A Boy Named Conan

Abilene Texas

After a good day of relaxation yesterday, and a good night, We are well rested for a fun day of Exploring more of Texas! Today, we're exploring two places in Abilene Texas! We are going to the Swenson House, which I look forward to, and the Abilene Zoo! We planned it last night. We went to google to get more suggestions of cities to go to, and things to do around those cities. And from the looks of it, The Swenson house seems to be a historical place. So I'm excited for the tour of that house. And the zoo sounds fun! So we're going to make time for both today. The past week, we've only explored 1 place a day, in each city. It is currently 8:30 In the morning, with a little bit of mugginess. But not In a bad way. Hopefully it'll be the same, in Abaline. Because to me, this is the perfect weather! Especially for a trip to the Zoo. Conan and I get ready, and then Ashley gets ready as we get the babies up, and dressed and fed. When we woke them up they started crying. "I'm sorry, I know. It'll be a fun day though! How does food sound?" And they instantly stopped crying. "Alright, come on. Let's go over to the bed. You want my boobies, don't you?" I ask. So I sit down on the bed, propped up against some pillows. I pull out my breasts and they start sucking. They're really going at it! They seem really hungry. "Are you guys hungry? Yeah?" They kind of coo while they suck. "Don't talk with your mouth full." I say, giggling and smiling. Conan says, "yeah, that's right! That's good.. teaching our kids manners from an extremely young age!" Conan says. "Yes. They say Cooing is what happens when a baby tries to talk, but can't form words. They just make noise. So therefore, they were talking with their mouth full. And that's not proper manners." I say. "Yeah, exactly! We need to correct them when they do that. Now of course it doesn't mean they'll never coo again when they're eating. They're too young to understand quite yet. But even if they're 4, we'll correct them and they'll learn eventually." Conan says. "That's right. We don't want to be embarrassed of our kids when they're older. We want to be proud of them. And ourselves for raising them to know how to act. At home and in public." I say. "Exactly! I sure hope our kids grow up to be mature and friendly, and do what's appropriate. That's the thing. Parents might raise their kids to do right, but the kids, especially when they become Teenagers, start to ignore those." Conan says. "Yeah that's true. So if they turn out acting horrible in public, we can only be embarrassed and ashamed of them. Not ourselves, because we will do all we can to raise them right. But I have a good feeling we're gonna raise good kids." I say. "I think so too. Only time will tell." Conan says. Soon, the babies pull away from my nipple. They are now full. "Alright. Now it's time to change their diapers, and pack their diapers, and baby powder, and all the essentials for diaper changing. The wipes, everything." I say. "Yep, got it." Conan says, packing it all. "Oh and they'll probably want their binky's. So it's a good idea to take those." I say. "Ahh, good idea." Conan agrees. So he packs those. He packs some snacks for the babies. Soon, we are ready! "Alright! Let's go have another fun day of exploring! What are we all most excited about?" Conan asks. "I'm definitely most excited about the Swenson house. I love stuff like that. I love tours, and the picture we saw yesterday, on the front, to show a sneak peek, it looks like it's got antique stuff. I love all things antique! So I'm looking forward to the tour, and to learn things!" I say. "I'm excited about the Zoological Park!" Ashley says. "Oh yeah, me too. I'm a nature and animal lover. So it's a close second." I say. "Well, I'm with Katie. I'm definitely most looking forward to the Swenson house. Kind of the old feeling, it looks like it has, and I don't know. Nothing exactly specific. It just kind of attracts me." Conan says. "Yeah, it definitely attracts me! I'm like, drawn to it." I say. "Then there's something there, that we don't know about yet, that we will Love!" Conan says. "Yeah, and I'm excited to see what we learn and see!" I say. We head out the door and lock it. Then we buckle the babies all securely in their seat, and on our way we go! Conan and I got in the front seat. "Alright, so the City we're going to today, is 3 hours and 18 minutes away. So we'll get there around 12:15. Unless we get there faster. I'll ask Siri the fastest route." Conan says, and we all stay quiet so he can talk. "Siri, take me to Abilene Texas, from my current location, using the fastest route." Conan says. "OK. Starting route to Abilene Texas from Georgetown Texas, in the fastest way." Siri repeats. "For 0.2 Miles, head south on S rock street toward w 9th street." Siri announces, starting the route. It only takes a minute to get to the street. "In 2.0 miles, turn right onto West University Avenue!" Siri announces. We keep driving for a bit until he sees the sign "Turn right onto West University Avenue!" Siri says again. 10 seconds later... "Turn right onto West University Avenue!" She warns again. Conan yells at Siri. "ALRIGHT! I KNOW! I'm not at any point where I can turn! If I turn now, I'll turn right into the wall!" Conan says. I laugh. "You are such a Dad! It reminds me of the arguments my dad would always have with Siri. It's so funny!" I say. So Siri shuts up, until Conan turns. "That's better." Conan says. Then he turns onto the street. "Ok. Continue onto Texas-29
