did great! 

A word of advice: if you plan to visit this fine establishment, please do not drive your own car (you can rent a van or ride the bus for free) and also make sure you bring some wet wipes. There is a lot of slobber and dirt involved. But it was a fun adventure and Benton loved every minute he got to spend with his Nana and Papa Joe.

Our next adventure was Zoo Atlanta. We went on Friday to celebrate the last day of spring break and our last day with a one-year-old. Some more free advice for you: do you know about the Family Pass you can get from the library? Every public library in Georgia has this zoo DVD that you can check out. When you turn it back in, you get 2 adult and 2 child zoo tickets for free! The catch is there's only one DVD per branch and you can't put in on hold so it's hard to track it down. Somehow we managed to get our hands on one in Newnan and got a free trip to the zoo!

The weather was perfect. Since it was spring break for most of the state of Georgia, we got there early to avoid some of the crowd. Benton loved it! He liked saying hi to the animals, watching all the people and getting out of his stroller to walk on his own. His little hands in his pockets kills me every time.

I think his favorite part (besides the lion) was the parakeet aviary. You buy a seed stick for $1 and then walk into a huge enclosure with hundreds of birds. I am not a huge fan of birds and was slightly alarmed by this situation, but we made it through without any signs of danger. Benton got right in there to feed them! Best dollar we ever spent.

We took a break for a picnic lunch, and then came back for a ride on the train and the carousel. It was a great day and the end of a wonderful spring break! Will post soon about Benton's birthday.