Aloha Safari Zoo and Rescue...

Today my friend, Eileen, and I took all of our boys to a new spot-- Aloha Safari Zoo and Rescue in Cameron, NC (Aloha Zoo).  It's a safe place and refuge for (mostly) exotic animals that have been rescued from dangerous or unhealthy living conditions.  To say the boys loved it is a complete understatement.  They LOVED it.  Sometimes I find the best outings are the ones I plan the least.

Henry has always been an animal lover and watching him with the different animals today was just amazing.  He is so quick to pet and feed and hold all animals.  He never shies away from them or appears scared, no matter their size or appearance.  Case in point…

Henry was so excited to put this Ball Python on his shoulders!

And these horses received lots of attention…

I mean, how cute and happy is Henry's smile?  (The horse does appear a bit… concerned… but I decided to let it roll.)

The zoo owner makes his living breeding world class mini horses.  Odd but true.  There were at least 12 mini horses at the zoo today and the owner was currently at a horse show with several others.  We heard from the tour guide that every show horse won!

There were lots of newborn animals on the farm, including these baby rats below.  Gross as adults-- but a little less gross as newborns.  And the cow on premises delivered a calf while we were there!  We missed the birth but saw the newborn on the safari ride.

Max and Eileen about to feed carrots to Stretch, the giraffe who was rescued from someone's garage!

 Stretch!  A pretty perfect name for this guy.  All of the boys loved feeding and petting him.

Eileen, Finley and Max getting ready to go on the Safari Ride...

 Our crew!

 Check out this grizzly bear!

 Henry, wearing his alligator shirt, in front of an alligator...

And Peter, wearing his spider shirt, in front of… well, a peacock.  But I'm sure there's a spider in this shot too!

There were at least a dozen peacocks roaming around (boy, are they noisy!) and how cute are these tiny baby goats?

There were over 300 animals at the rescue zoo, including this white tiger James loved...

Pete, Max, and Henry checking out the animals...

 Finn taking a little rest break...

If James, Henry, and Peter were donkeys… hee hee.

It really couldn't have been a better outing.  The company was great, the weather was beautiful, and the boys were so excited with all there was to do and see...

We can't wait to go back again!