We're going to the zoo. How about you.

When the teens were in, one of our field trips was to the zoo. The Columbus Zoo is alway awesome to visit. It was voted #1 in the nation last year, so we are really proud of it. The weather was forecast to be overcast, but no rain. Yeah...right. Can you say torrential downpours. It began right after we entered the park and a light rain continued throughout most of the day. That didn't dampen our moods though. (Excuse the pun.)

These are my favorite animal photos I took on that day. We have a membership and go all the time, so I'm beginning to get a nice collection of animal shots. I can't wait to get a zoom lens so that I can get closer shots and not have to do so much cropping.

The older girls took off on their own right after we got in the park. I was a bit bummed with this decision to let them go, I really wanted to get some photos of them, but they had a friend with them and wanted to go off and be teenagers. Heaven forbid my hubby isn't the cool Uncle. I remember those days so off they went. It's like pulling teeth to get them to pose for me anyway, and when they are all together they have a tendency to bicker and snip all the time. I still had the youngest, and she loves to have her photo taken. 

We enjoyed hanging Jackson. She is the youngest of the three sisters, and until my son was born she was the youngest of 6 grandkids. She is constantly picked on by the older kids, so she is of course the tattler. It doesn't help that she is so small. She suffered from near renal failure a few years ago, and the medications that she has to take for the rest of her life are stunting her growth. So she probably won't get much larger than what she is, and looking at her it is hard to believe that she is 11. Since she is so small, she is treated like she is younger than she is. This has made her a bit immature for her age. She is a beautiful little soul though. She loves my son with all her heart and he loves her. They are thick as thieves when they are together. I have remind her sometimes that I'm the momma, and that she needs to enjoy being a kid.  I think she has always had to look up to others, and enjoys having someone who looks up to her. It won't be long though before Sage is taller than her.

 All these girls lead really sheltered lives. Their grandmother is raising them with the help of  my husband's youngest sister. She has three boys of her own, so the girls don't get to do much. So when they come to they visit we tend to spoil them, especially my husband. He feels guilty because we live three hours away so we can't help as much as he would like. So he tends to over compensate when they are up. I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful man.

There's still more to the story this is getting long and you must have to go to the bathroom by now. If you're even still here. I still have photos of the other girls and Jackson exploring new worlds at the Columbus Zoo, but for now I need to get to bed.

 wi