Mane Attraction

For Mother's Day and Father's Day we gave Grandma and Grandpa a behind the scenes encounter at the zoo. Fun fact - Grandma was an Animal Science major in college and her dream was to become a lion trainer. It was a no brainer which animal she would want to have a behind the scenes experience with. We had our own guide that explained a lot about lions and answered a bunch of questions as well, then we went into the restricted area and learned how the animals are fed, how they are allowed to roam free between their exhibit and enclosures at night, the birthing room they have, and how all of their important statistics are logged. Then we were able to watch a training exercise with the biggest male lion. All of the training is to teach the animals how to interact with humans to minimize sedation and other interventions during routine tests, daily activities, medical procedures, etc. It was very interesting and absolutely amazing to be just a few feet from such a huge animal. After the encounter we roamed the rest of the zoo, showing Grandpa some of our favorite exhibits and had a quick lunch before heading home. It was a great day and such a fun experience to share with them!

Once we got home I decided to continue the fun day and the boys and I spent the rest of the afternoon lounging in the  pool and eating ice cream bars!