Well, we partied like animals on Sunday at Zoo Montana. It was Max and Bella's big 5th Birthday Celebration. Gavin and I decided that we would do one more double party before we break them up next year - and it was a fun one! We had about 25 kids for a very fun-packed two hours. We started by playing at the playground and then took it inside for animal encounters with the pygmy marmosettes and chinchilla! We then ate some cake and ice cream, opened presents, and went on a quick tour of the Zoo. The kids all wore yellow t-shirts to make it easy for Gavin and I to spot them and gather everyone for our next activity (the back of the t-shirt is pictured above). The kids were fantastic with following directions - we had a great group.Below are Max and Bella in the "Zoo Crew" shirts before we left the house. The party was at 2:00 and both of them complained all morning that it was "taking too long."
The two pictures below are the front and the back of the line as we walked back to the Zoo lobby for our encounter with the marmosettes and the chinchilla. What a crew!
We learned a lot about Chinchillas from Jesse, who explained that chinchillas are nocturnal animals with very thick fur! They are often mistaken for rabbits - you can tell the difference because chinchillas have long skinny tails, not short, stubby tails like bunny rabbits. (A big shout out to Sarah Parnell for taking the pictures of the kids with the chinchilla (as well as a few below) and emailing them to me).
Bella and Max blow out their birthday candles! Bella requested a bunny cake, with her favorite colors, pink, purple and turquoise. Max chose a river otter for his cake, he loves watching the river otter when she is out and swimming (which she was on Sunday!).
The Zoo Crew enjoyed their cake and ice cream (and water and juice, it was hot!).
Here we are taking off for our tour of Zoo Montana. Those of you not from Montana, or unfamiliar with Zoo Montana, we have a new bear named Bruno. We also have a few other animals to enjoy including a tiger, a couple wolves, some red pandas, some sika deer, two bald eagles, some big-horn rams, a wolverine, a porcupine, a river otter (Max's favorite), some goats, chickens and rabbits in the barn, and some smaller animals in the lobby. That's Zoo Montana! Yet, for those of us with young kids, Zoo Montana is a place to go for a picnic and some animal adventures and we absolutely would not know what to do without it (yes, the Zoo needs money).
Below are pictures Mr. Darian as an elephant, Elly as a zebra, and Daisy as a kitty. I wish I took a picture of all the kids in their masks, but my brain was mush be this point in time. It was 4:15, and the Zoo Crew finally called it a day. Thanks to all our friends and family who came and partied with us. It was a very special day.
