The Day She Decided She Wants to be a Zookeper When She Grows Up

Zookeeper. Let's add that to the list of things she wants to be when she grows up. What else is on the list? Artist, mommy, chef, mermaid, author, gymnast, and etc. But this week, we had a pretty awesome trip to the Houston Zoo, so this week, it's a zookeeper.

My sister, her husband and their daughter are visiting from Italy, and one of her good friends from high school is now a zookeeper at the Houston Zoo. Zookeeper Jessica offered to take us "behind the scenes" to see some of the animals she takes care of. So cool!

First we visited the rhinos. I'm not sure what the plural of rhinoceros is, so I'm just going to say "rhinos." The Child Thing was not timid at all with these huge, horned creatures.

Child Thing #2, however, was not quite as friendly with them. I tried to coax him into giving the rhino a pat, but he was not buying it. Oh well. This was the first time in my life that I've ever touched a rhino, and it was actually a little softer than I'd imagined.

Next came the giraffes! We got to feed this big guy carrots and sweet potatoes. Again, Child Thing #1 was thrilled!

And again, both babies were not as excited. Both my son and my niece would hold a piece of food up to the giraffe, but when that long, black, slobbery tongue came out, they changed their minds.

When the novelty of hand-feeding a giraffe wore off, Zookeeper Jessica suggested we give him giraffey kisses, and she demonstrated by putting a carrot between her lips, holding it up to the giraffe and letting him take it right from her mouth! Some of us may have been a little hesitant, but then she told us that when George Bush Sr. came to the zoo, she convinced him to do it, so we did it, too. All except my brother-in-law, the party pooper! :P

My daughter LOVED it! Here's a picture of me kissing the giraffe. Actually, the giraffe kissing me. I have always loved giraffes, but I never really desired to have one lick me on the chin. Ha!

Of course, we saw lots of other animals, too (baby elephants!), but we didn't get this close to any of the other animals. Thanks, Zookeeper Jessica for such a fun and memorable trip to the zoo! And don't feel bad for the baby. He may not have enjoyed the animals as much as his sister did, but I did find him something that he liked a lot!