W/W State Highway 29, for 10.0 miles!" Siri says next. Then there's silence for a bit, from Siri, since there's a bit of time before she needs to talk again, so Conan turns up the volume of the music for a bit, until we get close to where she has to talk. We played the song "Turn Up The Radio!" By Autograph. That takes up a good 4 minutes and 37 seconds on our trip down the highway. The first time the singer said "Turn it Up", Conan turned up the radio. Again, just like my dad. "Oh, you know what, this is loud enough. I wouldn't mind it being louder I'm used to it. But the babies ears might be a little too tiny and sensitive for loud music." I say. "Oh, right. I wasn't even thinking about that." Conan says. We let the song play through then he asked "Do you wanna play it again?" Conan asks. "Sure! We can play it again!" I say. "Just one time." Conan says. "Okay, I don't mind! I wouldn't care if you play it 10 times!" I say. "Okay. Cool." Conan says. And we just jammed to it a second time. The next song that plays, is "born To Run" by Bruce Springsteen. "Oh yeah! I love this! They're shuffling all the bops. It's great road trip songs." I say. "I agree! I'm enjoying this!" Conan says. We jam out. Then Conan starts to turn down the volume, to hear Siri. She should start talking again pretty soon. Sure enough, 1 minute later, she says "Turn right onto US- 183 North." So he does. "For the next 36.7 miles, continue straight, to stay on 183 North." "Wow. That's a long way!" I say. "Yeah! It's very far! It'll probably take us at least a half hour." Conan says. So again, we turn up the music, so it's loud enough that we can enjoy it. We listened to about 11 songs before Siri talked again. So we turned it down to hear better. "Turn Left onto US-183 N/U.S. Highway 190 West." She says. So he does. "In 15.1 miles, continue straight onto US 183 north." She says. So we do so, and she says the next directions, and we continue on.
2 hours and 45 minutes later, we saw a sign letting us know we arrived in Abilene Texas. "Welcome To Abilene Texas!" "Okay. We're here, in the city of Abilene! Where should we go first?" Conan asks. "Well, I think we should go to the Swenson house first. Especially due to the fact that I have to wear a hat anytime I'm outside. Walking can get very hot. I can get very overheated. So I think it would be best to explore the Zoo more in the later afternoon." I say. "Okay. That sounds good. This tour lasts about an hour and a half, and the Zoological Park is a half hour from the Swenson house. Also, there are trains we can take, to take us around the zoo. There are 10 of them that go around the whole zoo. So we can get on one after another, all the way through, then we can walk in the cooler hours of the evening." Conan says. "Okay, that sounds perfect!" I say. We continue driving, to The Swenson house. And we get there soon. "Oh shoot! I forgot to put lotion on the babies skin! Let's do that now. It's okay because we haven't been outside. We left the house, and drove the whole time. But at least we packed the lotion." I say. So Conan and I both take a huge glob of it, and lotion them up. We already got some on ourselves earlier. "Alright, and their hats. And we're ready to go!" I say. We unbuckle the babies, and set them down in their baby carriers.
Conan, Ashley and I, all head inside, and see there is a small group of people In the lobby/entrance of the home. We start socializing with them. They were VERY friendly! We just walked up and said hello, and introduced ourselves and they said "Well it's very lovely to meet ya! I'm Jack Robins, and this is my wife, Susie Robins." The man said. "It's very nice to meet you as well." We say back. So we struck up a conversation. "So are you from around here?" They ask. "Well, I grew up in GeorgeTown Texas, a few hours from here. Grew up there for 10 years, and this is my first time exploring this place. Katie and I live in L.A. together. Where are you guys from?" "That's very cool! I've been to GeorgeTown. A large city! We're from GeorgIA!" He says, emphasizing Georgia. "Oh yes! I've been there! Gorgeous weather, and incredible Peach pie! I wouldn't expect anything less either. They always are known for their wonderful peaches. So I decided to get a peach pie. And I sure was not disappointed." Conan says. "Well I'm super happy to hear that! Especially since it's from my hometown. And also, my family owns a business in the pie making business in Georgia." The man says. "No way! That's so cool! I'm happy to make you happy by saying that!" Conan says. So we continue talking for a bit, and then we meet a second couple. An older couple. From a totally different state, and also very nice.  They're from Montana!  State With the beautiful tall mountains!  They told us all about their life.  The guy and girl both work as Frontier Plantain farmers!  At their own home!  But that's just for the view.  But they have a more helpful farm, which is a farm where natural medicine is created!  All natural!  Not all that extra stuff people put in medicine.  The man is quite proud of it.  I guess so!  I would be too!  They're a lot like me, in the sense that they like to help people!  In their case, they're making people feel better.  And, because it's natural, It tastes good, he says!  We have one that's cranberry ginger flavor.  Cranberry has many benefits such as building a good immune system, and even prevents cancer!  As well as Ginger!  But if both medicines fail to prevent cancer, the good thing is, the cranberry should really help lessen the chance of getting more sick.  But even better, is Cranberry Orange!  As they both have the benefits of improving the immune system.  