First Zoo Trip of the Summer

Summer vacation has begun and that means finding a lot more things to do during the day. A couple days ago we decided to visit the zoo. I'm not a fan of crowds so I didn't mind going when it was 93 degrees. Kind of like the day I took the kids to the zoo in the snow storm. Oh to what lengths I'll go to avoid searching a long time for a parking place. :)

Despite the official temperature, however, it really didn't feel very hot. The zoo is quite shady, there was a strong breeze, and they have tons of misting stations around the zoo to keep cool. It was a wonderful day. In fact, the first day ever at the zoo that we spent more time at the animals than at the playground! Our first stop was the dinosaurs. The zoo has a wonderful exhibit in which you walk through the woods and see incredibly realistic looking dinosaurs that move and make noise and even spit water at you on occasion. They have some attacking others, some in swamps, some with their babies hatching. It freaked Bella out and she spent the entire time either hiding behind or in the stroller. Benjamin, however, loved it. "Take a picture of me with this one!" was the favorite phrase of the day. It was really fun.





Bella's favorite place was the gift shop. I finally had to drag her out of there kicking and screaming.


We also got to see lots of other animals, including the warthogs which were next to the train which he rode back to the entrance. "Why doesn't anyone want to take a picture of the warthogs, mommy?" Benjamin wanted to know. They really are unappreciated, aren't they?

Us on the completely empty train:


We also stopped for lunch and while we ate, this guy came to visit:


He's apparently used to being fed because when he saw us eating, he had no fear. This peacock, the size of Benjamin, strutted over, squawking loudly, and jumped right onto the bench next to Benjamin, reaching out his beak for a bite of his sandwich. The kids freaked out. Bella jumped off the bench, overturning her container of strawberries, and Benjamin was frozen to his spot, screaming and crying. I yelled at Benjamin to give me his food and get off the bench and he scrambled off like his life depended on it. I tried to shoo the peacock away, but he's far too used to people to scare that easily. He only left us alone after I'd packed up all the food and made it very clear we weren't interested in sharing. This evening the kids named the dinosaurs as their favorite part of the zoo and the peacock as their least favorite. :)

In any case, it was a very nice day at the zoo and I'm so glad he have so many fun things to do around here. To finish up, just a cute picture of Christian. His new favorite thing is to pull himself up to the piano and bang around. It's so fun to watch.