I hope you liked my first two posts. I think I’m starting to get the hang of it. I would post more often but this Texas heat just knocks me out. Between eating, playing on the playground, meeting with visitors and napping; well there just aren’t enough hours in my day.

Then

Now

We just had one of our big fun events at In-Sync. A Watermelon Toss! Each cat gets one or more watermelons on a hot July day. I didn’t know what to do with mine my first year here because I had never seen a watermelon before. I kinda figured it out. First you have to guard it so no one (like Rafiki) can steal it. Then you can roll it around for a while like it’s a toy. Then you can bite it or crack it or simply smash it. All great fun! Then you get to eat it. Very cool stuff. I like my watermelons.

My Mom Vicky has been super busy lately but she still visits me a few times each day. She just built a new vet clinic right here on our grounds. I can’t see it from my enclosure because Tiger Country blocks my view, but I heard it is super; with a full operating room, x-ray facilities and indoor recovery enclosures with outdoor space too. Our vet, Dr. Emily, is really happy. Now, if any of the cats needs medical attention, they can get it right here. Less stress for the cat and the staff. They just had a grand opening to thank all the people who contributed generously and worked so hard to get the clinic built. AND it has rooms on the second floor for keepers and interns. Now, everybody is happy.

I promised to show you some more pictures of me because I have grown quite a bit. Did I mention that I am now bigger than Rafiki? And he is a few months older than me. Yea!!!

You might notice that I am practicing lots of different poses. I am working very hard on trying to look regal, you know, like a king. After all, I am the king of the jungle. Or so people tell me. I’m not sure I really know what a jungle is but it is cool to be king of something.

My next post will be all about my buddy Rafiki. We are really getting to know each other. He’s pretty cool too and he has a very interesting story.

Where we live in Mane Street, we are right in the middle of lots of other cats (and 2 lemurs????). We are right next to Tiger Country with 10 tigers including 5 adult males, 3 adult females (tigresses, right?) and two cubs (one male and one female). The cubs rock! I guess all cubs rock. Their names are Kali and Odin and they like to play a lot just like me. I am still learning about Tiger Country but I’ll pass on some stuff about them in another post.

I hope you like all the pictures in this post. Remember, you can always come out to In-Sync and take your own pictures too. Lots of visitors do. Hope to see you soon!

Your friend,

Lambert

I hope you liked my first post. I’m kinda new at this blog stuff so it may take me a while to get the hang of it. Learning to skateboard was a lot easier than this. Of course I skateboard, but that’s another story.

Today I’d like to tell you what my day is like at In-Sync. At 7:00 AM I get a wake-up call and someone brings me breakfast sandwiches at 7:30. Only kidding. I eat at night. And not sandwiches. I usually eat 2 lbs. of ground meat. Like 8 Quarter-Pounders but no lettuce, pickles onions or sesame seed bun.

During the day I can really do whatever makes me happy. I can play, sleep or simply relax and watch all the goings-on around me. I can spend time in my den, on my den, outside my den, on the playground or IN MY POOL! It’s really up to me.

I go on the playground everyday while my buddy Rafiki is in his own enclosure and he goes to the playground when I’m in my enclosure. My playground is really big. It has our cool pool with the fountains but also a big platform (kind of like a picnic table) that I can climb up on, crawl under or simply use it as a resting place to soak up some rays. It also has big truck tires suspended from a big pole that I love to play with. I can spin the tires around or chew on them or stick my handsome head through them. All great fun. I have lots of other toys too. Some people call toys enrichment. I just call them toys. Way easier. I’ll show you some pictures of me and my toys. Well, they’re not exactly just mine. Rafiki plays with them too when it is his turn on the playground. The other cool thing is that when I am on the playground, I can always go back inside my enclosure if it rains (or hails) or it gets too hot in the sun. There is a roof over each enclosure at In-Sync to protect us from stuff like that.

So when it is time for Rafiki to use the playground, I have to come into my enclosure because we can’t be on the playground together. I love my playground so I sometimes try to stay there longer than I’m supposed to. It drives the staff and volunteers crazy when I won’t move back to my enclosure. It’s fun watching them trying so hard to get me to move. They know that I am only playing hard to get and that I’ll eventually move but I still love the game I play with them.

