A day in the city..part 1

Ever since the children were young, we have had a quiet family Easter with a special dinner. It was by default really, because we've always lived so far from family.
But this year, we had made some plans that fell through. At the last minute I realized I hadn't given any thought to Easter dinner.

So after church, we went into New Orleans to play...we didn't really know WHAT we were going to do but once we got into town, we ate at Superior Grill and then went to the zoo.

The first thing I did was drop this little fairy house I had made last year for this month's toy drop.




The zoo hadn't been spruced up for tourists yet but since the weather was nice, almost all of the animals were out. It really was a perfect day for going to the zoo....not too hot with a nice breeze.

The birds were BUSY...lots of courting and nesting going on....

look at this wood duck...he was showing off for a very pretty lady duck who was playing coy



two pairs of loons showed us a little X rated show but I didn't take photos of that!




these horn bills were busy courting too, the male was feeding the female and was not pleased when we interrupted him...


this pelican was chasing a baby turtle....but didn't catch it. These pelicans are HUGE!


and these flamingos were super bright today...and showing off for one another.


these beautiful guys had nests everywhere in the aviary. I don't know how they don't fall out with the nest opening on the bottom....


a sign said 2 scarlet ibis babies hatched...unfortunately we couldn't find them but we did find dad...or mom?

This Louisiana Barred Owl was hit by a car at night while hunting. He was lucky though and fully recovered. He is now helping to educate people.

this guy was so LITTLE last year...amazing what a year can do...another few years and he will be as big as the adults.



nothing exciting going on here...I just love turtles and tortoises

These hunting dogs are housed right next to the Thompson's gazelle...doesn't seem fair. They can actually see them through the chain link fence. They have a little path they've worn out right next to the fence.



The kids stopped long enough for me to take a few photos of them....



I even got one of Dean.....


We were leaving the gift shop empty handed when I spied this little change purse. How could I resist?!


Then we drove around a bit taking in the sights...but that is for Wednesday's post.
For us to have just thrown together an Easter outing, it was a great day.
We may not have had a special dinner but just being together was good enough for us.