So if they want to try to prevent cancer, they go for cranberry ginger.  But if they get cancer, they're really gonna need cranberry orange, to really work hard at not getting them more sick.  Even a cold can be deadly to someone with Cancer, as they have a weakened immune system. "Wow! That is so amazing! Can I have your business card, so if we ever need medicine from you, we can get some?" I ask. "Yeah, of course!" He says, handing me the card. "Great! Thank you! I'll for sure keep your business in mind." I say. "Well thank you!" He says, smiling. "You're welcome! It's such a Pleasure to meet you and hear about your life!" I say. "Well I'm happy to tell it! Thanks for Says with a huge smile and jolly laugh. Soon, the tour starts. The tour guide starts by saying "Hello, and welcome to The Swenson home! We hope you enjoy this tour! Lots of cool things to see!" He says. "Now, follow me this way!" He leads us to the right side of the home, a couple feet away from us. With a beautiful, rugged, red rug with some blue and yellow in it. The house is full of wallpaper! First, we walk into a room with a wide entrance. It's the living room. It had a rug that's an even deeper red color, with some black patterns. It has a floral couch. Cream color, with green, pink, brown. Then there was a matching chair, on the other side of the room, right next to the Fireplace.  The next room we go to, was one of the bedrooms.  Nice old, bed frame.  It looked like a rustic wood bed frame.  It looked freshly polished though.  It looks very cool!  The walls were covered in floral wallpaper.  And on the wall right behind the dresser in front of the bed, I was super excited to see a Painting that we also have had at my parents house, when I was a little girl.  It was the one with the brown haired girl with angel wings, and she's resting her head on the hands that are clinging onto a railing.  So basically we have a vintage painting.  Technically a part of history.  That is so cool!  I told Conan.  I said "Hey!  We had this painting at our old house that I grew up in for 16 years!  I'm sure we've had it at the house before the house I spent 16 years in.  Anyways, that's so cool!"  I say.  "No way!  Wow!"   Conan says.  "Yeah, I mean I don't know why I'm so surprised.  Gaga loved collecting Antiques.  Maybe that's why I love antiques so much.  They're attractive to me."  I say.  "Yeah but still.  You probably never knew it was vintage, and it's in a house that is toured.  It's a part of history.  And you didn't even know it until now.  It's a pretty painting too."  Conan says.  "Ohh, my gosh, it's BEAUTIFUL!"  I say.  The tour guide heard me say all that, about having it growing up.  "Wow!  In fact, something even cooler, is the fact that they were one of the first people to buy the painting!"  The tour guide says.  "That is SUPER Cool!"  I say.  On top of the dresser, it has a pretty white dusted looking rock, with flowers behind it.  And a pretty gold trimmed vase, with pink ceramic flower pottery.  The bathroom had a lot of colors!  It was overwhelming for my eyes.  It made my eyes feel weird because they didn't know where to look.  There was pink tiles for the bottom half, up to just past the middle of the walls.  Then, it's regular walls, with like a sea color, and Lily pads, and Flamingos.  And the floor was tile, with a green, with a rusted brown orange color.  And then there was a black vanity, with a smoky gray and black marble seat, in the shape of a heart.  That was cute.  The mirror was a almost complete rectangle, with the top having a little bit of an arch.  Nothing too special there.   "Back then, the trend was to have very whacky colors and wall designs.  You don't see people now with tropical walls with flamingos or anything.  And usually people also like to match their walls and floors, or at least have colors that go together."  The tour guide says.  We next go to the Dining room!  One of them.  They must have had a big family!  Because this one we went into was quite extravagant!  Very large!  With a very long table!  And the need for a second one?  They must have had a Texas sized family.  Makes sense honestly.  Because Albaline is a Texan city.  The dining room had a beautiful, Mauve colored table, in an oval shape.  And there are 12 chairs that sit around it.  And the chairs are a dark oak color as well.  And a dark red area rug, that was the same as the carpet on the stairs and entrance of the home.  The walls were covered in an olive green wallpaper, with the dark oak colored baseboards on the walls, towards the top.  The overall vibe is darkness.   They seemed to have a dark theme all throughout the main floor.  The curtains on the windows, below the dark oak baseboards, are black.  They were very pretty though with the fringes hanging on the curtains.  They also had a pretty chandelier hanging above the table. And the tour guides set out fresh flowers for table decor. The second Dining room, right next to it, connected by a door, is the other Dining room. This Dining room had a big dining room table, this one was round, but big around. With 25 chairs around it. The dining room table was decorated in a beautiful Laced cloth. And a luminaire sitting on top of it in the center. The walls were equally as dark as the other. But the cutains had a round look to it, and white curtains draped behind it. Then, they had one more tiny dining room. Specifically for the kids it seemed. Because the table was small, as well as the chairs. Height wise. The table was a pretty smooth, polished green. And so we're the chairs, to match it. The walls were light green, with white baseboards, and pretty white curtains, next to a window with a beautiful view. There were more beautiful bedrooms to be seen. The next bedroom we went into, had a very comfy, plush quilt as their area rug. It seemed to be homemade! It was pink. Dark, and pale pink, with touches of green. They had a built in dresser, and a little built in cabinet above it. That was for displaying things. Next, we head to the upstairs.  