Focht Family Blog

Saturday was spent at the zoo. They had a lot of beautiful animals. The giraffes were very interesting. They had a feeding station where you could buy crackers to feed a giraffe. We did not feed them but we did go up to the station so we could see the giraffe’s head up close. However, after that we were walking by some other giraffes and Nathan noticed that one of the giraffes was black instead of orange. I had never seen a black giraffe so I had to take a picture.

The next animal that I was able to get a good picture of was a Siberian tiger? I think that is what kind of tiger it was. Anyways it was licking something off of a rock so it was crouched down and I took this picture just as he looked up.

Timmy likes snakes so we went in to look at the pythons. Nathan convinced Samantha and Timmy to sit by the python’s head….

The next animals that we spent quite awhile watching were the chimpanzees. We were trying to decide if the one chimpanzee was a girl or a boy when one of the employees came up and gave us an education about estrus pouches. Apparently she was a girl. The whole time we were there she was picking at herself and scratching but I managed to get a good picture of her from the front as we were leaving.

I love to watch animals that are playing. We found a group of lemurs that were wrestling and I managed to get a decent picture of them…

My favorite animal is the wolf. They had two red wolves and most of the time they stay out of sight. While we were there a police siren could be heard nearby. The male came out with his ears at attention to listen to the siren. Both wolves were beautiful.

Samantha wanted to see some flamingos. We told her since we were at a zoo in Florida we were pretty sure there were flamingos….

We love to see the river otters when they are out and playing. This otter seemed to enjoy the kids playing with him. He kept taking laps and would swim right across where the kids were standing on each lap.

Near the otters there was a stingray pool where you could touch them as they swam by. Here is Samantha touching one.

The last animal we had to make sure we saw before leaving was the meerkat. Timmy loves watching them and Nathan seemed to enjoy watching them as well. Here is one of the groups of meerkats.

We had a fun time and my mom’s college roomate, Esther, came with us. After the zoo we went to lunch with Esther and then came home to go swimming.

I would like to say we have had a wonderful time the whole time we have been here. We have had some good days. The kids have ridden bikes almost daily and we have taken frequent trips to the pool. However we have had some bad as well. On Tuesday we filled our fresh water tank before leaving for the science museum. While the water is filling the water does not run inside the RV. Timmy was trying to brush his teeth while it was filling and since the water was not running he left the bathroom with the sink still turned on.

After we were done filling nobody else went back in the bathroom. We received a phone call from the campground while we were at the museum that said someone saw water pouring from the RV. We figured it was just the water that had run over when the tank was done filling so we didn’t think too much of it. Before going to get lunch we stopped by the RV to make sure all was well and found that there was still some water dripping from the side. Upon investigating Nathan found that the gray tank had filled completely with the water that was now running out of the sink and after the gray tank was full the remainder of the water in the fresh tank overflowed into the RV and out the side.

We have called the insurance company and someone is supposed to come inspect it next week to see if there is any moisture left in the flooring. However, we do know that the electronics in the outside entertainment center were fried because that is one of the exit paths the water took. :(

Tuesday we took the kids to the science museum. We were going to go to the children’s museum but it is closed because they are building a new one. The science museum had a section that was all hands on for the kids so we spent most of the time there. One of the first things that Samantha noticed was a section that was like a spider web. You chose a color and hooked yourself on to the starting point and then had to weave yourself through the web to follow your color. We all gave it a try and it was really fun. Here is Samantha, the boys and Nathan.

Timmy found a dinosaur that needed a dentist. Since he is currently very interested in dinosaurs he was thrilled. Here are Timmy and Joshua helping to put the teeth back in his mouth.

The dinosaur showed his appreciation….

In another area Nathan found some gears and gave Joshua a spin…

Samantha decided to play Cleopatra…

My mom came with us and decided to take a rest on a bed of nails while there….

After the childs section we walked around a section that had to do with natural disasters and showing you how to avoid damage. Nathan, Samantha, Josh and I all got into a wind booth that simulated hurricane winds. The winds got up to 78 miles an hour. It is amazing how painful your hair is at that speed. Not to mention how tangled it is once you get out of it. :) We all had a great time. Tomorrow we are taking the kids to the Tampa Zoo.

This is the campground that is part of LazyDays. LazyDays is a HUGE RV dealership. Here is a picture of our sites this time. These are sites 140 & 141. The building behind our RV is the pool.

Things I like: Free breakfast and lunch Monday-Saturday, heated pool and BIG jacuzzi. The whole park has paved roads so nice for bike riding.

Things I don’t like: I guess the only bad thing I can say is that the food is cafeteria food so it isn’t great and you have to walk through the sales department to get the food.

I managed to get a few pictures at the wedding and thought I would share them…

Here is my Aunt Beth with a family friend who came for the wedding. Beth is Brian’s mom and my dad’s sister. Both of my aunts are my dad’s sisters. My mom is an only child.

Here is a picture of mom. I am not sure why she looks so startled. We discovered a really good drink while at the wedding. The bartender mixed it up. It was cranberry juice, pineapple juice and vodka. I had the same without the vodka. I was driving and I sometimes get sick from alcohol and didn’t want to take the chance to get sick when I had to drive the next day.

Here is a picture of Brian’s wife, Erika, being walked down the aisle.

Here is a picture of Brian and Erika getting married.

My Aunt Sue and her husband James were being elusive. However, I managed to get a picture of them with Aunt Beth.

It was a beautiful wedding and I really enjoyed being able to see my aunts again. It has been quite a few years since I have seen Brian as well. The last time I saw Brian, Samantha was 2 years old.