Zion & The Petting Zoo

Anyone that was around Zion for the first 9 months of his life would know that he was once incredibly afraid of all animals. Whenever a dog would come near he would tremble and cry in abject fear. It was quite concerning for us as we are such big animal lovers. But in the last 7 months he has come full circle. Now he is completely enamored by all animals. He still has some hesitation, naturally, but now he absolutely loves them! Here he is with a goat at our local petting zoo. It kills me how Zion and this goat are just the same size. This goat was so sweet and patient with Zion, I wish we could have taken him home.

Zion going in for a hug and a kiss

On another note, I wanted to write down a story about Eden that I never want to forget. I'm sure it is hard to tell from the pictures, but Zion in playing here on a porch of a dollhouse. The kids love playing in this doll house while visiting the petting zoo. Inside there is a window to look out of, and being that it is just their size they find it really fun. But this house's primary purpose is actually for the sheep. It actually serves as a place for the sheep to just chill out in, and likely escape from all of the pestering tots. Well, Zion was playing inside this house the other day, looking out the window and having a wonderful time when one of the sheep decided it was time for a little siesta in its house. Eden and another boy slightly older than her tried to block the sheep from entering. They both kept trying to tell the sheep that there was a baby inside and that it could not go in at the moment. But the sheep, being bigger than both the kids combined, would not hear anything of it. It just kept {gently} trying to nudge its way past them. Finally Eden seemed to feel that the situation was becoming dire so she ran inside and stood with her brother. She tried to tell Zion that he needed to get a out cause a sheep was coming in, but Zion can be stubborn and he would not listen at all. I was watching all this from an arms length away and finally decided I better lend her a hand. As soon as I put my face up to the window Eden lost it. She just broke down in tears and sobs. She was so worried about her brothers safety and her own but she was trying to be so brave for him, just thinking about it makes me want to cry. She is my little rescuer just like her daddy.