The Kingdom of B#tches

Mariah was gone to MN for almost 2 whole weeks. I missed her terribly, her sister missed her terribly, and her Dad, well, I think he was a little lost. I am now dreading even more the day that she leaves for college, or after college when she goes on her "Save the Horses" expeditions or when she gets married and moves in with her love.

It is wonderful to see a Dad who cares so much about his daughter. It reminds me a lot of my own Dad. In general, Deron reminds me a lot of my own dad. Sometimes it's creepy. But, it's not a bad thing. They are both some pretty amazing men and I am blessed to have (had) them both in my life.

Anyways, while Ry was gone, Deron did horse chores. And after about the 3rd day, well, let's just say he wanted her to come home. And I secretly think the horse chores complaining was a cover up for his manly emotional hurt of her being gone for so long.

Meanwhile, back in Minnesota, while on one of what I am sure was many trips to Motor Mart, Ry found this little girl kitty near the Stop Sign. She has inherited her grandmothers soft heart, and brought the kitty back to grammas house where she was staying. When she told Deron, "Dad, I found a teeny tiny kitty, I want to bring it home." I distinctly remember him saying, "Leave it at Grammas house, DO NOT bring that kitty home." Needless to say, guess who came home with Mariah and Simba.

Mariah has been home for just over a week now and the other day I come home to find the following note attached to a chair facing the girls' living room:

Let me translate, since Deron writes like a man

*Clean your room & bathroom

*Do your laundry

*Get rid of that cat

*Care for your pig

*Care for your horses

Then you can leave. Don't go anywhere till these are done.

She did clean her room. And she did clean the bathroom. And she did do her laundry. And care for her animals. But the kitty remains.

And she is a fiesty little girl! I may have to eat my words later, but, I think that maybe they were meant to find each other. One fiesty girl to another, they are a bit alike!

She has to be fed in a seperate pile as the other 2 kitties, if they come near her food, she attacks.

She is also in charge. And she will tell you. 

Looking at her compared to the other 2, well, have you ever heard of Napoleon?

She is an itty, bitty, kitty. And she sure is cute.

Her name is Delilah. She stands about 5 inches tall, maybe 7-8 inches long. And she has a very round midsection, which is what generally happens to anything that comes to our house, be it people, animals, whatever. But the good news is that her ribs are no longer protruding.

Originally, I was on board (like the dutiful partner that I am) with finding this kitten a new home. And as more time passes, and I get to see her more and get to know her personality, I am not sure that she needs a new home. I think she fits right into "The Kingdom of Bitches". There are some fiesty women in my house.

Welcome Delilah.

Return of the Rash

Remember the song - Return of the Mack by Mark Morrison, circa 1996? 
Well, I made up my own version of the famous chorus.

(Return of the Rash) - it was gone
(Return of the Rash) - it's comin' back
(Return of the Rash) - oh my God
(You know that it'll be back) - here it comes
(Return of the Rash) - once again
(Return of the Rash) - pump up the Prednisone
(Return of the Rash) - watch me explode
(You know that it'll be back) - here I go

(You lied to Me) - cos the doc said you'd never return to me
(You lied to Me) - but you did, but you did
(You lied to Me) - all these pains he said I'd never feel again
(You lied to Me) - but I do, but I do, do, do

And now that I got this song stuck in your head...have a great day, I'm off to get more steroids.

P.S. - I do realize this doesn't rhyme.  Hey, we can't all be great Poets. 
I gotta leave something for the rappers of the world to do :)

Here's the dang pic of my Return of the Rash.  Just my arm, no worries, I won't show you the patches that never cleared up.  My arm is a much more appropriate picture.  At least I went to the Doctor early this time and won't have to go thru the excruciating painful-ness of it spreading. 

Burpee Challenge - Day 10

Whoever thought this was a good idea should be shot!  Well, maybe just with a BB gun or a rock or something, not to kill, cause really it's a good thing, but this is kicking my butt!!

