"Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom...be careful there Jim..."

Oh how I used to love that show...Marlin Perkins...in his blazer...Jim Fowler in his khakis joining Marlin only by film clip...



Marlin, describing the danger Jim was facing...always the gentle warning..."be careful Jim."



So began our Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom Day...



Elephants...



Orchids....





Butterflies...





and TIGERS! (oh my!)





Above: Bub meets up with some new friends outside the Elephant Camp...you may be able to see why many at The New Place think that Bub is a Thai boy...

Above: Daddy and Potato ride high on their elephant "Mae"...she certainly was fleet of foot!

Above: Potato all strapped in for the ride...this safety set up was like a carnival ride from the 50's...we spent more than half the ride going down, down, down some steep hills...the author had two "littles" and was struggling to stay in the seat herself...we were all wrapped around the bar in Potato's hand...PRAYING that it would hold!

Above: We enjoyed watching the elephants bathe...

Above: Magpie and The Bug enjoy a moment by the river side...can you believe that only 20 minutes before The Bug threw up her entire breakfast and just one hour past this photo Magpie followed suit? They caught some sort of stomach virus and at each stop of the day they vomited...FUN!

Above: This baby elephant had just sprayed us with water...

Above: Brownie absolutely LOVES elephants...she's been talking about this part of the trip for months...you cannot imagine her delight as she fed the elephant this banana!

Above: We stood for a long time feeding the elephants banana and sugar cane. They competed for our attention and our food. If they really wanted you to notice them they'd raise their trunk, put it right up to your face and then exhale on your strongly enough to blow your hair back!

Above: Love this picture! It shows how she is delighted from her head to her toes!

Above: The traveling gang in front of the elephant park...

Part of the thrill of N Thailand for Daddy has been the botanical gardens and the hundred of different orchids! Below are a few pictures of places he enjoyed solitude and nature!

Above: I was so thrilled with snapping this picture...and then I realized that the cat was more than just a little interested in us...actually...very interested in Potato who was standing next to me. The cat fixed it's eyes and then licked its mouth...the hair stood up on end...and then it POUNCED on the fence right in front of us...though I am usually the one who says "oh, that was not THAT dangerous"...I became very alarmed at this situation.

After returning to the retreat center the news had just made it back that a friend of the director here had been bitten in the enclosure with this tiger...in the thigh...54 stitches were required!

That knowledge made the next pictures just that much more distressing...if only we'd known!

Above: The Dutch Girl is pictured above...she is NOT laying by a RUG...

Above: Magpie had some money left over from her birthday, sent by her grandparents. She has agonized over how to spend this precious money. Today she decided that this was it...she wanted to pet a baby tiger.

The ones she was with were three months old. She said "Momma, I never dreamed that I'd be able to touch a real tiger!"

Above: Three babies make friends...through the fence...

Above: Magpie said "I have a REAL BABY tiger on my lap!" Such a thrill!

And that concludes this episode of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom...