Semenick family: Catoctin Zoo

Today we headed up to the Catoctin Zoo with our LGSC group. The zoo is surprisingly large for being where it is, and I was impressed with the animals and the exhibits and such. We got to feed the fish, deer, ducks, and goats, and even some llamas. There was only one mean animal we found along our way, and that was a goose who tried to nip at Mandy when she had food in her hand. Her mom Deb thought she was taking care of that problem by kicking the goose so he wouldn't come back, but in fact he actually liked it and followed up the entire way around the zoo... go figure... although he did know not to mess with any of the kids anymore. Will was loving feeding the animals and giving them "bites" as he calls it. I think he also would have gotten into the pond wth the ducks and the fish if I would have let him keep walking. He loves just running around the zoo on the gravel and pointing at things yelling "what's this?" He's so not a stay with the group kind of kid so I usually get a workout when we go places because he's usually the first to take off running in the opposite direction of everybody else to explore something new. Today was no different, and I think we were both exhausted after our visit to the zoo. I can't wait to take him next year when he'll understand a little bit more and will actually be able to relate the animals in his books to the animals he is seeing at the zoo. As with all our LGSC outings, and wonderful day spent with friends!

Some beautiful birds... they even said hello to us!

Lift me up, I can't see!!

Checking out his duck friends

Feeding the baby goats... he actually got really really good at feeding them and even started opening his hand so his palm was up so it was easier for them to get the food

All four of the kiddos feeding.... this picture was really hard to get since they were all in constant motion and all in different stages of feeding or running back to the strollers for more food to feed