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The Lord has done great things for us,
and we are filled with joy.
Psalm 126:3

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Saturday, September 06, 2008

Closing Doors... Wordzzle #3 (for me) ... and the Zoo!

Jientje is hosting this challenge.

The LAST Door(s) ...

I actually have two that I have been hanging onto this week...
just to SEE if anyone else would come up with them!

I don't think anyone did!
Some people still can't resist TRYING this door...
though I doubt these phones see much service anymore!

And then...

My favorite perfume...

Thanks sO much to Jientje for hosting this
fun & fabulous hunt all week this week!
I'll be spotting doors forever now!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Each week Raven challenge's the blogosphere to come up with a story or a poem or some sort of prose involving a list of 10 words she gives us. She also offers a smaller 5 word challenge... and the Mega Combo!

This is my 3rd week playing! I didn't think I could do this even the first week - but it's sorta growing on me! I'm really having fun with it! I still find myself wondering with each list, will I be able to DO this? WHAT will these words do? WHAT will they become? Even I'm surprised at the end! LOL!

This week's Ten Word Challenge: invincible, falling leaves, lap top, two-year-old, fusion, grizzly bear, Jamaica, delivery, popsicle stick, caviar

And my story...

I was working under cover for the D-double U-M-B ( i could tell ya what it stands for - but then I'd have to kill ya) . I needed to infiltrate Fusion Manor so's I could deposit my surveillance apparatus. Seemed like a gravy job... in and out... then Jamaica was mine for the rest of the week. I donned my Swann's Food Delivery uniform, and put the popsicle stick in my pocket. (clever, these gadgets... you can disguise them as anything these days.) I figured the popsicle stick would be easy to hide and hard to recognize since the runt was only a two-year-old. Surely even the rich kids eat popsicles ... especially in Jamaica! I drove around to the service entrance, and knocked. "Mrs. White" let me in. I think she did it in the kitchen with the ... lead pipe. I told her I was here to stock the freezer and if she'd just show me where it was I wouldn't bother her any further. She escorted me right through the old man's office and into the five car garage. To the right was the "meat locker". I was gonna need another truck. She followed me back out to the kitchen, but then she busied herself with the dishes, and I got to work. I loaded up my dolly with some meat boxes, and strolled right past her. After depositing the load, I made a pitstop in the office long enough to hide the popsicle stick in a book, peeking out the top, straight across from the laptop. Perfect. Now, I don't think I'm invincible or anything. I take my job seriously and I scoped this place out. So HOW did I miss the pet grizzly bear? I'd just closed up the back of my truck when suddenly I was flat on my back with an 80 pound paw on my chest. There I lay without so much as a can of caviar in my pocket wondering what to do next. It was then that I noticed the falling leaves...

And for the Mini Challenge: toad stool, liquid lunch, counting sheep, manacles, Jurassic Park

Something made me try a poem this week...

As I was nodding off to sleep
Counting sheep
...Off to sleep
A glimpse of something in the dark
Jurassic Park?
...Deep in the dark...
Dragon wings all tied and bound
manacles tethered to the ground
whispered roars the only sound...
Squatting under a toad stool
An elfin man with magic jewel
His eyes say he's not cruel
Ties fall off; dragon is free
Trusty man is he.
No more liquid lunch for me.

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A Day At The Baltimore Zoo

Oh we had SO much fun at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore (I believe that's it's official title!) on Thursday! First though, I should tell you - it is NOT like the National Zoo. It is not nearly as open and "free roaming" as the website would lead you to believe it is - but it IS a very nice zoo - and while I still believe the animals deserve more space, this zoo probably IS the best mix for having happy animals AND happy visitors. The animals are NOT caged most of the time - though I'm thinking with the hurricane coming today they probably will be if they aren't already. The cages though are not "cages" as much as they are "houses" and are quite roomy with enough "temporary" space for the animals. But most of the time the animals are outside! The only outdoor animals that we wanted to but did not GET to see were the lions -- they were out, but they were hiding! Not much you can do about that! The other thing we LOVED about this zoo was that it has a TON of interactive things for the kids! You'll see what I mean as we go!

Our first stop was in the African Village to see the new BABY elephant!
World, meet Samson!

And this is one of the male elephants...

he was being ignored on account of Samson!
So we payed him some attention!
(though really he didn't care cuz he was having a ton of
fun playing with that silly tire!)

