Presidents Day

On Presidents Day we decided that we would drive down towards San Antonio and go to the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch. We went there a few years ago and had a great time. We wanted something that we could do together as a family, and since I'm not up for much walking around, and the boys ages limit us, this was a good fit. They were super excited when we told them we were going to go and drive through the park and see lots of big animals. 

Big animals we saw. Lots. Especially these kinds of animals, with horns. There were some with curved horns, some with long straight horns, and some with twisted horns. The boys had fun looking through the catalog Dustin bought so that they could identify which animal we were seeing. 

We also got a bag of food to throw out the window. I was amazed at how many people we saw feeding the animals out of their hands. I realize that these animals are used to people doing this, but come on, they're still WILD ANIMALS! They will still bite you!!!

Check out this buffalo. It was so big!!! The boys were excited when we went by this big furry fellow.

Actually, they were pretty excited about most of the animals we saw. Because you have to drive so slowly through the park, the boys were able to enjoy not being belted in, and they were allowed to sit so that they could view the animals.

 The zebras are a huge attraction. They are very friendly, so they get up close and personal. But we didn't enjoy them as much as we did last time, because of this car in front of us. To be honest, it was more than one car in front of us. But this lady felt the need to literally park her vehicle for 10 minutes so that her kids could hand feed the zebras (which they specifically warn you not to do because they really will bite) and take pictures of them from every possible angle. I was fuming at the ears. Eventually we rolled down our windows and threw food at the zebras to get them away from her car so that she would move on. At that point, we were so tired of waiting that we didn't stop very long for the kids to get a more personal look at them.

 The ostriches weren't big fans of coming too close. 

 We were all dying at the adorable babies with this mama bird. Aren't they cute?! We saw lots of tiny ones with their families as we drove through the ranch. Must be baby time for a lot of animals.

 Once we finally got through the park (it took us much longer than we thought, due to the traffic, and annoying patrons who had no respect for the line of 15 cars behind them) the boys got to get out and actually pet some critters.

 Because we'd been here before, I saved some of our animal food for the boys to feed to the goats. Jensen was really the only one who had the patience to let them eat out of his hand. I think Carson was too afraid, and Mason wouldn't hold the food long enough in his hand for them. There were quite a few baby goats as well, and Mason was so cute. At one point he was kinda surrounded by 3 or 4 goats and he happily said, "Hey guys!"

This was the one video I shot of us seeing some Italian donkeys. I'm sad I didn't start recording sooner, because Mason was screaming with delight when we first saw them. At any rate, you can still tell he had a good time. We all did.