Zoo Day

Hmm, where should we go first?
It's not easy to get 11 kids to all smile and look at the camera at the same time. I love their expressions in these pictures (you might have to open them in a new window to appreciate them the way I do). Near the entrance:

Climbing on the Cobra outside the reptile house...which reminded me of a Challenge they do on Survivor... get everyone's feet on very small area, and balance there...



Anyway... we had a fun day at the zoo this week... Election Day was a holiday for the kids and so we packed them up and headed down to the zoo. This was Andrew's first real zoo experience, so that was fun. I am unashamed to admit I had him on a leash while at the zoo (see above pictures). The leash was a great arrangement, because it gave him freedom, and the feeling of being in control, while really, I was in control the whole time. It would be hard to narrow down what Andrew's favorite part was, because he loves all zoo animals (and we were surprised to find that we actually know most of the zoo animal signs too). The first thing we did was go into the aquarium. Andrew loved the fish, and at one point, he was staring into a tank at a really big fish,and that big fish stopped swimming and stared back at Andrew. I wish I had a picture of it, it was so funny.

We also got to see the elephants. We realized that one of them, Mac, was born around the same time as Andrew, and I remember two years ago going to the zoo when Mac's mother was large with child, and feeling a strange kinship with her, as I was also large with child. The elephants put on a show for us. It was fun, they were running around, and eating and getting very close to us. I again felt strangely connected to this mother elephant when she chased down Mac and made loud elephant noises at him, like she was putting him in time out. It appears even elephants go through the terrible twos.

We saw koalas, giraffes, zebras, monkeys, sea lions, parrots, lions, tigers, and bears (oh my).

We also went through a butterfly garden and it was kind of fun to see so many caterpillars in one place. You might not be able to see in this picture, but the girls were impressed at the 8 or 9 caterpillars on that one little branch sticking out.

No zoo day is complete without riding on the Carousel. Aubrey rode the dolphin and Andrew rode the Tiger. They both had a great time. We had a picnic lunch there and then went home. And barring a little drama from the five- and six-year old girls, the day was a success. We'll go back to the zoo anytime. It was fun.