Thursday, June 11, 2009

PFF and the Zoo

Instead of planning a trip this summer, I am taking a couple of 3 day staycations...or as I've renamed it, a Grammacation. I'm taking time off to spend with my 8 grandchildren. Today 3 of the grands came to town with their mother. First we had lunch at Nabeel's Cafe & Market. They serve wonderful Greek and Mediterranean food. We ate stuffed grape leaves, Homos and pita bread, olives, cheeses, olive salad, tabouli and their own chicken salad.

Then we were off to the Zoo. We walked for hours, the girls feed the Lorikeets and rode a camel. We saw the monkeys, the cats, the giraffes and more. Bet you're wondering how PFF fits into this...here's how:

Circa 1956 postcard from the Birmingham Zoo

Monkey Island is the one thing we didn't see...a sight that I remember from my childhood trips to the zoo. It no longer exists because a more environmentally friendly habitat for the monkeys was built many years ago. This postcard isn't a part of my personal collection. I found it on the Internet. But I imagine the message on the back goes something like this.

"Dear Mama and Daddy and baby Joey,
Gramma took me to the zoo today. We watched the monkeys. I wanted to play with them, but Gramma said it wasn't allowed. It was hot there. I drank a Coca Cola. I had fun.
Love Kay"


Like Kay, we were hot...that is what summers in Alabama are like. Like Kay, we drank copious amounts of Coke and Blueberry slushies. Like Kay, we watched the monkeys. Like Kay, we had fun.

Here are some photos from our trip:

The girls get in a little work for a home-schooling assignment...recording facts about
North American animals.

Feeding the Lorikeets.


Watched this dude sleep.

Flamingos fixated on feeding.

Got to hold out some food for these to lick off their hands.

Cooled off with Blueberry Slushies.

Rode a Dromedary.

Watched the Gorilla.

Patiently waited for butterflies to light on their fingers.

Made friends with a goat.

Went home pooped.

Tomorrow, more of my Grammacation. I'm spending the day with my daughter and my youngest grandson.

26 comments:

  1. What a wonderful place to spend the day.

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  2. Hi
    Wow what a great vacation idea!
    I love the zoo but here in Central Texas it is already hot and humid :)
    Guess like Kay that makes the soda all that more special .
    Happy PFF .
    Thank you for sharing all the many wonderful pictures.
    Those little blue tongues were so cute.
    Have a great weekend.
    Blessings to you and yours.

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  3. Looks like a lot of fun. Enjoy your gramacation. Greetings from Amsterdam.

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  4. Great postcard of zoo plus amazing photos of a great day on a trip. I love the photos and the animals!

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  5. Stevie! What a wonderful wonderful Grammacation! Your grandkids are absolutely precious! Gosh! I could just ramble on and on about how much I like each and every photo of them!... The goat encounter makes me chuckle! It's so nice that they are at eye level with each other... The gorilla is so close to him at the glass too! Wow everything was so touchable at the zoo that day....butterflies, lorikeets, camels....what powerful memories for them! I loved seeing them with there notepads too! What smart girls!Happy PFF!

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  6. Those are the cutest pics ever, the blue tongues, the butterfly on a little hand, the pygmy goat and toddler eye to eye. Oh sweetness!! Love your wonderful eye!!!

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  7. It looks like you all had a great time. I'm sure you know the song
    "We're all going to the zoo tomorrow
    Zoo tomorrow, zoo tomorrow
    We're all going to the zoo tomorrow
    We can stay all day!"

    I can't get it out of my mind now. :)

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  8. Looks like a fun zoo. Wondering if they had new postcards. I like older zoo postcards but newer ones aren't very interesting in my opinion.

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  9. Grammacations are always the best!! What fun! The Birmingham Zoo was my very first "real" zoo - but I haven't been in years. Maybe it's time to schedule it for our next trip south!

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  10. What a great idea..those grammacations. Little breaks instead of it all being over at once! The trip to the zoo looks fun! I always enjoy pics of your fam!

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  11. Grammacation! Brilliant.

    Love the postcard AND the real deal .. especially those exotic blue tongued grands!

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  12. Nabeel's... delish, delish, delish!

    I'm loving your idea of a Grammacation!

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  13. I really enjoyed your submission to the PFF - It's not only a postcard, but it's kids & animals, too! You even managed to get a goat in there, which makes you super cool in my book.

    The name of my blog is "The Goat" :)
    Kristin

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  14. what a great idea! I love the blue tongue photos, i have a few of those in my scrapbooks. Looks like you all had a special visit.

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  15. what a great idea! I love the blue tongue photos, i have a few of those in my scrapbooks. Looks like you all had a special visit.

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  16. Oh what fun memories you made with the grandkids! I love the pic of your boy and his binkie. I can just picture it going 90 mph while he goes face to face with the goat. ha ha Gave me memories. ha ha My how quickly they grow up.

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  17. I love the zoo! Great pictures of a fun time. Great idea for PFF! Enjoy your weekend. Oh 0 that postcard would also read "I have the best Grammie in the whole wide world!"

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  18. A visit to the zoo with Gramma...AND...blueberry slushies! How lucky can you get?

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  19. This is a great idea. Loved all the beautiful pics, thanks for sharing.
    debby

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  20. Wow, looks like you all had a great time at the zoo! Love the postcard too! Monkey Island sounds very intersting!

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  21. What a WONDERFUL day!!

    I love to see those Lorakeets!

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  22. Just when I thought nothing could top your lovely photos, out came those blue tongues. :-D
    Oh I love it.......love that postcard too.
    And your lunch.....oh yum....

    Have a beautiful weekend.

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  23. a staycation sounds like a wonderful idea!!! your grandchildren are adorable. how nice that they live close enough to come spend a day with you. i've not been to the zoo in a few years. now i want to pack up my grandkids and go!!!

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  24. Gosh, I haven't been to the zoo in a long time. This makes me think it would be fun.

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  25. I love the idea of a Grammacation! I have a feeling I will be taking many of the same in the years to come. You made some wonderful memories with the most special people in your life, Stevie!

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