Jungle Island adventures with the cousins

I'm taking a break from my vacation posts today to let you know about all the fun we're having now that Michelle, Matt's sister, and her two girls, Grace and Hope, are in town. (If I wait till I'm done with our vacation posts, I'll feel like I'll never catch up... and it will be old news by then!) James is having a blast with his cousins! He really has gotten closer to his big cousin, Grace, and he loves to do whatever she does. (He loved holding her hand at Jungle Island, too.)

Yesterday James and I took a trip down to Jungle Island (formerly Parrot Jungle Island) with Grandmommy & Pops (Matt's parents), Michelle & the girls, and Aunt Dee. (We were sad daddy couldn't come but he really wasn't feeling well so he went to the doctor and found out he had an ear infection. Poor daddy!) We had a lot of fun even though we were sad daddy wasn't there. We got there when Jungle Island opened at 10am and right when we walked in, Grace got to hold a big parrot on her shoulder.

In one area, they had parrots sitting on their perches and we could buy food to feed them out of our hands. James especially loved the parrots, and he thought feeding them was great fun! Here are some pictures of all of us feeding the parrots!

The parrot even took some food out of James' hand without biting him. They were so gentle... and what beautiful birds!

Grace was so cute feeding the parrot. (Note both arms... and she's keeping a safe distance!)

Grandmommy feeds the green parrot.

Aunt Michelle and Hope feed the parrot.

We were able to see all the shows, and since the schools weren't out yet there was hardly anyone there. It was very nice! We also got to go to the Petting Barn and Grace fed a goat with a bottle that he sucked down so fast we almost didn't get a picture.

James wasn't so sure about the goats at the Petting Barn, who were trying to eat his clothes!

We were at Jungle Island for about 4 hours and I can honestly say that, besides feeding the parrots and seeing the animals up close at the petting zoo, I think one of the biggest highlights of the day for James, Grace, and Hope was the playground right outside the Petting Barn! They had a lot of fun running around and going up and down steps. All in all it was a great day. The only thing that would have made it perfect is if Daddy could have joined us, too.

Look for more posts on our adventures with the cousins in the next couple weeks while they're down, as well as the summer vacation 2008 posts... =o)