Today is the day to do 10 Burpees. 
So far, I've (and Jessica too!) done 45 Burpees.  Yes, this has spanned over 9 days.  BUT, still, that is 45 Burpees that I would not have otherwise done.  So, Bravo. 

This morning, none were done, and we are definately at the point where they need to be broken up throughout the day.  I'll do them, just not all at once, and not right now.

I wanted to check in.  Is anyone else doing this with us?  Is anyone else getting thier butts kicked? Or is it just me? 

I have realized a few things, and I am not sure if it is because of this challenge, or just because I figured them out, but either way:
*Round is a shape. 
*I am not in any kind of shape right now, except Round.
*My lungs are not in shape either.
*Burpees are really hard.
*Diet plays a huge role in how you feel.
*Excercise plays a huge role in how you feel.
*Cookies can fix anything
*So can music
*Try to fix it with music first.

Ok, here I go, I'm gonna go do 2.  And then I'll do 4 later, and 4 more even later-er. 

Until then, chin up buttercup!

Bad Moods are Contagious

Yes.  They are.  Very much so.  Not often do I wake up in a bad mood.  I am very good at coming home in them; however, the waking up in them doesn't usually happen.  So, to my dismay, today is one of those days. 

Addie had wanted to get up early and straighten her hair, so we give her an alarm to use, to wake herself up at 5.  Because apparently, it takes and hour and a half to straighten her hair.  And I am not sure the reasoning behind the straightening because today is Tuesday.  Tuesdays are daycare days.  Daycare days are pool days.  Swimming is not conducive to keeping hair straight.  But whatever, it's not my hair. 

Anyways, I heard the alarm go off at 5.  Addie has decided that her bed is junk, and sleeps on her couch.  I sleep with the door open.  So, I hear the alarm.  She must not have known how to turn it off, because it went off every 9 minutes for the next, oh lets say 54 minutes. 

So, she is up.  And so are the dogs.  Simba has been in quite a few times wondering why we are not feeding him.  KV has been nail dragging all over the house.  And that friggin alarm keeps sounding. 

When I finally look at my phone to get the time, guess what time it is... 6:18.  Are you kidding me?!?!  I have to leave in 20 minutes. 

Good Morning Bad Mood. 

Addie is a little ray of sunshine in all this.  Of course at first, she is the one who will bear the brunt of the Bad Mood Morning, and she does, ever so gracefully.  On the way to daycare, this little love of mine tells me that she learned all the words to the song "Rolling in the Deep" because I told her I wanted to learn it.  So now she can teach me.  Dang it.  I hate when she is so sweet, it makes it harder to be mean!

Start feeling a little better, the clenching in my jaw has loosened, and I will take on the day. 

Get to work and enter the grocery bills from last night into my check register and start the balancing act. 
Bad Mood returns. 

Then Kristi shows me some of the new Thirty-One product she has just received. 
Bad Mood Gone.  The thought of shopping always cheers me up. 

Then I remember the Balancing Act.  No Shopping. 
It's creeping back up on me...

As I get out the Cheerios I packed for breakfast, I notice some pink in the bottom of my lunch bag.  Someone has given me 3 mini post its with a little message:

Bad Mood Gone

Right now, I will YouTube "Rolling in the Deep" and move on with my day.  For some reason, that song can make a Bad Day Good. 
At least that's what usually happens, last time I jammed out to it, the relaxation was quickly followed by a rear ending debacle.  Good thing I'm not driving.  I'm just sitting.  And working.

Working...uh oh...bad mood might be returning ;)

Simba, oh dear sweet Simba

Simba is our white lab. He is a nice boy.  He was found by a friend along the highway in Minnesota.  She attempted to find the owner for a good 3 months and no one came forward to claim this sweet boy; so he was sent to live with us.  He is really, truly a nice sweet boy.  So, why do I dislike him so much?  I do love him, please don't get me wrong, I would be terribly hurt and sad if something were to happen to him, I just don't really like him. 

