A couple weeks ago we scored some free tickets for both the African Safari Wildlife Park and Cedar Point, so we decided to take a little 2-day road trip as a fam. We left early Sunday morning for the Safari Park, stayed in a hotel that night, and spent Monday at Cedar Point.

When we told friends we were planning on doing the Safari Park, we heard things like, “Only go if you’re already in the area. It’s not really worth the 5-hour round trip.” And from my friend Megan–”That place is hilarious.”

Now, we’ve been to a lot of zoos and seen tons of animals and even been on several “safaris,” but no one has ever told us “that place is hilarious.”

We mentally psyched ourselves up for an adventure. And hoo boy, the drive-your-car-through-the-hungry-animals “Safari” did not disappoint. We were cracking up the entire time and had so much fun we went through again.

The first time we got a free cup of food that didn’t last us very long. The second time we paid $10 for 2 big cups of food and 2lbs of carrots. So worth it.

The animals ranged in size and aggressiveness from itsy-bitsy spankin’ new fawns to great big bison, elk, and a 2200-lb Scottish Highlander (think big, shaggy cow with horns bigger than my thighs).

Nina liked the little deer. Aren’t they just as sweet as can be?

There were way too many deer to count. I’m glad we didn’t bring Gabe’s dad. I fear that one of the older males might have ended up on the wall of his cabin.

Nina might have liked the deer and the llamas and alpacas and even the baby bison, but the mama elk got a little too close for her personal comfort.

Gabe (and the rest of us) got the biggest kick out of the car in front of us. They had all four windows down the entire time, and these animals know no strangers (and have no boundaries). It’s a miracle that they made it through unscathed (well, except for the obligatory animal snot and slobber all over the place.

Our van only has two windows, so the girls had plenty of room to “hide” if they needed to. And Gabe made me close the windows anytime something too huge came along (I did feed a big ol’ elk bull and a couple bison).

But we went out of our way to avoid this guy (who was surprisingly adept at putting his head in a car window without his horns making any contact).

The zebras were adorable. And so funny when they chomped their carrots.

The pictures suggest that we followed the rules and put the carrots in the cup. But it was way more fun to feed them to the animals by hand. And we all escaped with all 10 of our digits.

And then… And then… be still my heart. GIRAFFES. The giraffes and zebras were the only animals actually behind fences. Someday I will see them in the wild roaming free. I can’t wait.

Other highlights of our trip included a $3 car wash, celebrating 5 years in our house with dinner at a Japanese steakhouse, Frosties at Wendy’s, swimming at the hotel, watching a marathon of Swamp Monsters on Animal Planet, and beautiful weather/awesome rides at Cedar Point.

Gabe rode this crazy thing. (Zero to 120 mph in 4 seconds, then straight up and straight down 420 feet.) INSANITY. It hurt just watching.

We also made a quick trip to Lake Erie (so much prettier than I remember) after buying Livi some Zanfel for her awful, awful, awful poison ivy (she’s on the road to recovery now–thank you, Jesus!). Gabe took this sweet HDR shot (which is actually 3 shots put together with all different lighting–I have no idea how he does it).

And a great time was had by all (that’s our story, and we’re sticking to it). Cambodia is our big deal this year (just like last year), so no vacations or anything, but we don’t mind. Who says you can’t have fun on a two-day road trip to the top of Ohio? Rock on, Ohio!!

Have you taken a fun mini-trip this summer? I’d love to hear about it.

On August 1, 2007, the girls and I went to the Louisville Zoo where we met my friend Gail for the very first time.

On August 1, 2008, our whole fam headed back to the Louisville Zoo with Gail and her fam. We didn’t know it at the time, but that trip would mark Zoo #1 of 52.

On August 1, 2009, we partied with 150 of our closest friends and family at Zoo #52, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.

And on August 1, 1010? Yeah, we’re just gonna chill.

Happy Earth Day!! This isn’t a holiday I typically go nuts over or anything, so I don’t have any big plans, but I intend to thank God multiple times throughout the day today for His amazing, gorgeous, incredible, phenomenal, stunning, inspiring creation. Wowzers.

Thank you, God, for creating such a beautiful place and letting us live here and take care of it.

Speaking of creation, my friend, Cheryl (who I met online and then face-to-face at our 52 Zoos Party last August 1), has written a book called Creation Inspirations.

It’s a devotional-type book for kids 6-10, and it’s really cool. My girls love it. The book features 25 different animals (in ABC order), and each animal gets its own 6-page spread. It’s divided up into sections: What Do They Look Like?; Where Do They Live?; What Do They Eat?; More Interesting Stuff; A New View; Bible Verse; To Do & Discover; What You Need; What to Do; and Extra Fact.

