Zoo today!! yay!!

No school today. What do I do with nine children at home?

Here is what I did...I gave them some chores with the promise of a fun, secret, surprise trip after lunch, provided the jobs got done. Most of the jobs were actually completed so...

I sent the teenager to his track meet...

and then I took eight children to the zoo! For Zhen and Theo, this was a first

For the past few months we haven't done anything fun like that. It felt good to get out of the house. Naturally I messed up and loaded my photos backward. But, it's late so...here they are in reverse order.

Ralph really enjoyed the zoo. He "got it" today. It was so cool to watch him doing the animal signs and anticipate what we would be seeing next. Here is pointing to the lion that we just got done watching.

Jordan and Leroy got lucky today and saw the red panda up close. Jordan's favorite animal. :)

The penguins put on a nice show for us, zipping back and forth. Theo tried to catch them!

Zhen got a break from wearing his arm restraints today. They were so dirty I didn't want them to be seen in public!

My very best attempt at a group photo. Ruby was mad and would not turn around and smile. Actually, no one is looking at the camera! haha!

We had a great time at the zoo today. However, before we arrived a child was grabbed by a leopard when he crawled over a barrier and got too close to the cage. A friend of mine witnessed this awful scene. She and another man ran over and started punching and kicking the animal.

They were able to get the child away and he's doing OK tonight. However, she is quite shaken. Could you say a prayer for my dear friend tonight?