First, we walk into the room that's directly in the middle, at the top of the stairs.  It's a beautiful, brightly colored room.  It's got white walls, and a salmon pink area rug, with just a tiny bit of brown and a cream colored design.  There is a beautiful door, with 2 narrow windows on the sides of it, sending in plenty of natural lighting.  To go with the beautiful white walls.  And it leads to the outside garden.  On one side of the room, there are chairs that have arched up legs.  Kinda like a rocking chair.  But it doesn't move.  There was also a white couch with windows, that show the garden, and plants behind the couch.  And one behind the chair on the right side.  There's also a nicely in shape Bookshelf.  There's actually 2.  One on either side of the door and windows.  We go out to the balcony, with the garden.  There was a railing, and it went all the way around the middle layer of the house.  There were flowers all throughout.  There were some beautiful trees some with flowers, some with oranges.  They reached the balcony.  There was even a tree with draping flowers.  Kind of like a weeping willow.  But with a marigold flower!  Instead of those purple ones!  It was gorgeous!  After looking around the balcony, we continued the tour inside.  Next, There's another beautiful bedroom.  It was connected to the room I just described to you, by a door on the opposite side of the room.  This room is more of a basic cream color theme.  The walls were slightly darker shade than cream.  The dresser was a whitish cream color.  The floor was light wood, and there was an area rug, by the bed area.  That was like a Dijon mustard yellow color.  With a flower and leaf design embedded in it.  The sheets on the bed were white, with golden lace.  And the bed frame was a cream color, with an oval design in the middle of it.  Right across from it was a much prettier, much simpler bathroom design and color.  Green Hexagon tiled flooring, with a pale yellow tile wall, again, halfway up.  The rest of the wall was wallpaper.  It was a white wallpaper, with yellow and pink flowers.  It also had a very simple pale yellow bathtub.  They also had a fancy toilet, with a marble seat.  We went back downstairs, to see the kitchen.  They forgot to show us the kitchen.  It had a beautiful simple, white wall with tiny polka dots, and more hexagonal flooring.  This had all white hexagons, with a black outline.  They had brown baseboards towards the top of the walls, separating the white board planks, and the black and white polka dot wallpaper.  And a painted white board, to hold the dial phone.  It had a square shaped table, it was bronze, with Bronze chair sets, with a bright cherry red tablecloth.  They had a mini pantry.  Very tiny.  The door itself was very small.  I personally would have to squeeze through.  But it was a nicely set up pantry.  Next, we went to the basement, where there was a laundry room.  It had gray wallpaper, with flowers on it.  It was yellow and white Daisies on the wallpaper.  Then there was an ironing board.  It was interesting to see, the washing machine, wasn't a Washing machine back then.  They had to use a utility tub, and physically hand wash all their clothes.  They didn't have detergent back then, so they had to use dissolvable pellets, for smell, and they used bleach to disinfect, and clean.  Of course they had to use gloves, because bleach is not safe to get on your skin.  Then, they'd put the clothes through a ringer, to ring out most of the water.  Then they would go outside, to hang it on the line to dry completely.  There is a tiny door, that leads to the outside, from the laundry room.  It is super cool to see!  Very old school!  I could picture it!  I could Imagine what it was like to wash clothes by hand, and put it in the ringer and all that.  Makes me wonder why we, in today's day in age, always put off washing clothes.  We have it so easy these days!  Back then, they did so much work!  All we have to do is put in some detergent or tide pods, and press some buttons on the machines, and the machines do the rest of the work for us!  Honestly it would be cool to live like they did.  I wonder what it would be like.  I take pictures of the laundry room.  As well as the other  rooms we went through.  I took those other pictures earlier, as we went through the rooms. The coolest thing, was that at the end of the tour, which ended in the basement, they had a little souvenir thing. All throughout the rest of the basement. They had found some of the objects, from around their house, online. They basically found replicas of everything! The chairs, the paintings, which, I picked up the Angel child painting. It's priced at $135.00 Not too bad! It normally would be, but this is a rare painting. And besides, Conan and I had just gotten paid for the month. Conan and I also looked into getting the white rocking chairs. Felt like it would be good for our front porch. They were $110.00 for the set. So Conan bought one, and I bought the other. Then we figured, as much as we wanted other things, $ is enough spent here. So on our way to the Zoo we go!
