Lazy 5 Ranch

Andy had Saturday off, so after our backyard camp out we decided to go to a drive-thru safari park called the Lazy 5 Ranch down by Charlotte, NC.  I have wanted to take the kids there for a while...okay...I have wanted to go. :0)  We finally got around to it this weekend.

Once we got there a couple of us needed to find the restroom and the rest were hungry, so we stopped at the playground and picnic area.  The playground was made in three main parts.  The end ones were like boats with walk ways to the center that looked like a fort.  There were slides  and fireman poles at each one.  The slides were pretty steep and the kids would fly down them!

Bradley by the fort.

Daniel walking the plank up to one of the boats.

Eliza and Daniel loved the slides!

Part of the safari park was next to the picnic area and some ostriches were next to the fence.  Eliza really wanted to pet one, but she couldn't put her hand in without them looking for food.  That made her a little nervous.

They also had some nice swings.  They had baby ones for little kids and regular ones for the rest of us.  Eliza loves to swing.  She could stay in it all day!  I might need one of these.

 I guess my shirt should really say "This baby makes me feel fat" since every one keep telling me that I look great and they can't believe I am 34 weeks.  Several people commented on my shirt that day.  They thought it was pretty funny.

Daniel and I enjoyed swinging for a few minutes. 

After playing at the playground we walked through the gardens and saw some fun animals there.

Lemurs

Most of the enclosures had a little pond around them with lily pads, frogs and coy.   The boys loved seeing the "big" fish!  Eliza thought the coy were pretty cool as well.

They had three camels.  We couldn't get very close to them though.

The mini donkeys were very cute and they sounded very cute too.

The pygmy goats were so cute.  They had a bunch of babies running around the pen.  Eliza loved them!  They would come right up and let you pet them even if you didn't have food.

Daniel isn't as adventurous as his brother or sister and he preferred the small docile animals.

This pygmy goat was just right for him.

This was a really cool tree.

This old piece of machinery reminded us of our Grandpa's.  They would both appreciate the stratigic placing of old machinery all around the park.

Kangroo

This giant turkey kept fluffing his feathers and following us down the fence line. He was pretty impressive.

They have horse drawn wagon rides you could take around the park to see and feed the animals.  This is the horse barn.  They had great landscaping...very picturisque.

When we entered the park we were met by zebras and ostriches.  This picture shows the food still flying out of the ostriches mouth.  They were pretty entertaining to feed.

This zebra was very determined.  They asked us not to feed the zebra because they get pretty aggressive in looking for food.  They kept sticking their heads in the window and you had to really push them to get them out.  If you put your bucket out the window they would still the bucket and the feed!

The llamas were much easier to feed and pet.  They were some of the only animals Daniel dared to feed.  He was a little worried about how big and close up some of the animals were.

I love this picture of the water buffalo.  They mostly hung out around the water hole.  Now I know why they call them water buffalo.  All that was missing were giant crocs to eat them.

Also on the list of animals not to feed were the cows with the big horns!

I am sure you can tell why.  Their horns are so big they couldn't put their head in the window.  However, they could still hit your car with their horns while eating feed spilled on the ground.

These were some great looking animals.  We kept thinking about a B-B-Q! 

They also had several big brahma bulls.  They didn't have "big horns" but they, themselves, were BIG!

We couldn't get close to the Rhino since it was down in a fenced pit.  He was pretty big.

Daniel feeding another llama. 

Bradley wanted to feed almost everything, but Daniel was much more reserved.

There was a path up next to the giraffes, but we didn't go clear up there.  Plus you had to be pretty tall to get the bucket high enough for them to reach it.

There were pot belly pigs running around everywhere.  There were also several baby pot belly pigs.  They were so cute! 

The baby llamas were pretty cute too.  They didn't get too close though. 

It took us a little over an hour and a half to drive through the park.  We all had a lot of fun and we were all pretty ready to head home.

On the ride home Eliza couldn't keep her eyes open even while drinking her water.

Going...

going...

gone!

I know this was kind of a picture overload, but I did narrow it down.  I only put up about a third of the pictures I have.  I may have to post more later because they are so good.  We definitely would recommend that when possible you should visit the Lazy 5 Ranch, or a place like it.

May 19, 2012