Austin Zoo and a Barbecue

We just relaxed today, another Sunday that we were too late in going to church, and after the kids and I took baths, Kamal suggested that we go to the Austin Zoo. The kids thought that was a great idea and we invited Margo, Najib, Raed and Rajaa to come along with us. We all had a wonderful time.

We got there around 2:30pm and started off looking at the prairie dogs and monkeys, and then made our way to the tigers and lions. When we got to the wolf cage, there were picnic tables and we had a little picnic.

Najib, Margo and I were taking pictures of the macaws and as we were, one of the macaws tilted his head and said "Hello". It surprised us so much! After I was done taking my pictures, I turned to leave and it said "Good-bye!". What a smart macaw! I want one so badly, as well as a little monkey.

Once we got to the petting zoo part, the kids went crazy! They were feeding sheep, deer, goats, and llamas. Also, some pigs (although they weren't supposed to feed them). We were taking TONS OF PICTURES! And just had an overall blast!

Then, we made our way to the train. The train was about to pull out but the engineer saw us coming and waited for us to board the train. It was just Austin, Danny and I that got on but we had so much fun! We saw Longhorn cattle, donkeys, ostriches and ponies along with an alien spaceship, pirate ship and more. We were singing this song all the way:

Down by the station, early in the morning.
See the little puffer bellies all in a row.
See the engine driver pulling on the handle,
Chug chug, choo choo, off we go.

It was a great memory with my kids. And as it turned out, we had caught the last train of the day. We were so lucky.

We made our way back to Margo and Najib's house to have a barbecue. There was barbecue chicken and hamburger, rice, hummus, pita bread, baked beans, etc. It was so good. Then, for dessert, we had ice cream cones with three different types of ice cream (cookies-n-cream, Neapolitan, and cherry). Yum yum! Also, a meal isn't complete without the Arabic coffee (Turkish coffee). Needless to say, I didn't stick to my diet today and I feel like a huge balloon! But, it's just one day and I'll be back on the bandwagon tomorrow. It just made it a perfect ending to a perfect day!