I think part of it is that he is really needy.  We call him a "Tit Baby".  And this fits him.  He is that dog that is constantly underfoot, the one who needs to sit on your lap, and the one who must be touching you in some way at all times.   

Simba is our 1-man welcoming committee.  Open the front door and come on in.  And then please stand in the front entryway until Simba is satisfied that he has recieved enough of your attention to let you pass. 

Simba is our teddy bear.  He sleeps in our bed.  And must be touching one of us at all times.  If we move, he will too.  Generally, he will sleep at the foot of the bed on my side, well not really the foot.  I lay on my back and put my legs over him, so he sleeps under my knees.  And if I shift to my side, he wedges himself between me and Deron. 

Simba is our lap dog.  If you go to sit down, he will too.  Either at (ON) your feet, or in your lap.  And yes, he is very large.  It doesn't necessarily need to be your entire lap, if he can get a paw on your leg, he'll be ok for a bit.  But please believe, he will inch his way into your lap.  By the time the movie is over, he will be curled up with his little nose in your neck, like a little baby. 

And if you get up, even if it's to grab the remote from the coffee table, he will also get up.  And wait for directions. 

He really is a good boy.  But, I think that this is the reason we didn't have more children.  And I am starting to understand a little better.  Simba is a toddler.  When he came to live with us, the vet guesstimated that he was under 2 years old.  So, now a year later, we will say he is under 3.  Either way, he is a pain in my ass.  But, every day he is learning.  And some things, I think he is picking up on.  Others, not so much. 

He has been gone for 2 weeks with Mariah to MN.  It was lovely. 
I only vacuumed once while he was gone.  Vacuuming is a daily chore. 
I also slept until 6 every morning while he was gone.  This morning, I heard the familiar chiming of his tags...at 5:15. 
I was able to cook dinner or unload the dishwasher or move around in general while he was gone.  Last night, I tripped over him twice before I shrieked and he ran to Daddy.

And I said to Deron this morning, I don't think I missed him while he was gone. 

But I did.  I missed him alot.  It was so wierd and "un-normal" in our house without him there. 

Something else about this dog...he is a giant Chicken Wiener.  He is afraid of everything. 
Here is the view when we did fireworks at our house:

And this morning when the thunderstorm was giving our poor dry grass, vegetables and plants a much needed shower, Chicken Wiener and company all joined me in the bathroom as I prepared for the day.

All in all, he is a lover.  And I like lovers.  And really how can you say no to and not love anything that looks like this

He is such a beautiful creature.  Even when he pretends to be vicious (or yawn)

And he makes a good friend to my Brew

So I guess I might learn to like him.  In the meantime, I will only secretly like him, and continue to pretend I don't. 

I Rammed Her Back End...

...Again. 

For the second time, I rear ended someone.  Well, I guess if you count that time on my 17th birthday, this would be 3.  But I am only counting these 2.  Cause these 2, I did in Mariah's truck. 

Yes, I crashed the childs truck.  Again.

Oh, what a day!  My morning started out completely awful.  Bad moods are contagious, and I caught it.  After I drop Addie off at the sitter, I am still a bit steeming and not really all there.  There is a good song on the radio, so I turn it up, and start singing along.  This soothes me, and I am calming down, feeling ready to take on my day.  I even do the so very cliche "Bring It On Day" chant at the top of my lungs to myself and anyone else that has their windows down.  I'm ready, Bring It On Day, I got this! 

So, when I pull up to the stoplight, I see the car there, I think she is moving, as this is what normal people do when it is safe to turn, I slow to the intersection, stop and look to the left to make sure there are no cars coming, and I go.  Well, turns out, she wasn't going.  No worries, I gave her a nice push.   