We also got to see some Rhino's ...

I thought this picture was really funny because
the way they were standing almost makes it look
like a two-headed rhino! LOL!

And this is the a better glimpse of the yard they were in...

this goes off for quite a ways in each direction and
is actually NICER than the Rhino yard at the National
Zoo - but I think they are working on that. The elephants and
Rhino's at the national zoo really haven't had a big update - but
they have always had a fairly nice yard already.

I wasn't crazy about the giraffe habitat.
Giraffes NEVER seem to be given a big enough area and I'm not sure
if it's because they need their diet monitored so much or what! These
3 actually HAVE 3 separate pens. All attached.Now if they opened
them up they would have a LOT more room to move around in! But maybe
that would give them too many trees to munch on? Or maybe it's just
because at times one animal or another may need to be isolated...
I dunno.... I just think they need mOre room!

I thought it was kind of weird that the penguins were down in
the African Village! I never knew they had penguins in Africa!

It was penguin feeding time and they were all gathered round!

Luz absolutely LOVES penguins!
She was thrilled!

As we moved into the Rainforest Section, we were lead toward the Monkey House. I was not going to like this! But what we found out was that there were no monkeys IN the house! They were all off in another area OUTSIDE! They were soooooo cute! None of my pictures really came out well because the barrier to keep us out of their reach was a plexiglass wall! But they had a really good sized play area and jungle gyms and climby stuff galore! And there were 3 babies in there - two of which we were SURE were twins because they were absolutely inseparable! It almost made you feel sorry for the 3rd one! But they just played and played and played! And one would run back over to the mama - and he had a blanky and he'd put it over his head ... and then pull it down - oh it was SO cute! We stood there watching them for quite awhile!

When we left that section there was a little hut set up
with different animals that the instructors would
teach about. And this little "sorting" game that Luz
very much enjoyed playing!

Next we went into the Bog!
LoL! The BOG was I'm sure supposed to be a "swampy" area where
we were to look for Bog Turtles and frogs and things.
But it hadn't rained in eons and there was no water and I'm certain
everything was quite hidden! But the bog lead to

Luz & Nana hoppin' these lily pads!!!
Cute, cute, cute!!!

And then we traveled around over a bridge and through the woods
to the aviary part... where we found...

NESTS!!!
Here Mama bird points out food to the Baby bird!
I forget which kind of bird this belongs to...
but this next one

is surely the prettiest little Baltimore Oriole
I have EVER seen!!!

After that it was into the cave and through the tunnels where we
learned about frogs and bats and bugs and spiders ...
all kinds of oooooey stuff!
But when we came out on the other side we had to cross a
bridge (that I wished I'd had for Bridging The Gap!) that
wiggled and wobbled - it was FUN! And then we came
across these!

BE a turtle for a day!

Oh dear!

Something must have scared this one!!!
(or maybe she was just tired...)

Our NEXT stop on the trail was Down Home on the FARM!
(yea... this is an amazing zoo!) LOL!
There was a milking exhibit and a barn owl and a slide
down the silo! ( a really FAST one! )
Then these adorable little fellas...

These two little snuggle-bugs just tugged my heart-strings!

But Luzi Lu was more interested in this guy...

Is that your goatee Goat?

That pretty much wound up our day at the zoo!
We left and went into downtown Baltimore to
the Inner Harbor for some dinner and a view!
But that's another post!

Now... I'm off to the BEACH!!! (well... after my coffee!) Hurricane Hanna is expected this evening... we are already getting rain from her but I guess the worst is supposed to hit about supper time! I plan to be IN the townhouse, parked either on the upper deck or if it's REALLY bad, then at least in front of the sliding doors! I've got a room with a VIEW for this one! (from what I understand she is just barely sustaining hurricane status...) Anyway... I have the laptop -- I have NO IDEA if I get service at the townhouse! But I'll check in when I can! *waving* Seeeeeeeya!

Labels: Wordzzle

18 comment(s):

Red Door - great one!

Loved the poem Wordzzle - very clever Melli.
The zoo = oh my gosh, so MUCH to see. I loved the 'turtles' and the 'nests.' I'm waiting for the day to take Lily to all these kinds of places.
Have a great time at the beach and we'll see you soon!