We get in the car, and of course do the routine with the babies and their car seats. We are ready to go. "Alright, next stop, The Abilene Zoo." Conan says, as he puts the key in ignition, and putting the car in drive. We enjoy music on the way there, and within 35 minutes, we arrive at the zoo. "Alright, here we are!" Conan says. So we get out, and get out the stroller before we get the babies out of their seats. We slide them into their strollers.  We took some pics of the Front sign.  And then a Zookeeper took a few pics of all of us together in front of the sign.  It has sort of an abstract Giraffe on stone, and says "Abilene Zoo!"  We walk in, through the entrance finally, and head straight for the bathrooms, to change the babies diapers.  We do that real quick, and then we pee.  Then we were finally ready to go see the animals, in their exhibits.  The first one we come To, is the flamingos.  The cool thing is, we got to experience feeding the flamingos.  We got to feed them Shrimp!  There was a choice of dried shrimp, and fresh, cold, raw shrimp.  We did a little bit of both.  The zoo Keepers charged us $5 for raw shrimp.  They gave us a mini bucket of it.  Ashley took pictures of Conan and I, throwing the raw shrimp over the rail.  Then we took pictures of Ashley doing the same.  Then, Conan took a video of me feeding them the dry shrimp.  The cool thing about that, is they will pick that right out of your hands!  They also charged 50 cents for the dry food.  They were pecking away at my hands.  Then it was Conan's turn.  I took a picture first, of him laughing, mouth wide open, and smiling as he feels them peck at his hands.  Then I start recording.  "They're really hungry today!  We're feeding the Flamingos.  We fed them a bucket of raw shrimp, and now we're feeding them a dry mix."  I say, on camera.  Another flamingo comes running, super fast, and rams his beak into Conan's hand.  "Oooh, did that hurt?"  I ask Conan.  "A little bit, but it's okay.  I guess he hasn't really gotten a turn at eating the food.  He's like Wilber from Charlotte's web.  Where the other pigs won't let him eat.  They all get in his way I guess.  And now he's hangry."  Conan says.  Then the flamingo didn't like that the other one was getting so much, so he smacked him with his beak.  And pecked at his neck.  "Hey!  NO!  That's not nice!"  I yell at the Flamingo.  So I tell Ashley, "here, do you want to feed one of them?  So they can both eat?"  I ask.  "Yeah, I'll get in there."  Ashley says.  So I pay 50 cents for her.  So I'm still recording.  Now I record both at the same time, by making sure they're both in frame.  I take a pic again, to make sure I get smother Candid shot, with Ashley Laughing.  I quickly continue recording, so I don't miss a lot.  It's all laughter and smiles the whole time.  We finished feeding the Flamingos, and just stood there watching them.  We walk away, and look at the map to head towards the next exhibit.  "I love this place already!  We got to interact with those Flamingos!"  I say.  "I loved that too!  I enjoyed it a lot."  Conan says.  "Yeah!  I've never been to a zoo like this!"  Ashley says.  "Neither Have I!  What an experience!  I hope it's like this with more of the Zoo."  I say.  "Yeah, I would love that!"  Ashley agrees.  Next, we get to the Alligator Exhibit.  We didn't get to feed them, but we watched.  There was a Zookeeper who was having alligators with their mouths taped shut, so they don't snap, as people try to hold them.  Those ones were mostly babies.  But there was one, that we had someone take a picture of Conan, and Ashley and I all holding, by the stomach.  It was cool!  He was heavy, but with the three of us, it wasn't so bad.  He probably was a good 200 pounds.  That was a cool experience.  We head over to the Reptile house right across from the alligator exhibit.  There, we saw Lizards, Land Turtles, water turtles, Parakeets, cockatoos, Geckos, Salamanders, Bearded Dragons, Snakes, Chameleons, and we saw some frogs too. Tree frogs, toads, regular frogs, Bullfrogs, and more. They were put in separate cages of course. I know why, I experienced it with my own eyes. If you put a little frog in with a Bullfrog, He'll swallow it WHOLE! It was very Traumatic. So the frogs and toads were in a cage together, and then there were the Tree frogs in a separate one too. The toads and frogs were fine, because they're the same size. But Tree frogs are so tiny, so they could be eaten up by even little frogs and toads. The tree frogs had plenty of branches in their cage. They looked so adorable trying to climb up the branches. And their homes were made of little rounded off and curved tree bark! I took a couple pictures of the tree frogs and their home. They also had a tiny bowl of dried crickets, ants, all bugs and things frogs eat. Even threw in some leaves, cut up into tiny pieces. They had some tiny flies in their too. We look at the turtles next. And I think my favorites include the African Helmeted Turtle, due to its adorable, and hilarious face. He looks like he'd be an Alice In Wonderland Character. It's like he's the Turtle Version of the Cheshire Cat. Equally as laughable, is the Mata Mata turtle. He was harder to find, because he blends in. But once I did, I couldn't help but chuckle. They have these long, thin noses. Like, it's not like a normal turtle where they just have nostrils. They had a nose that sticks straight up in the air. Next, a Spiny softshell turtle. Hey got a huge, flat shell, and again, a long nose. Except this is a lot smaller. It looks more like the size of a long, thin bead. Then, the