Have you ever decided on an outing for the day, thinking, "This sounds like it might be fun." And then it turn out to be more than you ever DREAMED it would be? That describes our recent trip to SHEPRETH WILDLIFE PARK. It was a cold, rainy Saturday, and it turned out to be the PERFECT day to visit:
few
folks,
countless
critters (the aforementioned adjectives and nouns are dedicated to my son Daniel, who is learning about alliteration).
One of our first stops was to the "Bugs World" section. Yes, that is yours truly holding a living, venom-intact tarantula!! YIKES!! One funny thing that happened as I was holding it was that it kicked off some of its leg hairs onto my hands. The trainer said that it didn't like something about my hands--probably the scent left from hand lotion--and it was letting me know, and that I should wash my hands immediately or the leg hairs would irritate my skin and cause severe discomfort. That little stinker!
Have you ever seen a blue lobster? Blue is this species' natural color...dazzling bright blue...stunning!
Lots of good memories here...fruit bats dive-bombing Victoria in the bat house because she had fruit-scented shampoo...tigers hunting enormous chunks of raw meat hidden thruout their enclosure (you can just see some meat between the 2nd and 3rd tires in above photo), black swans (!), petting kangaroos, chasing monkeys (they were free to roam!), and running from Billy Goat Gruff who wanted to see how my jacket tasted! Brad and I both commented on how the children cherished our time there. Perhaps because it had a familiar feel to it...at any rate, it was good for the children...and for us too...
4 comments:
We never heard of this place. How did you find it? I I love black swans! One critter that I dearly want
to see some day is a hedgehog. They are always
hybernating since we have been to England only
in the winter. Perhaps you can see one before you
leave. I did want to mention another place you
might want to check out. It is called Wimpole Farm.
We went in "lambing" season--early spring. Seeing
all the baby lambs and this English Estate was so
great. It is a "working" estate so that is why you get
to see the lambs. Some nice Tyndale House person
loaned us their car for the day--about a 20
minute drive. If you are interested in going ask
around and see if anyone knows of other trans-
portation options. Have a great day!
Diane,
The place I mentioned is acutally called
Wimpole Estate (not farm). Do they even have
farms in England????
Oh, it reminds me of our visits to the Memphis Zoo! We sure do miss you guys. It looks like you guys are having a wonderful time. Sorry my first graders have not emailed the kids yet! We love you guys. Give everyone a big hug. Ann-Maura
I love the pictures of the animals and the kids. Hard to tell which was which at times, but they all seemed to be having fun.
I was proud of myself this afternoon because I believe I located the Great Court of Trinity College in Caleb's most recent postcard. Have you been there? Would you mind posting some pics if you do?
Oh my, I could send you on a veritable photograph expedition of all of the things that I would like to see...Did y'all make it to London this week? We were just talking about the Greenwich Observatory and the prime meridian. We were wondering how far you were from there and on what side you were, east or west.
Blessings,
Brandon
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