Final Vacation Day

On the final day of our vacation, we stopped at the Tulsa Zoo. This was not originally in our plans, but since we were so close and the weather was so nice, we decided to do it. The Tulsa Zoo was having an "Ele-bration" to celebrate the elephants at their zoo. The first elephant that they purchased for the zoo in the 1950's is still living at the zoo today and doing well! Besides the elephants, our favorite part of this zoo was probably the penguin exhibit. These penguins were social--they would stand close to the glass and follow your finger as you moved it back and forth. We also watched a penguin collecting rocks to build a nest. Pretty neat!


After leaving the zoo, we began driving toward home. Close to Independence, we spotted a sign for the Little House on the Prairie exhibit. Since I have always loved the Little House books, we decided to stop. I am so glad we did! There was a school house, a post office, and a replica of the log cabin where the Ingalls family lived. I was amazed by how small the cabin was. Things sure have changed!


We headed on into Independence and visited the Riverside park. Several families had told us about this place, but it exceeded our expectations by far! First, their was a huge playground with tons of different equipment. I think playing here was Daniel's favorite part of the vacation!
Then, there was a miniature golf course that only cost a dollar per person. Daniel golfed for the first time!
The carousel was only 5 cents to ride. How can you beat that? There was also a small train that cost a quarter to ride. And there was a free zoo, that was much larger than we expected. We were at the park for over three hours, spent less than $5, and had tons of fun!
It was a great way to end our vacation. We are praising the Lord for such a fun-filled trip!