Liam & The Roo

I know, I know...I can't just post a picture of Liam post-kangaroo fight and then disappear from the blogging world for weeks. Sorry! So first to update:

Liam's scratches were not too deep, and his face has healed well
That's right, roos. Don't mess with me.
I'm one tough little guy!

And now for the back story:

I've posted quite a few times about Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. We have an annual pass and now go at least once a month to visit the animals. The children love it, and it's great for me too because they run around so much that a good nap is pretty much guaranteed afterward.

Just as an aside, the girl in the pictures with the children is not some random stranger but our nanny-in-training. She is from Thailand and goes by 'Apple'. We signed up to be a practice family for a local nanny agency, so for 2-3 days each week for 7 weeks she has been helping out with the children (for free!) and on the other days she attends classes on childcare and child development.

Anyway, we headed out to Lone Pine and had a wonderful few hours of seeing all the animals. We watched the sheep dog show and then stayed for the sheep shearing. We saw tons of koalas. We fed the lorikeets....

And then we headed over to feed the kangaroos just like we've done the last 10 times we've been to Lone Pine. These are the same kangaroos who are so docile and well-fed that sometimes they don't even bother to get up from their lounging when you put the food right under their noses and instead just offer a belly to rub just like a pet dog.

These two huge roos were sweet as can be

Then along came this little guy...
seeming all sweet and innocent...

My best guess is that it got spooked, not by Liam but by the other animals lurking around us --
a duck, a pigeon and a very pushy bush turkey (like the one in the background). Because about one second after I took this photo, the kangaroo swiped at Liam's face with both front paws and made a hissing sound like a cat.

Liam cried briefly and then wanted to get back down and pat the other roos. Julia wanted to leave immediately, although later she said, "Maybe he was trying to give Liam a cuddle." Yeah, we can settle on that. Cute cuddly kangaroo wasn't trying to hurt Liam (all hissing aside). He just went in for a hug and got his claws caught in Liam's cheek!