Now mind you, had I had my little itty bitty Neon, this would be pretty much a non-issue.  There is no way that any damage would have happened, she wouldn't have moved, maybe I would have dented a license plate.  I "tapped" her going about 1.5 miles per hour.  However, I was not driving my itty bitty Neon.  I was driving a Big Giant Blue Silverado, with tow hooks on the front even.  So guess what this nice lady now has. 

Anyways, I realize that in a "rear-end" situation, it is clearly your fault.  And I will accept that.  I certainly can't blame the girl who didn't turn when it was safe to turn, it was her choice to sit there, and I have to respect that.

Whatever, bottom line is that I rammed some nice, pregnant lady (oh yeah, I forgot to mention that part!!) on her way to work. 

And the best part....wait for it....I did this on the off ramp RIGHT OUTSIDE MY JOB!!!  So co-workers, managers, visitors, everyone who knows me pretty much, got to drive by or look out the window and see what a complete moron I am.  And yes, I have been approached...repeatedly...by folks who saw it, or folks who drove by, or folks who saw me talking to the cops in the parking lot.  I am not sure if my name getting around like this is exactly how I wanted my reputation to be established.  Honestly, I am much better at my job, than I am at driving.  In fact, I am better at a lot of things than I am at driving. 

And....even better...the insurance coverage...goes with the vehicle...not the driver...so, the full coverage I pay for in the event that I do something stupid like this, does not apply.  Well, this is what I am told anyways.  This is a conversation that will be re-held at a later time.  In the meantime, I think I may take a cue from my Seester and hold a bake sale.  Proceeds going towards whatever damage I may have caused to Mariah's truck.  So far, looks like no damage.  Sounded fine when I pulled into the parking lot from the "crash site", and didn't drive any differently, so I am crossing my fingers.  Of course, last time, when I hit the nice old man, it seemed fine.  And then I went to Starbucks.  And then the radiator needed to be replaced.  Say a prayer please, and I'll stay away from Starbucks, together we can get thru this. 

Burpee Challenge

I have mentioned before that I track my food on myfitnesspal.com and sometimes I spend some extra time tootling around the website looking at things people post and such.  Today, I was doing some tootling after entering my lunch items and found a Burpee Challenge.  I do believe I will take this challenge.  And I invite you to take it with me. 

Here is how it goes:
The idea is to complete burpees each day for 100 consecutive days, increasing in reps each day, starting at 1 burpee on day 1, and finishing with 100 burpees on day 100.
The Rules:
1. Use proper burpee form (start standing, jump feet backward to plank, complete a good form push up, jump forward to squat position, jump up with feet completely off the ground)
2. You can complete each day's burpees all at once, or broken up and done at different times throughout the day
3. If for some reason you miss a day, you have to make up all the missed burpees the following day
4. If you don't start the challenge on the first day, you can "buy-in" at any time by doing ALL the missed days burpees on your first day
5. Any burpees you complete during your regular workout can count towards that day’s Challenge burpees, if you want them to
6. Have fun doing burpees and getting stronger doing it!

I do believe that this will be a challenge.  And to be quite honest, I have gained quite a bit of unhealthy weight since going on Prednisone for my Poison Ivy. When they say that a side effect will be "increased hunger" it's not just increased, it is like you have developed a hollow leg and there is no way that you can be satisfied when you eat.  I tried eating good tasting foods so that I could savor the flavor and eat slower and get fuller faster.  No, still hungry.  I tried eating good for me foods so that I wouldn't feel so bad about it later.  No, still hungry.   The hungry would not go away!!  I would eat and eat and eat until I was in pain.  But, still, I would continue to be hungry.  And so I would eat again.  And I have paid for it, dearly!  I'm now done with the prednisone, and my hunger control is returning to normal.  The Poison Ivy, well, that's a different story, and a whole nother blog post!  But, point being, I'm over the scarily hungry part...and ready to be me again!

