To say that Annabelle has a special affinity for animals is something of an understatement; since my little girl has had the strength to sit and pull herself up, she’s shown her enthusiasm for the furry and feathered kind (I kid you not; somewhere around 6 to 8 months old, she’d practically dive out of her stroller to reach get close to animals at the farm). Admittedly, she says she is still scared of bugs, but when it comes to cats, dogs, pigs, horses, goats, sheep, deer, and birds, well, this little girl has a warm spot in her heart.
Last month when I put together our 30 days of you and me, I thought a neat way for us to discover more about the animals Annabelle already loves would be to observe the animals living in our house; at that point, Silvia and Barry were still swimmingly happy in their fish bowl, and well, Toby is Toby . . . he is a pretty zen feline and doesn’t mind being observed (so long as that doesn’t involve disturbing his daytime slumber). But then, well, and I’m sure you’ve already guessed it . . . Silvia and Barry are no longer for this world; they’ve departed their fish bowl, making their way to fish heaven to visit with extended family (which is what we told Annabelle happened to them). Meanwhile, I’ve been holding off on our animal observations, trying to come up with something else that’d be fun and easy to do with my 2 year old and that would involve animals she isn’t too afraid of (like bugs).
On a whim, I called up our friends and invited them on a day trip to the zoo (it’s actually a small, local zoo that cares for exotic animals; oddly enough, there are McMansions in the zoo’s backyard; I’ve long wondered whether those folks eat their eggs and toast while camels and zebras poke around in their gardens). I figured we could feed the animals, go on safari, and then talk about the animals together. A good plan right? Easy enough . . . it didn’t quite work out that way; instead of finishing the safari, hanging out a bit, and chatting with the kiddos about the different animals, Annabelle and I had to make a fast exit after finishing the safari . . . for some reason (it could be the whole 9 months pregnant thing), I couldn’t hold up my head at the end of the ride and thought I was going to wind up taking a field trip to the E.R. (“fainting pregnant lady picked up at the zoo” . . . not exactly my idea of a good time). Luckily, my girlfriend came to the rescue with a bottle of water and kid management (uh, sometimes Annabelle needs a little coaxing to actually take 2 steps in the same direction). Somehow I made my way back to our car and once home, I put Annabelle down for her nap and collapsed, sleeping for a long time and then later managing to eat something (without feeling like I was going to hurl . . . not a small feat for the morning).
Anyway, while we were at the zoo, we fed goats, saw a few hungry and playful camels, and overall, had a good time. Below are a few photographs from our visit to the zoo, which I’ve followed with an activity that Annabelle and I did together once I could hold up my own head and put a few words together . . .
When I held up my camera, this friendly goat guy stepped up to the fence, and posed for his portrait. I made sure Annabelle gave him some of our feed, :-)
Of course, goats aren’t shy about getting what they want; these guys rushed over to the kids and snatched up as much feed as they could . . . the kids loved it.
Annabelle, always a ball of energy, then performed this jubilant dance . . . I suppose that the excitement of feeding the goats and getting to hang with two of her favorite buddies, her energy was through the roof . . .
And then we went on safari . . .
which started out just fine: we found seats, my girlfriend gave the kids banana nut muffins, and armed with our cameras, my girlfriend and I got all trigger happy snapping photos left and right; but then, out of nowhere, this stoic fella swept into the tractor and stole my daughter’s banana nut muffin; she was sitting between her buds munching on her muffin and then the next thing she knows, this guy’s got his face about an inch from nose . . . yeah, she wasn’t too happy with him.
I, on the other hand, was taken with him; he’s a friendly guy who likes to be pet on his nose, isn’t shy about getting food (well, that wasn’t hard to figure out), and likes to trot away to play with zebras . . . I’d love to have a camel around . . . so long as he didn’t eat my couch . . .
more camel . . . I’m a sucker for these guys . . .
and then my last photo for the day, the ostrich, just before I tucked my head between my knees and needed to take cover on the floor.
At home (and several hours later), Annabelle and I sat down with my laptop and You Tube to observe the goats and camels just a little more. We listened to goat and camel sounds, watched goats play, camels run and do some other odd stuff (like eat cardboard, see the links below), and then looked at still photos of each animal to talk about their physical similarities and differences. Here’s what Annabelle had to say about goats and camels:
“Roarrrr!!!” (her impression of a camel)
“Goats ride a slide.” (well, you’ll see, they do actually)
“Goats are nice. Camels are scary.” (I think she’s still upset about the camel stealing her muffin)
“Camels are big. Goats are big.” (Her response to my asking which animal is big and which one is small . . . I guess from where she’s standing, at some 2 ft plus a few inches–or maybe more, I’m such a bad mother I don’t even know how tall she is–both goats and camels are big)
We both agreed that both camels and goats have eyes, ears, noses, and mouths. We both agreed that both animals can be pretty funny. But Annabelle is holding firm in that camels are not nice and goats are.
The following clips helped us wrap up our day of observations:
The Sound of Goats
http://www.junglewalk.com/sound/goat-sounds.htm
Camel Sounds
http://www.camelphotos.com/VideoClips.html
The care of goats
http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-care-for-goats
Funny clips of goats playing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tdz97isFkl4
A bored camel plays with a jug
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFWUK05j7Po
Camels Eating
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgvWHayqSHw&feature=player_embedded
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{ 9 comments }
Pretty amazing ; ) Hope you guys are great.
Best,
C
Hope you’re feeling better now! Let me know next time you’re in CT (though I’m assuming with a baby it won’t be for a while) so I can introduce Annabelle to our animals! She likes horses, right???
One camel steals a muffin and now poor Annabelle will probably never feel the same way about the species again. Way to ruin it for everyone, camel.
I love how exciting animals are for children. And I hope you’re feeling better.
abbie and Amber, thanks, :-) I am feeling much better, and yes, lol, we made animal masks today, one of a goat and the other of a camel and she kept having the camel be the scary one. Maybe by the time she’s 3 or 4 she’ll forget? :-)
Oh, and Abbie, Annabelle loves horses! We’ll definitely stop over next time we’re in Ct.
Sorry to hear you weren’t feeling well. But it sounds like the day turned out in the end. The pictures, as always are amazing. Your little darling is learning so much about the world. I love mamas like you :)
I wonder how Annabelle will feel about meeting a horse with her same name!
We recently paid a visit to this same zoo – can you imagine seeing zebras from your back deck every day?! :)
Wow, are you in Northern Virginia? And yes, that must be such a treat for the kids who live behind the zoo to see zebras everyday, :-) Exotic, huh?
Yes, except I would get the willies every night worrying about those two huge pythons. Did you see them? Yes, we are in NoVa. Your picture of the ostrich is perfect.
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