Louisville Zoo

We said good-bye to my family in Indiana Sunday night, and headed down to Kentucky. It was a short, pleasant 2 hour drive to Kevin's sister's place in Shelbyville, KY. We had plans to go to the Louisville Zoo on Monday but it started storming in the morning so we weren't sure if it was going to work out at first. Thankfully it cleared up around noon time and the rest of the day was clear. Kaelyn was VERY excited to be going to "see animals" as we explained it to her. We tried to give her a play-by-play of what was happening next on every little part of the trip and that seemed to help her cope better with being here, there, and everywhere. She would wake up each morning and say, "Um, what's next Mommy?" :)


Kay on a rhino statute. (Notice the map - or as she
called it "my mat" - in her hand.) She dutifully
held on to one the whole time and pored over it like
she knew exactly what it said and what it was for.
I suppose she was fascinated with the pictures.


The 3 of us by the giraffes.


I love seeing the beautiful non-Florida landscape
when we head anywhere out of the state.


Kaelyn and her cousin Larissa


We got to see several baby animals including a
giraffe and this elephant. The baby elephant
kept climbing into the water, rolling around,
and splashing water out with his trunk. It was
so cute! I don't think I've seen one that active
before.


He almost looks like a statute here.


We watched the gorillas for quite a while - such
funny creatures!


This guy was HUGE though the picture
doesn't really give a good perspective.


The zoo had a nice water area complete with two
small slides, fountains, etc. I had taken Kaelyn's
bathing suit just in case they had something like
that (it seems like a lot of zoos do) and we were
glad we had it with us. She had a blast playing
in the water and then we took a break for ice
cream/snacks while she dried off a bit. (Yeah,
we thought to take a b. suit but not a towel.) :)


This is an albino alligator that came from
where else but Florida. His name is King
Louie - not sure why. The albino gators are
not that common. He almost looked fake
like a cement lawn ornament I thought.


This was the weirdest snake. You can't
tell by the pic. but it was an aqua blue
color and I thought the way it was
hanging from the branch looked so weird.
I think it was from the Amazon. It's a type
of Python and it hangs from branches just like
that and then drops on people/things as they
walk by underneath. It makes me shudder
to think about it!


The aviary was closed in at the top but
open all around as you walked through
it. This bird was just inches away as I
walked by so I was able to get a really
close-up picture.


Kay-Kay and I watching the penguins.
I find them so amusing to watch. They're
so awkward when they walk on land but
are absolutely graceful in the water.

The 3 of us at the entrance to the zoo.

Indiana

Here is "installment" number two. Most of these pictures are from Saturday and Sunday in Indiana. The first few were some that somehow didn't get copied to my flash drive when I blogged the other night. (I was not using my new computer because I left part of the charging cord in KY.)


This was in TN where we stayed overnight on the
way up to IN Thursday. Kay-Kay stood in the car
and stuck her head out the sun roof and sang and
entertained herself while we loaded the car. (It was
backed right up to the door of our room.)



In the old mill building at Spring Mill, there
was a table with "old-fashioned" toys and
Kaelyn was quite fascinated with them.



If there is something to climb up onto, Kaelyn
will be up in a heartbeat. Then she will often
sing, dance, etc. I guess the whole world really
is her stage - especially when she has an
audience.


The current cousins.


Kay and Emilee playing together while the adults
ate/talked.


Emilee and my cousin's son who is a couple
months younger than Emilee. You think
he's going to be tall? (His dad's 6' 10")


The girls playing together.


Some of my favorite people in the world! (You can
choose your favorite pose) :)

Emilee and Kaelyn played in the little pool after we

got back from dinner.

Leah & I took Emilee & Kaelyn to the Dairie Queen

in town. We had an enjoyable time!

Emilee was the photographer for this shot.

Sunday after church.

My little cutie.

Kay-Kay looking at the dog.

A ride around Aaron & Lynette's property Sunday

afternoon.

My Oh Me, Where Can the Owner of This Poor, Forsaken Blog Be?

In the past week, we have been in Indiana and Kentucky visiting family. We have seen: Kevin's parents, Becky's parents, Kevin's two siblings, Becky's five siblings, all of Kaelyn's cousins, Becky's grandparents, AND... (taking a breath to continue) an aunt and uncle and two of Becky's cousins! We went to: Spring Mill state park for a cookout, dinner out with extended family, a church that I have not been to in 9 years, the zoo in Louisville, Daniel Boone's grave, a Vietnam War Memorial, a game reserve, AND... ('nother breath) dinner out with all of Kevin's family at the historic Claudia Sanders restaurant (the restaurant that Colonel Sanders of KFC and his wife ran after his semi-retirement). We traveled hundreds of miles and God protected us every mile of the way, kept our car running smoothly, and blessed us with an incredibly good 4 year old rider! No complaints but after a long trip, it was good to finally walk in our own door around 11:00 last night. So without further adieu, the first "installment" of pictures along with my usual long explanations:


The four cousins plus cousin "Baby Taylor" :)
I think everyone else that took this same picture got
better shots. Weirdly enough, I knew I was very
shaky and felt like I was going to faint for a little
bit but it wasn't until I loaded all the pics. to my comp.
tonight that I realized that the first several pictures
that I took were blurry. :)


Kay-Kay and Nana - I LOVE this picture!


Kay & I eating our candy sticks from
the "mercantile" in the Pioneer Village.




Oddly enough, after sitting down on these
steps 'cause I was afraid I was going to faint,
I ate my candy stick and within 10 minutes
felt much better - kinda' strange I know.


Joy


Rach relaxing




Net & I re-creating a pose that we did about
10 years ago at this same place in the park.



Kay-Kay LOVED playing in the creek even though
it was FREEZING!


I thought this was cute.


Between slippery rocks on the bottom of the creek
and rapidly flowing water, the little ones needed
a helping hand and Joy patiently helped them.



Picture of a person taking a picture - yeah, I
know that's kind of old but oh well.


We took Kay's bubble machine and it provided a
lot of entertainment for the cousins.



Yep, it's Kevin and I.
I will try to post pictures tomorrow of the rest
of the time in Indiana and then post pictures
from Kentucky sometime soon after that.