Naively Brave at the Animal Safari

The last weekend in October, we took Collin to an "animal safari," a huge ranch with exotic animals that you can feed from a tram.  When we were greeted by a deer that was so friendly it let us pet him, I wasn't sure we'd ever get Collin on the tram.  But with the promise of more time with Buster the deer after the ride, we headed off.

 

This photo, taken by my mom, makes me laugh at what a poser I am - not paying attention to the animals like the boys but smiling away for the camera -

And here's where things got a little too exciting.  We were the first tram ride of the morning and those animals were hungry and friendly -

 
The instructions from the driver were to wrap your fingers around the food bucket so the animals didn't mistake fingers for food . . . as my son reaches out to pet the horned gazelle-like animal!

This ostrich befriended me a little too much for my liking, very aggressively pecking at my food bucket.  I was alone in the back of the tram, a spot I picked thinking of my son, and instead I rode most of the tour by myself, often the first person the animals could attack greet. 

Collin was all grins and squeals of excitement with each animal we'd pass, equally thrilled with a goat or a rhino!

Just some zebras that we fed in the background, you know, typical Saturday morning -

My mom and Cas feeding the camels -

Collin was not at all scared of the animals, ready to hop out of the tram and play with them -

Back at the starting point where he could once again pet Buster the deer -

And feed some goats - 

Family pic by the giraffe -

We ended our visit with one final thrill, Collin's first pony ride -

Yee-hah!