Indian Flapback turtle. He has a nose that looks like a pig snout. I've never seen turtles with noses other than two holes for nostrils. So to see these turtles makes me laugh, and adore them at the same time. And lastly, the Hawksbill sea turtle. Simply because they looks so friendly! They have liked, curved bills, that make them look like they're smiling! They're all land turtles, except for the last one of course. I took pictures of all of the Turtles. Conan got some good laughs at them too. Which I love, because he's got such a cute laugh. Next, we see the snakes. We witnessed a snake choke hold a rat, by wrapping his body around it. Most of the snakes just vibed by themselves, with no food. I mean they had a rat or something in their stomachs. They just weren't choking rats or eating things right then. They had already eaten. We watched some slowly wrap their way around a branch, some fell asleep curled in a ball. We saw the rest of the reptiles, and it was pretty cool. Very fun. Nothing interesting happened with the other reptiles though. They just sat around a lot. Next, we see the Macaws, and Toucans. Toucans like dried fruit as their diet. Dried Mangos, Pineapple, Juicy Kiwi, undried. And so much more! It is so cool to see the diets of different animals. Toucans, that makes sense though, because they're tropical birds. They're very beautiful birds! We watched them fly around in their big huge cage, that's the size of a mansion. Both The macaws, and Toucans were in there. It was honestly like an Aviary. So many birds I don't even know the names of! There was this black bird, with a scaly rainbow chest, and deep purple eyes. And a pink speckled bird. In the large cage thing, there were also Parrots, Parakeets, and Cockatoos. They were all having a great time in there! Flying all around! And squawking at each other. I took a video of all the birds. Because it was so cool! And full of such pretty birds! There was a bird with an ice blue on bottom, and pink and purple on the top half of his body and head. And it had like, little streaks of blue and white. It kinda looked like those magical lights in the sky. There's a bird called "The Andean Cock of the rock." It has a bright orange red body. They originate in the mountains of Venezuela and Bolivia. But they were transported to the Abilene Zoo. So when they received these birds, they adjusted the habitat, to have rocks in it. Like mini mountains. We enjoyed watching them and admiring them for a bit, then we went to see some monkeys. This was another exhibit where we got to feed the animals! It was so cool! We got to get up close and personal with the Monkeys. Again, more pictures were taken. The monkeys were able to climb on this wired cage, that they would cling to, and we could feed them Bananas! We each got videos and pictures of us feeding them. One of the monkeys grabbed my finger and grasped it. It just wanted to hold my finger. That made me smile. And on top of that, it was like the Alligator Exhibit, where they had a thing where you could hold them. It seems like some of these exhibits go above and beyond the previous exhibit. So we went over to the Zookeeper to hold and pose with the Monkeys. They place them on my shoulders. One of them reaches his hands over to cover my eyes. So Conan ended up taking a pic just as it happened. And so it ended up being a Candid photo of me laughing. I then took a silly photo, with my cheeks puffed out, and my tongue stuck out. Then I ask "Do you wanna go in that tree, and I can wrap my legs around your waist, to support me, so I don't fall? I wanna hang upside down in that tree." I ask Conan. "Yeah, sure! That sounds so cool!" Conan says, then the Zookeeper gives a really awesome idea! "That sounds like that would be a great picture! And I could wrap the monkeys arms around the tree trunk, or have them hold on with one hand, so it's like dangling from the tree." "OMG, That would be SO cool! And then can you have him hold onto me, hanging down? Like, hanging onto my arm?" I ask. "That sounds good, we can do both! Get in the tree." The Zookeeper says. Conan and I are both so excited! I have the perfect caption for it too, when I post. I'll say "Just Monkeying Around! 🐒🙊🙈🙉🤷🏼‍♀️💁🏼‍♀️🤪" So Conan climbs into the tree first, the closest branch to the ground. Which isn't too high, but high enough to where my head is gonna be a few feet off the ground when I'm upside down. Scary to think about falling out of the tree. I could get a concussion. But that's why I had Conan pose with me, because I trust him to not let me fall. We take that pic first. Then, when the guy has the monkey cling on to the branch with one arm, Conan asks "Hey, what if we cling on by one arm, and You and I hold hands with the ones that are free?" "That sounds super cute! I love it, let's do it!" I say. So we get into position, and the guy takes more pics. Then we are done. Ashley gets her pics done, with some Monkeys too. She didn't want to go into the tree though. She got a wide smile on her face, as she poses with the monkeys. Before we leave, I see two monkeys, with their tails brought together, to form a heart. So I take a few pics of that. Then, off we go to see the Prairie Dogs. We enjoy standing there, watching them bury their way in the dirt, and popping their heads out, and looking from side to side, front to back. We take a few pics of course. There wasn't much interesting happening there. They just ran around and buried themselves in the dirt, burrowing through it and popping out another end. There was no interacting in this exhibit. So we move on to the next