Fun at the Zoo!

I am a huge fan of our town for lots of reasons. It is beautiful. People are friendly. It is big enough to blend in but small enough to be a part of the community. But 2 of my favorite things about Knoxville are Children's Hospital & the Special Needs programs that are available here.

Last month, Kynsie & Kyan came home from school with notes saying that the Knoxville Zoo was hosting a special event just for kiddos with special needs, and their families, sponsored by Children's Hospital. The event was a Friday evening at the Zoo, free of charge. We recruited Patty and took the kids. IT WAS AWESOME! They had water bottles for us at the gate. Face painting, characters dressed up (lots from Star Wars, which Brandon LOVED). And overall it was just a lot of fun to have the zoo closed off to the public and open just to us. Because I knew everyone there was dealing with something, I was a LOT less anxious. At one point Kyan sat in the middle of the walking path and threw a tantrum, and we dealt with it, but I just noticed a lot less stress. NO ONE stopped to stare. No one. Not once. What a nice experience. It was cool and the animals were all out. We saw bears, an ostrich, elephants, zebras, meerkats, gazelles, birds, lions, tigers and more. They were awake and moving around. It was GREAT! Here are some pictures!

mom & kiddos at the zoo entrance


Me & Sis (Patty in background holding Kyan so he could get better look at zebras)

Sis was first to discover the Lion. Didn't take long until all 3 were on. Kynsie looks like she is bull riding.

Patty & Kyan

This is us under the overhang near the Zebras. It began to POUR rain after about 45 minutes so we took shelter there and had snacks. We were soaked but no one cared. So much fun! We got to see the Zebras UP CLOSE. They got under the cover too.

Braylen-soaked!

We decided to check out the inside exhibit, and it was a hit too. They had lots of little play areas. There was a man playing a fiddle and the kids LOVED it. Here's some dance video for you.