It's a Zoo!

I haven't been to York in at least 10 years! My Mom is away and my Dad was off on Independence Day, so he asked if he could treat us all to a trip to what used to be known as York's Wild Animal Park, but now is called York's Wild Kingdom, or YWK, we were kindly informed. Of course, we HAD to accept! We spent the night on Thursday so we could be sure to get an early start on Friday. We went out to breakfast where my children were unruly! They were very hungry and the place was chaotic and slow, not a good combination at all. All the adults were exhausted when breakfast was over.

We ventured on to the park, weary as we were. Here are a few of the highlights from the day:


My two handsome men. Cameron's smile brings me such joy. He smiles and I smile and my heart just wants to burst!










Here they are again! This time Cameron is not smiling... poor kid. He really wanted to go on the paddle boat, but he wasn't too keen on the life jacket. One trip around the pond and he was a little better. I should probably say poor Damien, doesn't he just look thrilled?








Feeding the ducks was the next stop. Cameron was still a little mopey after the boat ride, so when we asked if he wanted to feed the ducks, he said no. Then he saw the ducks actually coming up onto the pavement and changed his mind. Then we had a hard time getting him to move on! We stopped at every duck food dispenser on the entire length of the pond. For all you future YWK visitors, don't even stop at the first one because that is where EVERYONE stops. It gets quite crowded. Just move on about 100 feet and you will be in the clear.

This photo is right before one of the ducks nipped Cameron. They get a little excited, so I also suggest only giving your child one piece of food at a time.








Olivia got in on the duck feeding action. She has quite the arm!








My Dad has a tradition at YWK to have a photo taken of him and his grandchildren with the snake. We have one of Cameron two years ago and thought he would enjoy another. The plan was not for me to be in this photo, but it was the only way to get Cameron in the shot. Olivia loved the snake. In fact, she loved it so much she pinched it. Yikes!






My Dad recounted the story of when he set me in this same goat pen (different goats, of course) when I was a wee one. I had a handful of goat food and the goats surrounded me before my Dad could react. I cried.

Cameron was very brave with the goats. He fed them right from his hand. He was gentle and loving with them as well. Once again, we had a hard time getting him to leave!

There was a pregnant goat there who didn't want to eat the goat food, just the ice cream cone that they use as containers. Must be her craving!












Olivia loved the goats too!















Isn't it always the case that when you spend a lot of money to do something, the kids will gravitate toward something they could have found in their own back yard. We spent about a half hour playing on and around this tree!








There is a new butterfly exhibit. It's a big dome filled with butterflies just flying around you. It was so neat! When you leave there is a mirror so you can check yourself for stowaways. Damien had three land on him! I couldn't take many pictures because Olivia really wanted to nurse and I had to leave.







Here we are nursing outside the exhibit. A nice quiet spot. Check out Olivia waving hello! Too funny.









After two hours in the zoo, it was time for rides. Cameron couldn't wait, he was so excited! Olivia fell asleep in the back pack and we all got to take turns going on some of the rides with Cameron. His favorites were the fun house and the boats. There are too many photos to select just a few, so I'll just put up my favorite. It's my Dad, Cameron and Damien in the Fun House.


We spent about 5 hours total at YWK, about three more than I expected, but we all had so much fun. Cameron slept on the way home and continued to sleep for two more hours at Grampa's house. Whew, what an exhausting day! But it wasn't over, we still had fireworks plans!