one, minutes later. Next were the Red River hogs. They were more like a burnt orange color. There were even Babies too. The babies had burnt orange, and some black spots and different patterns. They were adorable. They were flipping and flapping their tails. We got to touch them too. They were a very strange texture. The fence was very short also. A few minutes later, we go to see the Giraffes! I was amazed! We got to interact with them too! They had a bridge area, half way above the ground where they were. And since giraffes are tall, they could reach us! They peeked their heads in. First, I take a video, as they walk up to us. And oh my god! The most incredible, unreal moment happened! The Giraffe bent its head in, and licked Luna, giving her kisses. I got part of it on video, and then stopped the video to take some pics of it. And then, I noticed it had a heart shaped spot on the Giraffes head. And one on his neck. So I record again, and the giraffe was still giving Luna Kisses. "Hi, Are you Gaga? Coming to say hi to Luna and I? Two signs. Gaga liked Giraffes, and her signs for us tend to be hearts. And Luna has attracted certain things, that I can only believe to be sent by Gaga's spirit. I believe you are one of them, yeah?" I ask. I don't care if people think I sound crazy talking to an animal. I truly believe that Gaga has sent this giraffe specifically our way. Any of the other ones could have kissed Luna. But specifically one with a heart spot. Come on now. That has to be a sign from her. I can guarantee it. I take pictures, of the heart spots. Conan starts recording me, as I stand by the Giraffe. She turns to lick me. She was such a sweetheart. She licked me on the cheek, and then it felt funny, when she licked my ear. So I chuckled a little bit. We got pictures of Ashley feeding them Giraffes some leaves, and she put her hand on the giraffes head. I had a moment again, where just like with the cardinal, I never wanted it to leave, because I felt close to my Grandma, I didn't want to leave the giraffes. Especially not that one. So with tears in my eyes, I ask "Can we spend at least a few more minutes here? I feel closer physically To Gaga than I ever have, after she passed away. The cardinals never got this close. And I just don't want to leave yet. We have to eventually, so could I just prepare myself for a few minutes?" I ask. "Yeah, of course! Whatever you feel you need to do, do it. That's fine. Conan took some more pictures, as I requested him To. I still had tears in my eyes, but that's okay. It's happy tears, to feel So close to Gaga.  I turn my head to the side, and make a kissy face, puckering up.  But I don't actually kiss the giraffe.  And I made a heart shape with my arm, by placing my hand at the top of her nose, and curved my arm, and put my elbow towards the giraffes bottom half of the neck.  Then, the giraffe bent his neck, and wrapped it partially around me, and rested its chin against my chest.  I put my hand on its head and Conan took a few pictures of that as well.  I wrapped my arm halfway around his neck.  I feel like when she wrapped herself around me, that was her trying to hug me.  And I needed to hug back.  I gave a decent hug.  Conan took a pic of that, and then I was sad to leave, but decided it was time to keep exploring more of the Zoo.  I started crying as I waved it goodbye.  "Aww, don't cry.  Are you okay?"  Conan asks, as he wraps his arms around me.  "I'm fine.  I just miss Gaga, and it felt really good to feel close to her physically again.  I'm always close emotionally to her.  She's always in my heart.  But, my mom tends to feel more close to loved ones at The Lune Song Bridge.  Which is in Traverse City, a few miles away from the cottage.  I should take you there one day."  I say.  "Yeah, I haven't had any particular moment where I felt close physically with a loved one that has passed on.  But I get how some people do.  And yeah, her favorite Zoo animal was a Giraffe, and it did have the heart spots, which is your sign from her, and it Bent down to kiss specifically Luna.  Just like with the Cardinal, and the Ladybugs.  So I have every reason to believe along with you, that that was your Gaga."  Conan says, agreeing with me.  "Cool!  So it's not just me that felt that way!"  I say.  "For sure not."  Conan says. "Well that's cool that you agree with me." I say. He kisses me on the cheek sweetly, as we walk hand in hand towards the next animal exhibit. Next up, Lions. The king of the cats! The King of the Zoo! For obvious reason we can't interact and touch them. They can get close to the fence, which is close to us. But we don't DARE put our hands in the fence. They might maul our hands and arms. So we just enjoy them being close, without it being a safety concern. They roam around their habitat, so majestically. There are two Lions laying on the rock. And two sitting and staring warrior like, on a different rock. They're watching their Territory. We all take some pictures. We spend a few minutes there, then we went to see the Tigers. White and black, orange and black, Silky furred Bengal Tigers, Sabertooth etc. They acted much like the same way the Lions did. Tigers are so handsome. There was this gorgeous white and black one, with Bright Blue Eyes. The ZooKeeper said her name was Angel. Just gorgeous. That name really suits her too. We did get to carefully feed the tigers. We had to throw meat over the rail. We couldn't put our hand in the fence at all. They were good boys and girls! They were very gentle. They slivered their way up on their hind legs, and used their front paws to grab the