This past weekend we had a very full house, with two of the kid's cousins coming to spend the weekend with us. We decided to take them to the Zoo on Saturday, since we still hadn't been to see the new lion exhibit, and couldn't think of a better place for them to burn off some energy!
We wound our way through the zoo, heading towards the new Africa area. On our way, we stopped and looked at the tigers:
The bats, which I think are really super cute in a sort of freaky way. I showed the boys how to tell which ones were males (which is really quite obvious) and they got lots of giggles out of that!
We saw these cute little Meerkats hanging about, looking like they wished something exciting would happen to them:
We checked out the zebras, this guy must have been worn out from a long day of being watched:
Our last stop before Africa was the hippo's, who were taking a rest. The tiny tail on such a huge body really cracks me up:
The boys had a bonding moment and then it was off to Africa!
There is this cool tree as you enter the new area that I made everyone pose in front of:
They have a little drum circle set up in the hut behind the tree - the kids (and Matthew) had a great time banging on them:
We got sidetracked again on our way to the lions (I started to wonder if we would ever get to them!) by these statues that practically screamed "CLIMB ON ME" to the kids:
Once they saw Riley's pose, Killian and Sophia also had to be "eaten" by the lion:
And wouldn't you know it...by the time we finally got to the lions area they were nowhere to be seen. We were so bummed! We wandered through the rest of the area, checking out a napping cheetah and these really cool African dogs - I though their coloring was so pretty:
We entered this really warm room, and the kids found a heat sensor camera and screen installed on the wall. That's me on the left, you can see my cold camera, Riley in front of me, Killian to my right, and on the far right is my very *hot* husband. In more ways that one ;)
On our way out we decided to swing by the lion area again, and fate smiled on us! The lion and lioness were outside sitting around, looking very majestic:
They were so beautiful, and I was really happy to have been able to catch a glimpse of them. The whole Africa area had been really crowded, and we were all feeling a little overwhelmed towards the end. We decided to head over to the lawn and take a break. You can tell Matthew and I are the old fogies of the group - we collapsed on a bench while the kids ran around the lawn....I do not understand where they get all that energy!
Rowan stopped to contemplate her next move:
After a short rest, we checked out the rest of the animals on the way to the train station. The kids were SO excited about this, and had been anxiously waiting since we had first walked into the zoo. I am glad that we saved it for last though, it was a good time to start winding down.
Rowan enjoying the ride:
After almost 3 hours, we gathered up our hungry and tired crew and headed home. It was such a fun day, I am so glad that the weather cooperated and that the kids had a good time. We are so lucky to live close enough to the zoo to go whenever to mood strikes us!
We wound our way through the zoo, heading towards the new Africa area. On our way, we stopped and looked at the tigers:
The bats, which I think are really super cute in a sort of freaky way. I showed the boys how to tell which ones were males (which is really quite obvious) and they got lots of giggles out of that!
We saw these cute little Meerkats hanging about, looking like they wished something exciting would happen to them:
We checked out the zebras, this guy must have been worn out from a long day of being watched:
Our last stop before Africa was the hippo's, who were taking a rest. The tiny tail on such a huge body really cracks me up:
The boys had a bonding moment and then it was off to Africa!
There is this cool tree as you enter the new area that I made everyone pose in front of:
They have a little drum circle set up in the hut behind the tree - the kids (and Matthew) had a great time banging on them:
We got sidetracked again on our way to the lions (I started to wonder if we would ever get to them!) by these statues that practically screamed "CLIMB ON ME" to the kids:
Once they saw Riley's pose, Killian and Sophia also had to be "eaten" by the lion:
And wouldn't you know it...by the time we finally got to the lions area they were nowhere to be seen. We were so bummed! We wandered through the rest of the area, checking out a napping cheetah and these really cool African dogs - I though their coloring was so pretty:
We entered this really warm room, and the kids found a heat sensor camera and screen installed on the wall. That's me on the left, you can see my cold camera, Riley in front of me, Killian to my right, and on the far right is my very *hot* husband. In more ways that one ;)
On our way out we decided to swing by the lion area again, and fate smiled on us! The lion and lioness were outside sitting around, looking very majestic:
They were so beautiful, and I was really happy to have been able to catch a glimpse of them. The whole Africa area had been really crowded, and we were all feeling a little overwhelmed towards the end. We decided to head over to the lawn and take a break. You can tell Matthew and I are the old fogies of the group - we collapsed on a bench while the kids ran around the lawn....I do not understand where they get all that energy!
Rowan stopped to contemplate her next move:
After a short rest, we checked out the rest of the animals on the way to the train station. The kids were SO excited about this, and had been anxiously waiting since we had first walked into the zoo. I am glad that we saved it for last though, it was a good time to start winding down.
Rowan enjoying the ride:
After almost 3 hours, we gathered up our hungry and tired crew and headed home. It was such a fun day, I am so glad that the weather cooperated and that the kids had a good time. We are so lucky to live close enough to the zoo to go whenever to mood strikes us!