Giraffe encounter...up close and personal (This is for you Nana!)

Thursday, the kids and I decided to venture over to the zoo after Cari's swim lessons. We thought it would be a great opportunity to take a closer look at the newly renovated African Safari. We had done a walk through a couple weeks ago, but it was so crowded that we didn't take time to stop and see the exhibits. Well no schedules had to be followed today, so we could be at leisure as we strolled through "Africa". As we came to the giraffes, I noticed that they were very close to the look out deck and of course being the "wanna-be" photographer that I am, I quickly got my camera ready. As we approached I thought to myself, "Wow they are really close - what a great shot!" Come to find out they were eating right out of the zoo keepers hand. How exciting!! I quickly gathered my ducks in a row, my children, that is and pointed out this exciting happening all the while trying desperately to take a few snapshots. I'm sure I was the one the giraffe was casually looking at thinking, "hey lady...chill!" The giraffes gracefully walked away. I was hoping I was able to capture what had just happened with some decent pictures. Then I noticed (and soon after my kids did too) that several people were holding leaves of romaine lettuce, waiting patiently for the giraffes to come back over. Cari was the first to figure out that you could get lettuce with a token, which cost a dollar. Me, being the cheap - no fun mom, of course said, "No, we are not spending a dollar on a leaf of lettuce" which in turned received a, "Oh mom!" However, our patience prevailed and while watching to see if they would return, a man asked if we would like his lettuce. He and his kids were tired of waiting for the giraffe to come back. Now my kids were smiling! While we were waiting I noticed the zoo keeper was holding something other than lettuce in her hand. Well the giraffes liked what she had. They would only grace "our" presence when she came to the edge of the railing with these "magic" leaves in her hand. I tried my best to get the kids close to her so they could manage to give their lettuce in between bites of leaves. Although I didn't get any pictures of my kids feeding the giraffes, I did get a few up close and personal pictures of them chowing down.

The littlest giraffe spots the zoo keeper

swinging the "magic" leaves around

and decides to brave it and come over.

Sticking that nose up there...

where are those leaves?

Ah - just what he wanted! Look at that tongue!

Gracefully chomping away

And as you can see, there is that tongue

desperately reaching for those beloved leaves.

Look at the eyelashes...never knew a

giraffe had such long eyelashes.

One word...satisfaction

We had our fair share of fun with the giraffes! I have many more zoo pictures to share, but I thought these deserved some special attention.