Lake Tobias

On Sunday, May 6, Shawn suggested we head to Lake Tobias as a family. I had purchased two sets of "buy one get one free" passes from a Living Social deal, and with the beautiful weekend we were having, we figured it would be the perfect time to go. We didn't plan ahead, though - we had run out of peanut butter and bread to make sandwiches. But, we packed some snacks, printed directions and headed the hour and 15 minute drive to Halifax to go on our Safari. The boys were SO excited to be heading to a "zoo" as we called it.

As Daddy headed to the concession stand to buy crackers to feed the animals, I took the boys to the little playground area right across the street. The weather didn't look too promising, even though the forecast said it wasn't supposed to rain. Praise God, it held off. While the day before had been sunny and hot, this day was in the mid-60s and cloudy. But, no rain and no lines = fun for our family!

After sliding down a time or two, we hopped in line and got on the safari bus. Caleb started out with Daddy while Joshua climbed into the seat next to Ryan and me.

My first mistake of the day was not taking along some crackers or a snack for baby Ryan. He wasn't too sure about the safari ride and the fact that we were holding crackers that he couldn't eat. Whoops! We had left everything in the stroller when we climbed on board. Joshua asked where the seat belts were. He's a "safety first" kind of kid. He also listened closely to Daddy when Shawn told them to watch that things didn't bite their hands or poke them with the horns. Joshua was fairly nervous at the first couple places we stopped. Here's a picture of what our bus looked like (we had seen this one in the distance, but it was exactly like ours; they leave about every 10-15 minutes, I think).

At one of the first stops we made, the tour guide pointed out a large group of eggs lying on the ground. Now I forget the name of the bird that this was the babies, but he told us all about them. The mama bird lays the eggs, but it's the daddy's job to sit on them, keep them warm and keep them safe. He said that he had no idea where this daddy bird went. They checked all the birds that morning and the daddy had been in his spot. The guide said that if the bird doesn't come back relatively quickly, the eggs will be "no good." It made me a little sad - why had the daddy bird left his nest, I wondered? How true is that to life with some families?

Later on in the tour, we came to another place where a father bird was doing his duty of careful cover over his pile of eggs. The tour guide explained that for 40-45 days until the eggs hatched, the father won't leave to even eat. They will go hungry that entire time to make sure their babies are safe and protected. They also are responsible for raising the little ones once they are hatched. This father was committed! I thought about how much I respect my husband for the commitment he shows our boys and me. :) We have a "Good" Daddy!

I, on the other hand, ended up not being the best mama. Ryan was screaming because he wanted the crackers we were holding to feed the animals. He LOVES graham crackers (his favorite treat) and these looked almost identical. I finally gave in to him holding one after smelling it and it smelled like normal crackers that people would eat. I figured if he tried it and it tasted awful, he wouldn't continue to eat it. As soon as I gave him one piece for each hand, he was happy the rest of the trip. He gnawed on the end of one but eventually lost interest. I wondered if I made the right call, but it didn't seem to hurt him one iota.

The tour guide would stop at various points along the trail and tell us about the animals. Many were out wandering and would come right up to the bus. Others were behind fences, like this one. He is from Africa and has really long horns. They grow to be 2,000 pounds and travel in herds in their native country.

I told Shawn that his talk on safety had terrified the Bean. So, he took Joshua with him, coaxing him onto what was safe to do; and they had a great time!

In the meantime, Caleb came over with me. I switched places with him so he could lean right out of the bus and feed the animals. I reminded him when to sit and watched when the horns came, but he had NO FEAR but still listened well. Ryan was now happy as a lark with his hands full.

When the animals came up, Caleb would feed them cracker after cracker and then laugh and laugh. I LOVED listening to him giggle. He was SO excited! I also fed the animals some. They are used to the drill. Shawn had bought plenty of crackers, and he and Joshua were feeding animals out their side as well. One woman came up to the seat in front of us and petted this guys' horns while Caleb shoveled all sorts of crackers into the beast's mouth.

I love these open air buses! What a cool experience! We get to be so close to animals we would never even dream of seeing otherwise. And Lake Tobias isn't nearly as expensive as a typical zoo would cost.

Here's our friend again - we learned that the velvet on the antlers are actually for its blood vessels as they grow.

Joshua was having a great time one-on-one with Shawn. Everyone was happy!

We even saw 'Dinky Deer.'

This type of cow was known for how thick its horns grow - he's carrying an extra 200 pounds on his head alone. WOW!

The boys loved being there together as a family!

Here's a view of some of the animals in the horizon:

The animals below are z'donks. They breed donkeys and zebras together to get donkeys with zebra socks. These animals can't reproduce and are "pests" according to the tour guide. They were fighting each other and biting, and he said that soon they will go in cages as the deer give birth to their young because the z'donks will hassle them and not leave them alone. They will also bug the male birds sitting on their nests and are a nuisance, so eventually they put them away until the baby deer are old enough to fend for themselves. I wonder why man creates such animals if they are nothing but a hassle? Obviously God didn't intend for this mixed breed.

Here's a picture of a fellow I was feeding. He wanted the camera, too, I think.

You can see the group in our bus and the overcast skies. Praise the Lord, though, not a drop of rain fell on us.

We were blessed to be able to have a fun family day! I loved this picture of Shawn & my oldest son. Don't they look quite a bit alike?

After getting off the safari tour, we headed straight to the Reptile Show that was about to start. What great timing!

The reptile building is new this year, and this was our first time to go to the show. The woman above is showing us a large turtle. They had just put the frog away.

Next they got out the snakes, and they also explained about some other various animals, including crocodiles and alligators.

After the show was over, we walked around the building to check out the various reptiles. Look at the size of that snake next to Joshua!

At the one area, the boys got to pet the snake while the gal held it.

I loved Caleb's expression as he thought about touching the snake. He did eventually pet it.

I even had the 'opportunity' to pet the alligator with baby Ryan. The other boys weren't too interested. ;-)

After the reptile land, we headed to the petting zoo area. Here was the baby guinea pig pen. There were massive amounts of babies! They must mate like bunnies!

There was also a skunk you could pet (no thanks!).

Unfortunately, the animals didn't seem too hungry. We obviously got there too late because very few animals wanted the crackers the boys still had with them.

That said, one goat decided to munch on my shirt for awhile until I realized it wasn't one of my children pulling me but a pesky 'kid.' Ugh!

We eventually kept walking around to the animals that aren't safe enough to have in the petting area. Above were the baboons, below were the tigers. Joshua was excited to see the tiger!

My favorite part of the day was when the zebras came right up to us. They were hungry, and we fed them the rest of our crackers right out of our hands!

Some of the animals were napping, like this big bear. We told the boys that even bears and lions nap, so we obviously still need them, too!

Ryan was so good throughout the day. He's such an easy baby! Praise God, since we just take him where we need to go. :)

I asked if we could get a few more pictures before leaving, since they are precious memories to me. The boys and their Daddy agreed. Here's our little men at the "zoo."

And here are my boys with me. :)

And Daddy and the boys together.

We saw that even the lions were napping as we left. Sounded good to us on that Sunday afternoon! We stopped for a drive-through lunch and headed home. Such a fun weekend we had had!