Gotcha Day at the Zoo

Five years ago today – I got the phone call that forever changed my life, and MADE ME A DAD! Ever since, we’ve been celebrating “Gotcha Day” on April 1st – the day we GOT LUKE!

So this year, we asked Luke what he would like to do, and he chose The Denver Zoo! It ended up being a treat because his next store neighbor friend was able to come along for the fun!

Up close and personal with a lion!

I got up close to a cheetah... with a zoom lens anyway!

But Luke loves gorillas, so we had to head over the Primate Area!

Beware of Dangerous Primates on the loose!

I spotted two primates lurking right at the entrance to the area! They must have escaped from their cages! Oh No!

In case you are wondering what a “Primate” is… here are some sample:

Primate Samples!

First, some little primates…

Reminds me of a relative... not saying which!

And even littler ones..

Looks like an Ant Eater to me!

But finally, we got to the GORILLAS!

The Boys and the Gorillas

Luke admiring the Gorillas

Luke’s favorite non-domestic animal (he loves dogs) is Gorillas! He loves to play with them, had a t-shirt, discovered Gorilla snacks at the grocery store, and I’ve screened a few old-time King Kong YouTube videos for him! And of course, Casa Bonita here in Denver has a kid-friendly Gorilla he loves!

Could he be eating Gorilla Snacks?

I’ve even cued up the Gorilla sceen in Old Dogs for him – pretty funny!

Luke even got within ONE FOOT of a Great Ape and lived to tell about it!

Hope that glass is thick!

But then came MY favorite part of the day… the Bears! (and I’m not referring to the lousy team from Chicago either.) I love bears! I am a Yosemite Bear Chaser, having been very close to them every year in Yosemite.

First, I spotted this beautiful Black Bear about to eat a tasty little twig and I wondered if he might be the same bear from my oft told joke about the “Christian Bear” (pastors all know the joke, so I won’t tell it here – if you don’t, ask in comments, and I’ll tell it there!) when what to my amazement…

The Famous Christian Bear!

He folded his massive paws, bowed his head and prayed! Why, this IS the famous Christian Bear!

Then, his buddy came out to join him, another massive black bear… don’t let the brown fur fool ya!

Here’s a good way to see just how BIG these guys are! Scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours!

Such amazing creatures! Though I much prefer to see them in the wild, it was fun to be able to see them up close and so active today!

I love bears! So I decided to see what the Bible has to say about bears…

Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool bent on folly.
Proverbs 17:12

It was a fun day – and of course, it’s so hard to believe we’ve had Luke for FIVE years! Time sure goes by FAST! That’s one of the reasons I started BeTheDadToday.com – to help ME and other dads make every day count as a dad. I’m actually recruiting a TEAM of dads to help me with the site, so the content on the Facebook Page and Twitter feed is going to be increasing.

If you are a Dad – let me encourage you to CHECK IT OUT!

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5 Comments:

  1. Looks like fun! Denver really has a great zoo and they have continued to make major improvements over the last several years (parking was a nightmare until that structure was built). After our kids came along, my folks have given us a zoo membership for Christmas each year and it’s one of our favorite gifts. We make plenty of use of it. We’ll have to try and get Luke and the Liebenow kids together there sometime.

  2. I love that you celebrate (and call it) Gotcha Day! We have been celebrating our Gotcha Day for the past 18 years with our daughter.

  3. I can’t believe it’s been 5 years as well. I have loved every minute of being Lukey’s Aunt. Looks like he had a lot of friend with his buddy. I, too, am a fan of the bears at Brookfield Zoo. They are a lot of fun to watch.

    I have one correction on your post. I think you were up close and personal with a cheetah not a tiger. I see spots, not stripes.

    Tell the Christian Bear Joke again. I cannot remember the whole thing.

    Love ya,
    Melissa

  4. Melissa – very good – I updated the pic to a Cheetah!

    The Christian Bear: One Sunday a preacher skipped church to go bear hunting… as he rounded a corner, he bumped right into a bear! He was so startled he fell backwards, dropped his gun and rolled down a steep hill! The bear was startled too, but quickly came to his senses and started to chase after the preacher looking VERY hungry and angry! As the preacher crashed into a rock at the bottom of the hill, he broke both his legs – and now gunless – he was helpless! Watching the bear pounce toward him cried out, “God, I’m so sorry I skipped church! Please make this bear a Christian Bear!”

    Suddenly, the bear skidded to a halt right at the preachers feet. Knelt down, folded his massive paws, bowed his huge head, and began to pray in a deep guttural voice…

    “Dear God, bless this food which I am about to eat.”

  5. So nice! The opportunity to make memories is so important. I’ll be passing that website onto my super busy husband.
    Adorable children by the way!

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