So, this Burpee Challenge seems to be just the thing to help me get my hind end moving again, and in time, help me shed my extra poundage I have aquired in the last 2 weeks. 

This challenge started yesterday on MFP.  So, really, today is Day 2. 

Who else is "Buying In" to the challenge with me?  Go do 3 burpees, and then come back and tell me, "YES, I'm in"

Our Zoo Adventure - the rest of it

Here are the rest of our photos and the last of our Zoo tour.

Saturday Morning~ getting ready to head out

Boa ~ Creepy!

I just thought this was cool cause it was called a Boomstang.  Ha!  Boomstang!  New favorite word :)

Penguins in the Arctic Tundra - during early morning gossip hour

Spider Monkeys - this is where Addie started singing "Spider Pig" and got it stuck in all of our heads



Troop 8314

It was a great time, some of the pics turned out, some didn't, but we will have a few good scrapbook pages and a lot of good memories. Something else that we did and were both pretty proud of was riding the Skyfari.  It is a ski lift type "ride" giving you a birds eye view of the zoo.  Addie didn't want to get on, I pressured her (and called her a chicken weiner), and she did it.  Little did she know that I was shaking in my shoes (literally) the entire ride.  But, alas, we made it alive, and Addie conquered her fear and actually asked to ride it again.  Yay Addie!! I forgot how truly awesome zoos and animals in particular are, good reminder.  

Our Zoo Adventure - Day 2, some of it

So Saturday was a good day.  It started early, and Addie is not the easiest child to wake up.  Especially when she is really tired.  So, the 6am wake up call....Addie moved about 6:45.  Gotta love it!

Here are the pictures:

Started the day off at the Scott Aquarium - where we slept.  Look!!  The jellyfish pic turned up this time :)



Jellyfish Exhibit we slept next to.



StingRay

 

Shark thingie



Stork Nest atop.  Yes, Mariah, Storks are real :)

These 3 pics are from the Butterfly and Insect House. This was an amazing display as well! 

Adventures in the Cat Complex:

The girls were trying to "bait" the lioness to come to the window.  Apparently, sometimes she will pounce on the window if there is unsuspecting prey displayed. 

Mr. Big and Nala.  They played Mommy and Daddy to 2 younger cubs who were brought there a few years ago.  The "cubs" are still in the exhibit with them, they just are no longer cubs :)

Mama Tiger and Baby Isabella.  We did learn that Tigers have white spots on the backs of their ears to resemble "Eyes" in the wild.  If predators see the "eyes", they are less likely to attack from behind. 



Here is the Desert Dome.  This was an absolutely amazing exhibit!!  Opened in 2002, The Desert Dome cost $31.5 million to create!!  And honestly, worth every penny!!  It is the worlds largest indoor desert, (42,000 square feet on each level, 2 levels) and showcases plants and animals from 3 deserts around the world.  The variety is simply amazing.  All the glass and mechanical stuff make it able to sustain climate year round.  It also has 2000 gallon drums underneath to collect rainwater and use the rainwater inside, year round!  Honestly, incredible.  Inside / Underneath is the Kingdoms of the Night exhibit.  Which in itself, is creepy beyond all belief, but equally as intense and educational.  They have 1 of 3 remaining white alligators.   

 



Golden Orb Weaver Spider.  HUGE, and creepy!




Kipsplinger Antelope.  Super cute little guy




Kukaburra sits in the old gum tree, merry, merry king of the bush is he...




This guy seemed to have escaped his exhibit.  But don't worry, these children fed him, he will be ok :)

These pics are all from the Hubbard Gorilla Valley.  The girls were treated to a few "SMACKS" on the glass from the Gorillas.  It was pretty awesome to put your hand up to the print on the glass.  I also was pondering the theory of evolution while we visited the Gorillas.  I know what I believe, but I can sure see why some people believe what they do.  These are incredible creatures. 

