elephants | arts + crafts with the guenin family

Way back in November, the Guenin family won the coolest gift package ever at the St. Chris Auction... they got (1) a membership to the zoo, (2) an opportunity to have a private painting session with an elephant and (3) the services of yours truly to document their outing. It took us until August to get it organized, but I joined Deb and Paul- and their three grandkids- for a day of arts and crafts with the elephants!






Then, we headed back for some quality time with one of the adult elephants, Tombi. She is 44 years old. I'd say she doesn't look a day over 35.




You know how you have photos of your kids on the refrigerator? These are the on the elephant refrigerator in the trainer's office. Love it. Not real sure about the squirrel...


The colors the grandkids picked... and off to paint we go!


Tombi greeted us before she got to work.






The final product.


Finally, on the way out, we saw Zahara (the youngest elephant- weighing in at about 2,000 pounds) roaming the halls.

P.S. Thank you to my dear friend, Matt Holley, for making all of the magic happen. xoxo.