meat. They did not show any intentions of wanting to harm us. So it was quite a fun, non scary experience! We sanitized our hands, and headed to see the Rhinos. We watched for a few minutes, they mostly just laid around, in the mud, trying to stay cool. Rhinos don't really do anything exciting. They're kind of rather boring creatures. No offense to them. Even though they didn't do anything interesting, we still got pictures. Not very many though. Next up: The camels! Again, they had a low fence. And not only that, we did get access to the inside on the fence. The lady in charge of them, allowed us in, with a charge of $10 per person, to ride the camel! So Conan and I went on, and We put on the baby straps, so we could strap the babies to our bellies. That way they don't get to miss out, and Ashley was able to go on one as well! She didn't have to sit out with the babies, watching the stroller. We got on Two camels that were next to each other. The lady lead the camel with a leash. I recorded a little bit, and took a couple pictures of us high up on the camels back. The ride lasted about 20 minutes, we went all the way around the habitat. Well worth the money! I've only ridden a camel twice in my life before now. Now I've been on them 3 times! And half the price of the amount of minutes? What a bargain what a deal! Ten Dollars for Twenty minutes. Great deal! We watched them eat and drink, for a bit, and then went to see the Guanacos! When we walked up to them, it made me smile! They're like Alpaca's/Llama's. But a little bit fuzzier! Actually I think they might be, but named differently. The babies were even softer, and fluffier! They're the cutest little animals. Besides Elephants. I adore elephants! We pet the fluffy guanacos, then we go to visit the Sea Otters, and Elephants. The sea otters, they were pretty entertaining. I did get some videos of them, and pictures. They were flipping and somersaulting, and gliding all throughout the water. They were encased behind glass. There's an underground cave thing that it took place in. The Elephants were the most fun! Conan and Ashley got videos of me, and I for videos of them. I took pictures and videos of the elephants themselves. We laughed so hard, because the elephants were very playful! They would suck water up with their trunk, walk over to us, and spray us with all of the water, getting us soaked! They accidentally threw a rubber ball out of the fence, so I hit it back over, one of the elephants curled his trunk to catch it, and it nudged it back out. So I threw it back in. Conan got that on video as well. "Oh my god! This is so fun! They're being so playful and interactive! I've never dreamed of playing ball with an Elephant! But here I am! Doing exactly that! This really is the coolest Zoo Ever! This has got to be the best part of the Zoo! Of all the experiences we've had, this is definitely the most fun!" "I agree! But there are a lot of incredible moments! Like Posing with the Monkeys, feeding the Flamingos, Feeding the Monkeys... The Giraffe moment...". Conan says. "Yeahhh, the Giraffe was my favorite! But this is the most fun." I say. "Yeah, for sure! They're so playful like you said." Conan says. We catch a train, just past the Elephant. They had train stops, so we got on it. So we could go back to the main entrance, without walking all that way. We get to just relax now. It is now 6:45. We saw some of the animals we missed. Such as the bears, Ocelots, Anteaters, Cougars, Spider Monkeys, Howling Monkeys, Colobus Monkeys, Jaguars, Ostriches, Maned Wolves, Hawks, Bobcats, Cranes, Zebras. And that's all. We of course got pictures of them, as we passed by on the train. Soon, by 7:30, we were at the main entrance. First, before we head out, we go change the babies diapers, and go in the souvenir shop! I saw some giraffe plushes, and blankets and sheets for Luna. So I bought that. And We thought we could get them monkey outfits, and Lion outfits! So we did. $8.00 a piece. And we also got some Monkey suits for us. So we can take a family pic later. We made sure to get one for Ashley too. We kept looking around, and I got myself a Giraffe plush, and then we headed out to go back to the car. We get all seated, and I sigh from exhaustion and say "I'm really exhausted. It was a long but good day! That was absolutely incredible!" I say. "Same! We should all sleep good tonight." Conan says. "Yeah, definitely. I might join the babies, in sleeping on the car ride back home." Ashley says, sitting in the back. "Yeah, I would love to. But I have a hard time falling asleep in the car. No matter how tired I am." I say. "Huh. It's easy for me." Ashley says. "Well that's good. It's hard for me, because I love to watch the road." I say. "Ohhh, yeah, I can understand how that can make it hard to sleep." Ashley says. "Yeah, it has always been a struggle with me." I say. The babies are asleep within minutes. The sun is still setting, and it's beautiful. We play music peacefully, on a low volume. At some point, closer to being home, I fell asleep, to my surprise. Conan snapped a quick pic on Snapchat as he was stopped at a red light. He says "She's my Baby. She's asleep just like our babies, from the car ride. Proof that she is lit rally baby!" Conan says. Conan shows me when we get home, when he wakes me up gently. I smile when he shows me. "Awww! Baby, you're so cute! You're my baby!" I say. I slide out of the car, from being so exhausted. I help get the babies out of their car seats, and we take them in and get them ready for bed. Once we put them to bed, we then go to bed. We fall asleep almost instantly.