 



Ok, so that is probably enough for right now, it is taking much longer than expected to finish uploading all these photos.  I'll do some more later.  Til then, have wonderful days

Our Zoo Adventure - Day 1, Part 2

The second part of our afternoon tour was just as exciting as the first, of course. 

Next stop on our tour was the Garden of the Senses.  This was really quite an amazing garden!  Our guide told us that the Garden of the Senses was built upon the concept of having an area where "limited" people could interact and get a feel for the zoo.  There are sculptures, very life-like, of various animals.  There are different textured plants, braille signs, and raised flower beds available for touch learning.  There are many different chirping birds, and fountains to engage your sense of hearing.  Tons of flowers and herbs scattered throughout for the sense of smell.  And of course there are many, many beautiful birds, flowers, fountains, and pretty much anything you can imagine for the sense of sight.  It is an absolutely amazing garden!

I did find it interesting that there was a sign, written in braille, in the center of this fountain.  I didn't ask what it said, although I am sure it is very important!

And look who else we saw!!  Scooter (well a close relative anyways)  brought back all kinds of memories from growing up with exotic pets.

We wandered on and next we saw the Sea Lions.  There was 1 male and quite a few females, and a couple babies.  When we saw them that night, they were relaxing from being on display all day.  Here is a mama and baby cuddling...precious!

We did get to see them again on Saturday and stuck around to watch the "show".  Which really wasn't a show, they were feeding them, and the male had other things on his mind.  Apparently it is mating season.  He was not shy about showing off all his tricks in front of the girls and he was certainly not shy about getting between them and their food.  I guess he figured that was a good way to get attention :)

Continuing on our Journey, we passed Lemur Island. 

Lemur Island is part of the "Expedition Madagascar" exhibit and was really cute.  We didn't get to go inside the Madagascar until the next day, but we were able to see the Fossa and Ring Tailed Lemurs.  They also have a Lemur Walk Thru exhibit where you can actually be in with them, which would have been extremely awesome; however, the Lemurs were under Veterinary Care while we were there, so no such luck, maybe next time.  

Next on the tour was Durhams Bear Canyon.  Awesome!  We saw the Sun Bears, Polar Bears, and Black Bears.  We also learned that Black Bears and not always black, huh.  I do have a photo of the brown "black" bears, but for some reason it won't upload right, so nevermind, just take my word for it.

I was also treated to a "high-five" of sorts from one of the Andean Bears.  She came up to the glass, cupped her hand, and kind of wiped it at my face.  I'm not sure if she was slapping me or welcoming me, I prefer the nicer version :)

We passed a few more exhibits and got to see a few more things before heading back to the Scott Aquarium for the night.  We got to have some treats and watch a movie, Happy Feet, which I had never seen so was really excited about.  The girls on the other hand, just wanted to go hang out with the penguins and watch the real life version. 

In the penguin exhibit, they

have the antarctic penguins, so they have Gentu, Maccaroni, King and Rockhopper penguins.  And they are all cute as can be.  Funny how watching them in real life, really was more entertaining than a movie.  When we were picking our sleeping spots, the guide did make sure to tell us that the Penguins have a 2am Gossip Hour and we may not want to sleep in the arctic tundra with them.  This Gossip Hour apparently lasts quite long, as they were screeching and crying when I was up at 4:30, silly birds.

The aquarium was also pretty amazing.  Something that we definately need to spend more time at next time we go.  I think we just stayed out of that building on Saturday because we figured we had already seen it all.  We didn't.  And what we saw was after dark and a lot of the lights had already been turned out.  We definately could have seen more!