Each morning, my Mom Vicky comes to visit. You can hear her all over in-Sync. She is very loud when she calls “Hey, little boy, little boy” to let me know she’s on her way. Then we spend a little family time together, discuss some things and then she goes back to work running this place.

Ok, enough for today. Next time I’ll share a bunch of pictures of me so you can see how big I’ve gotten. Oh, and don’t forget to come and visit me Thursday – Sunday from 11 – 6 during the summer. I love to have visitors.

Your friend,

Lambert

You may know me because I am famous for sleeping with a fresh blankie every night. My blankie story was reported in 19 languages around the world. I live at In-Sync in Wylie, TX.

Everybody who knows me likes me. Of course they do. I’m a lion cub. What’s not to like? Anyway, I thought I would occasionally share some stories about myself and my friends at In-Sync.

So let’s start with my story. I was born March 22, 2014 and came to live at In-Sync that June when I was just three months old. I was pretty small then. I only weighed about 32 pounds. I never lived with other lions and tigers or any other cats so I was a little bit afraid of my neighbors in nearby enclosures.

But lucky me! A lady with silver hair took personal care of me. She really spoiled me but I deserve to be spoiled so it was ok. Her name is Vicky and she tells everyone she is my Mom. I guess she must be because she really loves me and takes great care of me…every single day. In the beginning, she would feed me my bottle everyday and make sure I was happy and healthy all the time. I guess that’s what Moms do. She is really pretty cool.

So about that blankie story. It is all true. On my first night here, my Mom thought I might be more comfortable if I had a blankie to roll-up in. She found one for me and I rolled myself up in the blankie and I was super comfortable. So now I get a fresh blankie every day. If someone on the staff forgets to give me a fresh one, Vicky will give them a real talking-to. And nobody ever messes with Vicky. Besides being my Mom, she is the founder and president of  In-Sync. It’s way cool to have a Mom who can boss everyone around. I have a great life here. Thanks, Mom.

I do sometimes wonder why all the other cats in my neighborhood don’t have blankies. I guess I’m just special.

When I first came to In-Sync, I was put in an empty tiger enclosure with a big playground with a pool. Most lions don’t like water too much but I do. Playing in the water is fun. Especially on really hot summer days in Texas. I had a neighbor there named Rafiki. He is five months older than me. I’ll tell you more about him another time.

One day Vicky and her staff moved me and Rafiki to a lion enclosure named Mane Street. (Get it? “Mane” Street, lions have manes.) Anyway, Mane Street is cool BUT NO POOL. What’s the deal with that? I should know better than to worry. It wasn’t long before Vicky had some guys build us a nice pool in our playground. And it has three fountains too. I try to stop all the fountains with my front paws but I only have two front paws so the third fountain always soaks me. I’ll tell you more about the playgrounds at In-Sync another time.

I was really small when I arrived at In-Sync, but not any more. Thanks to the great food prepared by the staff and volunteers, I now weigh about 384 pounds. But I’m still cute, just bigger. Oh, and I grew a mane. It started out looking like a Mohawk but now it is much fuller and I really look like an adult lion.

The adult lions sing from time to time. It’s very loud and makes everything around vibrate. I tried to sing a few months ago but it came out as a whimper and no one joined in singing with me. I’m not sure adult lions have much tolerance for wimpy singing. I keep practicing and I’m much better at it now. Now some of the other lions join in. I hope they feel that I am a real part of the lion family at In-Sync. I think they do.

I also love visitors who come to see me. They take lots of pictures. Everyone is welcome to visit In-Sync from 11:00 – 6:00, Thursday through Sunday from May 1 through October 1 and then just on Saturday and Sunday during the winter. We have a cool website and Facebook page, so check us out. The details are on my Contact page.

Well, that’s enough about me for today. In the next post, I’ll tell you more cool stuff about In-Sync and about my neighbors and friends.

Your friend,

Lambert