I love that Cheryl is teaching kids about the animals God created but also about God Himself. For example, penguin chicks identify their parents by a special sound that only their family knows. “The next time you see a king penguin, think about how parents and chicks know each other through their voices. Remember that God, our heavenly Father cares about us and wants us to talk to Him. He knows our voice and we should learn to know His too.” (p. 82)

I can’t even tell you how much God taught me through the animals we met on our Zoo Trip. Unbelievable.

Cheryl has a neat website where she posts cool stuff about animals and creation and great links and resources if you want to learn more. If you’ve got kids and they love animals/nature, this is a great site to bookmark. If your kids just love video games and you want them to love God’s great outdoors, Cheryl’s book is a great place to start.

(Disclaimer: Cheryl gave me a copy of her book as a gift, but this blog post was all my idea, and she’ll be paying me with a thank you and a smile.)

Here’s my fam enjoying some frogs, turtles, green grass and flowers tonight at the Metro Gardens near our house:

What part of God’s creation are you most thankful for today?

Last year at this time I was freaking out about our taxes and praying my eyeballs out that we’d still get to do the Texas leg of our Zoo Trip. This year, I’m freaking out about taxes (not really–just finished at 12:20 am!) and wishing we were headed to Texas!

God worked out every single detail last April, and while we loved every bit of our Zoo Adventure, there was just something crazy-special about the Texas (and Oklahoma!) Trip.

Seeing all my Texas friends‘ bluebonnet pics this week is killing me. Crazy, since I hadn’t really even known or cared about them before this:

Here’s a pic from each zoo we hit on that 11-Day Trip of Sweetness:

The Tulsa Zoo w/Elizabeth and Marina:

The Oklahoma City Zoo w/Megan and Jenn:

The Fort Worth Zoo w/Amy:

The Dallas Zoo and then on to Kaye‘s:

The Caldwell Zoo in Tyler, then on to meet Amanda and Kelli:

The Houston Zoo w/Kelli, then on to meet Mary:

Sea World San Antonio w/Kimberly:

The Alamo (what, not a zoo?) and staying w/Jim, Sandi (who actually had to fly to CA hours before we arrived!), and all their pups:

The San Antonio Zoo w/Emily and then on to meet Mel:

And last, but not least, the Memphis Zoo with Rachel:

This is what happens when you’re 3 years old and your parents drag you to 9 zoos in 11 days.

Click on the name of each zoo (like you don’t have Easter eggs to dye and Good Friday services to prepare for) to see more pics of that particular zoo.

And if you’re extra bored:

1. If you’re from Oklahoma or Texas, give your state a shout-out.

2. If you’ve ever visited one or both of those states, tell me when and why.

I got to see Kelli, Amanda and Mel again in January (so awesome), but it’s been a year since I’ve seen the rest of you!! Sniff, sniff. Love you all, my special Okie/Texas friends!

I’ve never participated in one of Kelly’s “Show Us Your…” deals, but this time I thought, what the hey? And I’m a day late, but what the hey? I heart giraffes!

Here’s me in my new Land’s End giraffe tunic that some anonymous darling person sent me in the mail yesterday. The zip code on the postmark was 14424, and after some google sleuthing, I know you live in or near Canandaigua, NY. Whoever you are, may God dump blessings on your head.

This darling giraffe-print canvas M was a gift from my darling friend Amy (and discovered by my equally darling friend Mary Kate).

Feeding giraffes–one of my favorite things to do in all the world. That’s my cool t-shirt that Nick at  Zooshirts.com sent me. And this is the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, CO.

These awesome giraffes are from Kenya where my awesome mother-in-law has been 2 times in 2 years to tell people about Jesus and help them build an orphanage and school. Read about her ministry at this crazy-cool website Gabe just designed for her.

This picture makes me GRIN A MILE WIDE.

I heart journals and Scrabble letters too, especially when the journal has giraffes on it, and the Scrabble letters spell G-I-R-A-F-F-E. The blue journal was a gift from my friend Kristen, the giraffe-print one was a gift from my friend Amy, and I bought the one on the right at the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park.

My favorite pic that Gabe took on the whole Zoo Trip. I plan on printing it out huge someday.

A little peek at my desk. The giraffe instrument was a gift from my MIL from Kenya. The plastic giraffe was a gift from my fabulous friend Holly. The giraffe bank was $4.99 at the Maryland Zoo. And I made the Zany For Zoos frame.

Bottom line? I have some amazingly wonderful and generous friends, family and anonymous buddies.

Besides giraffes, I also love vintage aprons, linens and quilts, old books, words, Scrabble letters, and the letters M and T.

I checked out a few of the other collections on Kelly’s post, and my favorite was this gal who collects Yellow Books (not the phone book, but books that are yellow). Brilliant. Just brilliant.

Thanks for indulging me! Have an awesome weekend, friends!