Finding favorites

By GARY DEMUTH

Salina Journal

Twins Logan and Noah Erichsen love to get wet.

Between an inflatable water slide, slip and slide mat, water misters and a fire truck soaker set up at Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure, the boys, both 6, spent most of Saturday soaked and dripping.

"I like to play in water all day," Logan said with conviction. Noah said he couldn't decide what water activity he liked best, so he spent most of his time racing between the water slide and fire truck soaker.

For the twins' mother, Brenda, there has been no better way for her family to spend the July Fourth holiday than at the zoo.

"We come every Fourth," she said. "We're members here, and we love to come out and see all the animals and do all the activities."

Day for children

Saturday was Summer Splash day at Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure. The special day allowed children to spend their Independence Day choosing between kid-oriented activities at the park and zoo.

What made Summer Splash attractive to parents was that all children 12 and younger were admitted free to the zoo with a paid adult. The day was sponsored by the Salina Journal, Monarch Portraits and Saint Francis Community Services.

Throughout the day, Monarch Portraits offered kids and parents a Summer Splash souvenir photo for $5, and Saint Francis gave out special gifts to kids.

This was the second year rural firefighter Sheldon Abker staffed the fire truck soaker. A firefighter for Hedville District 3, Abker brought a grassline unit to the park, which he explained was a smaller fire truck primarily used for grass and field fires.

He hooked a hose to the unit and sprayed fine mists of water on squealing children running in a field nearby.

"(Doing) this gives kids a chance to know firefighters better and have fun in the water," said Abker, who volunteered during his day off. "I'll show them the truck gear, too, and they have fun with that."

Also offered during Summer Splash day were tram rides, chats with zookeepers and a giraffe feeding station.

Feeding giraffes

Kids coming to the giraffe station were offered small branches of elm leaves to feed the hungry animals. It's one of the first places brother and sister Seth and Megan Bielefeld go when they visit the zoo, said their mother, Salinan Tisha Bielefeld.

"Definitely, giraffes are their favorites," she said. "That's what they come out here for."

Megan, 11, said she likes giraffes because "they're tall and pretty and funny."

Seth, 7, said his hand was licked by a giraffe while feeding the animal an elm branch, but he didn't get grossed out.

"It was rough and purple," he said. "He only licked me a few times."

nReporter Gary Demuth can be reached at 822-1405 or by e-mail at gdemuth@salina.com.

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