Going to the zoo. Getting ready with a little lizard investigation :)

                             Beautiful jelly fish tank. This is actually at the Florida Aquarium

                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Luke checking out the lion fish, along with the school of fish. There are also sting rays, a turtle, and a sand shark that circle through this part of a large tank. This is one of my favorite things to see when we are here.

                                              The lorakeet exhibit at the Lowry Park Zoo

 This is Luke's favorite exhibit! He gets to feed the birds a cup of food while they perch on arm and shoulders. I can't believe how well did feeding these guys. No one was pooped on....

Luke enjoying one of many horse rides all by himself, no help from mom and dad. To my surprise he love wearing the hat.

Luke in the bumper boats. BIG FAN! He drove these many times. Look out Luke's behind a wheel.

                          We came all the way to the zoo so Luke could admire their chickens

                                    Saying hi to Perry the penguin, and pretending to be one.

 We were all excited to have the chance to feed a giraffe. You can pay to get a hand full of lettuce, and the giraffe will gladly take it from you with his long black tongue...very cool. There are about 4  roaming around near the elephants.

 No trip to the zoo would be complete without catching a lizard...without a net....ya, bare hands. If you look closely you will see it in his left hand.

                                                                     Luke on safari

 Luke and his new friends...the otters. They are lots of fun to watch while they play, and they were very interested in Luke.

                                                                     A spotted eel

                                  Young Luke, the naturalist, is also very interested in snakes.

                                                                          Lion fish

On the left Luke is feeding the sting rays with a piece of shrimp raised between his fingers. They were very grateful to Luke and thanked him by flinging water at him with their wings. Right up there with the Boston Aquarium, this is the best touch tank we have seen, and the only one you can feed them at.

The top photos were taken at the Florida Aquarium, about 15 minutes away. We've spend lots of time here.

Below are from Dinosaur Land. They had beautiful trails with huge dinosaurs along the way. Luke's favorite part was feeding the koi in the pond, he was also pretty happy with the dinos too ;)

 Friday 8:30, pool party/ BBQ night at Tyler's. Luke& Isabella settle in for an action packed movie (Mr. Incredible). She fell asleep shortly after......he stayed up through the movie and all the way home.

 

Preperation for our Friday

night pool party desert.......chocolate dipped strawberries

 He did a great job dipping them and getting them on the tray, with impeccably clean hands,of course.

Enjoying a beautiful day at Anna Maria Island. Luke played in the sand knocking down everything we made.
He likes looking for shells as well, they are fun to throw back in the water. Often asking us to retrieve it......we do. 







Who doesn't like to be buried in the sand? We had lots of sand to dig out latter.

As you can see Luke takes his cars very seriously. Not a car left out, and even a plane.

Mom, I thought you would appreciate these pictures the most, and yes this is a different day.
What, we really like chocolate covered strawberries. Oh, and yes, the stove is off and not hot anymore.

  This place is called the Bounce House, need I say more?  







This wall was not that easy since the squares moved about a bit. Quite exciting to see him get up there by him self.          

 I'm pretty sure that Joel and I may have had more fun in this bounce house than Luke did (the parents are allowed to "assist" their children).....well maybe not more. Those suckers bounce you really high, and are also fun to run on. All this fun for $8, we spent 5 hours on a rainy day here. A day well spent.
                                                                                                            

  Luke trying to whack a frog. As it turns out Luke really likes to play this game.....A lot....

                                                                

 This was Luke playing Bob the Builder. He was examining the roof and fixing it...yes he can.