So, Addie and I hunkered down together in the back corner, near the JellyFish (since all the spots in the shark tunnel were taken) she in her Dad's camping bag, and I in my Dad's. Sleeping on a concrete floor is something that I guess I didn't anticipate when we talked about taking this trip.  While not my favorite thing to do, I think that if I had NOT had Poison Ivy, it would have been better.  Addie passed out relatively quickly, like maybe 1 am or so.  Me, not so much.  I forgot to pack pj's.  So I was left to sleep in my clothes.  Jeans and a tank top.  Well....Jeans + Poison Ivy = Not Fun.  I kind of ducked behind the exhibit and did take off my pants, the cold air was a bit refreshing on my fire-lishus legs.  But I still couldn't fall asleep.  I went to Gossip Hour about 4 and hung out with the penguins while I was waiting for the Benadryl to kick in.  It did kick in, about 5, just before the wake up call at 6....

Our Zoo Adventure - Day 1, Part 1

OK, so sorry that it has taken me until THURSDAY to get this going from our wonderful adventure last weekend.  Let me first say that this was an amazing experience to have with my little girl.  Things like this remind me why it is so important to share with our kids.  Share experiences and Share stories and Share each other.  I love Addie like a crazy, and she thinks I am a crazy, so it worked out :)

We arrived at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska at 6:58pm on Friday, July 8.  Check in time is 7:00pm.  We made it, no thanks to the inefficient workers at the nearby Burger King drive thru (that we sat in for 18 minutes!!!), but we made it, and were able to get in with our group.  WHEW!!

After checking in with our groups and moving all of our overnight gear to the Scott Aquarium where we would be housed for the evening, we went over all the usual housekeeping stuff (rules & regs) and were treated to a hike of the zoo...after hours.  This was amazing to go out in small groups, our tour guide was responsible for only our Girl Scout Troop, so it was a very small, intimate experience, amazing. 

Our first stop was along "Hoofstock".  Pastures of hoofed animals from all over the world.
We saw Addax, who had 2 freshly born little babies in their area.  They were obviously the cutest things we had ever seen!

This is obviously not the baby, but this is the picture that actually turned out, so this is what they look like when they grow up :)

Next we saw an animal called the Bongo Antelope.  This was my favorite of all of them during the entire stay because they had such an interesting story.  The Bongo's are native to Kenya and were widely unknown about until the last century.  It was believed that the Bongos were the ancesters of the native Kenyan people reincarnated. Although it was easy for them to catch Bongos and they provide more than enough meat, natives believed that if you touched or ate a Bongo you would suffer spasms similar to epileptic seizures. Because of this, Bongos were left unharmed in their native ranges. However, these taboos are said no longer to exist and the removal/disproval of this belief is responsible for increased hunting by humans in recent times.  They are now an endangered species...stupid humans!  They are also beautiful creatures.  They have a rich brown, chocolate color pelt with white striping.  The striping is said to resemble the light coming thru the trees and leaves of the Kenyan forest canopy and provide camoflauge for the Bongo.  Anyways, my fave.

Next on our tour were the Red River Hogs.  These little guys were ugly beasts and really I am not sure what their purpose is other than to look at. 



Also along Hoofstock Row are the Dama Gazelle (which was fun to see since my Dad's softball nickname was Larry "The Gazelle" Kelly).  These are the largest of the true gazelles and both boys and girls have horns.


The Gaur, a very large type of cattle.


And last but certainly not least was the Okapi, which, if we ever go back, I will definately spend more time looking at.  The picture below is not one that I took, the Okapi were sectioned off and to see them you had to get yourself positioned just right between the Dama Gazelles and the black fabric on the fencing.  Apparently, these creatures were not out for display that day.  But nonetheless, once we caught a glimpse of them, we decided that these creatures were very cool!  They are a relative to the giraffe, and like the giraffe, the front part of the body extends much higher in the rear, it has the same black tongue and they also have the same 2 skin covered horns on thier head.  BUT, they have a horse like head and zepra like striped legs....WIERD, but supremely awesome!


This is where I will end our tour of the first day.  There is more, obviously, but I have to keep you coming back for more...how else am I supposed to grow my following :)

Stay tuned folks, I will add more as I get time.