A traditional Canadian Boxing Day

Since we spent the holidays here with no family and no immediate friends and no snow, we weren't exactly sad to take down the Christmas decorations. The highlight for us was probably December 26. I was excited to finally involve my children in a genuine Canadian tradition and show them how I celebrated Boxing day as a child - by going to a safari park full of exotic animals.

We spent the day with some new friends from our ward checking out the animals, watching sea lion and dolphin shows, and getting dehydrated. This park has a special platform that overlooks the 'savannah'. Once you're up there they provide you with bananas to feed the giraffes who just walk right to the platform and stare at you eye-level. It was amazing.

Not until we were finished with the day did we realize that we couldn't get a taxi way out in Northeast Nonthaburi. The park was shutting down, but at the last minute we managed to talk our way on to the employee shuttle bus. They took us down to a main road where we could get a taxi.

Safari world's version of the Jungle Cruise. It's exactly like the one at Disneyland. Except the water smells a little funny. And some of it leaks into the boat. And there's no guide or narration. And the animatronics don't really move, they just heat up and shortcircuit.

So really the only thing that's similar is the stereotype of savage African cultures.

Meg peers out into the 'river' separating Stupendousland from Superterrificworld. I estimate it took us three and a half hours to get that stroller across this wooden plank bridge.

For another eighty baht Jake got to bottle-feed a this baby, fulfilling a nine-year dream to actually touch a tiger. We're also looking into gene-replacement therapy so that he can become a tiger, but unless we can get President Bush to stop vetoing stem cell research that option remains out of our price range. He may have to just settle for tiger-stripe tattoos.

Jake with his crew. We wanted to get a picture of Meg but these giraffe's have two-foot long black tongues that can rip the buttons off your shirt if they smell like bananas. Since she generally smells like some type of dessert we thought it best to maintain a safe distance.