The End of A 2 Z (that means "Z")

Welcome to THE LAST WEEK of my dear, dear friend Patty Wysong's From  A 2 Z 4 U and me. We're working through the alphabet - one letter each Tuesday. No rules, other than your post has to relate to the letter of the week. Link up at Ordinary Lives and check out everyone else's post. Click on the graphic above for more details, and stop by Patty's blog  to link up.

Can it really be time for the letter Z? It's hard to believe we've been at this for 26 weeks. Apparently, though, we have. Though I haven't participated every week, I've been pretty regular for the most part. And it's been fun.

I've known what Z was for for at least a few weeks. There were several possibilities, but one definitely reached out and grabbed me - especially after taking a peek into my daughter's "stuffed animal tub."

Here at An Open Book, Z is for zoo.

Monkeys kicking back

Pretty, eh?

We love to go to the zoo here. There's one, the John Ball Zoo, only fifteen miles away, and we try to go at least a few times a year. They have a summer camp that the kids love. They've both been doing it every summer they've been old enough. It's a highlight of their summer.

But this past summer, we did a little extra "zooness." We traveled an hour or two to the south and had a mini-vacation involving not one, but two other zoos.

My girl petting the giraffe. SO cool!

One was a "typical" zoo - The Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek, a substantially larger zoo than John Ball. Their "Wild Africa" exhibit was a huge hit with my kids (who had been there once before, but couldn't remember, as it had been a while). The walk-up giraffe platform was definitely a favorite for all four of us. Face to face with these tall creatures? Yep :)

goin' for a ride!

The second zoo was not as traditional. The Kalamazoo Air Zoo featured the history (and future) of flight - including a replica of the Wright Brothers' plane, flight simulators, and a stealth bomber. Lots of fun rides for the kids too - of just about any age.

The zoo in her closet

And then, of course, there's the zoo in my daughter's closet. I suppose she's no different than most girls her age (nearly 8!) - she LOVES stuffed animals of many kinds. Just in sight here is a unicorn, an elephant, a few dogs (including "Smoochie Poochie," a fave, who's licking the elephant's head in this picture), and a cat. And there are LOTS more under this pile. And even better? It costs us nothing to see them (though buying them was NOT free), and they won't attack ;).

So, there's Z! What a fun project, Peejers! Be sure to stop by her blog for more "z" posts.

Traveling Rough Roads With God's Strength