By Carletta, at 9/06/2008 1:24 AM

Oh I love your turtles!!!! LOL! And the one of the two of you on the Lily Pads in your croc's is too precious!
Have fun at the beach!

By Anonymous, at 9/06/2008 7:37 AM

Great idea for the last doors. Looks like such fun at the zoo. Happy weekend.

By Anonymous, at 9/06/2008 8:02 AM

Came by to read your Wordzzle offering and got a bonus trip to the zoo. Looks like the animals have much more roaming room than they do at the Portland zoo where I'm at.

Your poem was great too. Nice writing.

By Jeff B, at 9/06/2008 9:41 AM

What a day and what a wordzzle! Just wanted to let you know there is a small gift on my blog for you today. It will be there whenever you have time. Have a wonderful time and hopefully we will see you via your new laptop. Stay safe and enjoy the storm. Hope that is all it is.

By Amber Star, at 9/06/2008 10:04 AM

I had a great time visiting the zoo with you. Great photos.

Loved both wordzzles. Loved the poem. Our minds went to similar places only you did it in poetry. I loved the D.U.M.B. ... so very clever and funny.

By Raven, at 9/06/2008 11:13 AM

I have never heard of that perfume!

Zoos are such fun places.

Have a good time at the beach! Don't wrestle any hurricanes! We'll miss you! Hope you're able to get online some, but I understand that's not the highest priority while on vacation. :-)

By Anonymous, at 9/06/2008 12:40 PM

I came by as a first time Wordzzler (os that a word) abd found, a very funny first one, a cool poem for the mini and a great trip at the zoo minus the smell!

All in all, a most pleasurable experience.

Stay safe!

By Anndi, at 9/06/2008 1:08 PM

Both those were fantastic! I especially liked the 10 worder. Well done. :)

By Akelamalu, at 9/06/2008 1:16 PM

A watch grizzly, how cool. Great story this week.

Rich

By Richard, at 9/06/2008 2:00 PM

Melli, how dare you have so much fun while I am working myself to exhaustion! That zoo looks like fun.

I think you would like the zebra hbitat here at the Honolulu zoo -- which leaves a lot to be desired in many areas, but provides a wide open plain with plenty of room to run for both the zebras and the giraffes, and they live there together!

By Anonymous, at 9/06/2008 2:34 PM

Oh I have so much to tell you! LOL

First I loved your comment over at Rich's story!!

Your poem is wonderful. I rarely read poems out loud since I suck at it but I read yours twice, it was magical.

and thanks for all the photos. Luz and her Mom are lovely and Nana is something else.

Hannah is hanging out over here too! Sky is very creepy right now.

By Dianne, at 9/06/2008 2:46 PM

It is going to take a lot of work for me to catch up to your wordzzle story telling and poetry writing. You are good.
What a clever ending for the door meme. A door on the telephone . Wow.
But best of all was the zoo.
It was almost like being there and I love zoos. I wish they had had interactive things at the zoo we went to. I think I would look great in a turtle shell. But then they might not be able toi get me out. Can you imagine poor Betty calling 911 to explain I was stuck in a turtle shell.
This was a really great blog.

By Dr.John, at 9/06/2008 5:13 PM

Hi Melli! Loved your zoo pictures-looked like you had a wonderful time. That little Luz is a beauty!
Hope Hurricane Hanna passes you by.

By Cindy, at 9/06/2008 5:52 PM

You have African elephants! My daughter Michelle would be jealous so I won't tell her. Both of our zoos only have Asian.

Have fun at the beach I hope you have service.

By Lanny, at 9/06/2008 11:23 PM

Hee hee! Such cute pictures. Love it! :)

By Unknown, at 9/07/2008 1:12 AM

I did see these pics - see above - but assumed you were at the Washington Zoo, not Baltimore. It looks really nice. :) Free-roaming is VERY cool!

A happy belated b-day! And love the laptop! Aren't they just the best?! I want a new TINY one ... hee hee hee. S would just slap me if he read this, as I wanted my big media direct one so I could do graphics and photos with a great big screen... I'm over that now. ;)

By Unknown, at 9/07/2008 10:50 AM

The "change" door: awesome! :)

By Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba), at 9/07/2008 2:33 PM

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Saturday, September 06, 2008

Closing Doors... Wordzzle #3 (for me) ... and the Zoo!

18 comment(s):