The Animal Lovers Gene

I am thrilled to report that the animal lovers gene has definitively been passed along to Kendall! Not that she had much of a choice given her mother's love of most "things furry." Hopefully she will not inherit her father's love of shooting certain "things furry!"

The Dallas Arboretum has a Petting Zoo on Mondays and Tuesdays and we visited that for the first time this past Monday. Kendall insisted on being removed from the stroller so she could get up close and personal with what I'm certain she thought were very interesting looking dogs. She met a sheep, a pony, a bunny, some chickens, and developed a rather odd attachment to what I think was a baby mini-goat. Screamed like a little banshi whenever I tried to take her away from it. Interestingly, the cute little critter seemed to have a similar attachment to her since it followed us around and stared at us long after we walked away (with his little buddy loudly protesting our departure.)

The next day, Kendall went to her very first Texas State Fair. While she enjoyed the lights, sounds and noises (and the always amusing assortment of other fair-goers), her favorite stop was, again, the petting zoo. This was a BIG petting zoo and had significantly more interesting looking "dogs" with which to communicate. She kicked and squealed and did her (new and kind of strange looking) wristy-twisty dance as soon as we walked in, as well as upon introduction to each new animal.

Piglets!!! This was Nana's favorite part of the Fair and we are very proud of her for resisting the urge to confiscate the little runt piglet.

Here is a camel who was very gentle when Kendall stuck her hand its mouth. No marks at all - just a bit of camel slime. If you look at the picture closely, to the left of the camel, you will see a little camel blob on the ground. This was a MAMA camel! I felt very connected to her for some reason. I wouldn't have bitten her child either.

I'm not sure what this is ... Alpaca maybe ... but it was shaved much like a giant poodle. Odd. Poor little thing must have had no idea how ridiculous it looked because its behavior suggested that it visualized itself as the Don Corleone of the Alpaca (giant poodle?) world.

And here is my second favorite part of the Fair, the giraffe. It was a baby giraffe and very cute. I'm trying hard not to dwell on what a horrible life this little guy probably has and to convince myself that he gets to go run with other giraffes in a big field with tall grass and lots of trees to munch on when it isn't Fair season.

What was my FAVORITE part of the Fair, you might be wondering? Clearly it was the FRIED BUTTER! There are no pictures of the fried butter - it didn't want to stay in the plate long enough to be photographed. I have to admit I was wary at first, but I now have a new favorite meal that just might warrant a second trip to the Fair this year so I can stock up! :)