More Atlanta and a Trip to the Zoo

I can't believe it's been a week since we've been home! Kind of surreal, but nice. It's so much cooler here than it was in Atlanta.
D in front of the Philips Arena. He was in heaven being this close to these sports places. (I would have rather gone to see something historic!) I must admit though, that seeing the Olympics stuff was very interesting.

The CNN Tour included a trip up this unbelievably high escalator. We didn't go on the tour - but I'm thinking that Atlanta folks are big fans of really long escalator rides. I think this one goes up five floors.

This was in the front lobby of the CNN building.

The Monday night banquet and some of the folks we sat with. The couple on the left were Canadians too from Ontario. In the middle is Jenny, our supervisor from our fostering agency. So sweet! Great food, great new friends and entertainment watching people do new dances I'd never seen before.

Here are the 3 from Calgary again. What a fun evening! If we ever get to go again, we'll remember to "dress up" for the banquet portion.

Did you know Coca Cola (can't say "Coke" in Atlanta) came from Atlanta? Me neither! But here I am enjoying a blistering hot bronzed version with it's inventor, John Pemberton. HOT! HOT DAY!

I guess if you take the "Coca Cola" tour through their museum, you can taste how different Coke is all over the world. We didn't take that tour either. Atlanta was REALLY EXPENSIVE if you are a tourist!

I took some cool shots from the plane rides home, but looking at them makes me feel all woozy all over again. I've decided I don't really like flying and I certainly don't like TURBULENCE! So I'll spare you the airsick feeling...

We had only been home a couple of days when we were visited by D's sister and 4 of her 5 + a friend. The kids were very excited to all visit with their cousins - while V and T were excited to meet their new cousins! We decided to drop a truckload of money again to take kids to the Calgary Zoo. D and I had forgotten that, while the Calgary Zoo is a world class facility, we don't really enjoy walking around with kids that don't listen and want us to spend even more money on the incredibly expensive food that they sell there. We've agreed we will not go again until we have grandchildren that are old enough to enjoy it, but young enough to listen!

We did see some great sights though. The peacocks are free to roam anywhere they'd like at the zoo. I'd never seen a mama with her chicks before. I do know that these things will chase and bite you if you get to close - so we let them pass without bothering them. Well, most of us did... back to the no listening thing again.

This is a picture of the last Ray to survive the mysterious Ray Deaths from last year. These are actually very cool animals! Beautiful to watch them gliding through the water.

Boy, did we get an elephant education this time! The male is "in musk" at the zoo and two of the females are "ready and waiting". You can imagine the kids faces when the male dropped what looked like a 5th appendage and proceeded to scratch his belly with it. I think the "big guy" was just showing off! The boys are still talking about it. (Picture X-rated - not available for showing on this blog.)

"Dinny" the Dinosaur first moved to the Calgary Zoo in 1937. I think he is still in the same spot! He was declared an Alberta Historical Resource in 1987. I remember playing on him as a kid and like me, he's showing a bit of his age.

This is a picture of all the kids in the Prehistoric Park. I think it was the only time they were sitting still and it wasn't for very long!

T posing for me with a cool bear statue in the North American Exhibit.

Just some good advice in the South American Exhibit. That place took me right back to Georgia with all the humidity and heat! Had to get out just to breathe again.

Thought I'd end with the picture of the glorious lunch my DH packed for us. Despite it's appearance - it was delicious and I love him for thinking ahead!

Three Things I'm Grateful For:

1. The cooler weather. I never thought I'd be so happy to be cool.

2. DD bought her first car yesterday! This means I get my van back!! YAY!!

3. Kids actually listening to our discussion about being respectful and showing us that they CAN do it when they try. Sort of...