Zoo Tales

***Warning, Warning:  Photo-palooza ahead!***

Last week we had the opportunity to accompany the second graders from Jack's school to the Zoo! It has been on the calendar since the beginning of the year & we planned to take the whole family & make a day of it. Various illness, fevers, runny noses & throwing-up earlier in the week threatened to cancel our plans, but everyone was healthy by Wednesday & so we were all good to go on Thursday! The day dawned clear & sunny, and by the time we reached the zoo shortly after 9:00 am, the temps were already close to 70! It was a great day, and to me the whole day felt like a little summer break preview! It will be here before we know it!

Here are the photos from our day at the zoo, I think you will be able to distinguish the animals from the kids in most pictures!

The girls on the big lion at the entrance to the zoo. Darcy is ready for the day with her shades!

Jack's class had a lecture for an hour when we first arrived so we toured around a bit & met up with him afterwards. 

Aren't koala's just adorable! 

Sophie posing for the camera!

Darcy & Drew in the double decker! It is great for trips like this!

One of the gorillas. He was totally unimpressed with all the people...guess he is used to it!

There is another gorilla in front of this row of children. I mainly took this picture to show how GREAT Darcy did. Last summer, she screamed as soon as we entered the gorilla viewing area & would NOT go anywhere near the glass. She was even talking about that in the car on the way to the zoo, that the gorillas scared her & she didn't go see them last time. This time was a completely different story, she was right up there with the rest of the kids! Maybe the same will be true when we go back to the dentist in 6 months...

The elephants were some of my favorites because they are pretty close. This little baby was just eating some grass or hay.

Then all of a sudden there was a noise & all of the elephants that had been on the other side of the enclosure started tooting their horns, puffed their ears out & came running over. It was quite a sight to see.

Drew said Ohhh!

Look at THAT! 

I was actually surprised by how much Drew really enjoyed seeing the animals. He would clap & point & make the cutest excited noises!

It cost $2 for a handful of lettuce to feed the giraffes...

with their long black tongues!

But Sophie was not afraid!

Lunchtime break!

Sophie petting a tortoise

Kids sunning on a rock

Striking a pose!

Girls showing me what the big alligator we just saw does!

Drew taking a little rest!

Carrousel!

Colorful tropical fish!

Drew giving a High Five!

What better way to end the trip than a nice, cool Icee!

Drew (very quickly!) mastered drinking from a straw!

Gimme that Daddy!

Just as we were finishing up with our icees & getting ready to leave there was a bit of a commotion...I saw a teacher walking a few steps ahead of a group of students, she stopped abruptly & put out both of her arms so her students could not advance...we got to view one particular animal a little more up close than normal that day...of course Sophie ran right over & we all watched as a big black snake was making his way across the pavement, obviously hoping to find a nice wooded exhibit where he could step out of the limelight--he was attracting quite a crowd! He slithered a few feet away from our table, found a suitable natural area & disappeared! How's that for a bit of irony at the zoo! It had actually occurred to me earlier in the day that the zoo would be an ideal home for lots of snakes, and I guess I was correct!

All in all it was a great day & we look forward to returning again soon!