Zoo Days

The zoo train. We view the train more than we ride it.

This year is the year of the zoo.  At the beginning of the summer we decided to buy a zoo pass with my Sister-in-law Nikki.  I figured we live so close and Jonathan loves animals.  It has been one of the best investments of my life.  We seem to head up to see the Roar Agua (Polar Bear) at least once or sometimes twice a week.  Because we have a pass I don't feel like I have to stay long.  We go up and see a couple of animals, wear Jonathan out and head home.

Today Jonathan woke up grumpy so what did we do after we were ready for the day?  We headed up to the zoo.  We stopped by the monkeys, then down to the elephants, had to stop by the rhinos (this is when Jonathan snorts and snuffs), pass by the river otters (who we have only seen once), then to the seals/sea lions, a visit with the polar bear and then the grizzly bears.  After all of that it is really whatever we feel like.  Today we made our way over to the giraffes, then up to the tigers and over to the bird show.  (Jonathan has seen the bird show three times and loves it more every time we go.)  We stopped by the train on our way out and headed home with two very sleepy boys.  It is the perfect outing for a mom who doesn't have the energy to deal with a cranky pants all day long.

Michael and Jonathan waiting for the seals to come around.

The boys showing off their giraffe necks.

Jonathan watching the sleeping tiger.

The crocodile.  Please note the dead rat floating in the foreground.

A couple of fun stories from the zoo.

The first time Jonathan was able to get up close to see the polar bear he was more than impressed.  The polar bear loves to swims and will swim right up to the glass and push off.  He does this over and over.  Jonathan was up there with another little friend Cadence and as the bear came up out of the water they both screamed and broke into tears.  Later on Cadence started yelling for cousin Chloe to back away from the tiger.  We all got a pretty big kick out of these reactions.

Here comes the roar agua. That is Jonathan up by the glass... he loves the polar bear now.

The same day as the polar bear interaction was the grizzly bear encounter.  We were watching the three grizzly bears playing in the water when the mom next to us threatened to throw her toddler into the bear exhibit and the bears would eat his brains if he didn't listen to her.  Jonathan looked over at her and said, "No, No, No!" while shaking his fingers at her.  She didn't hear him so he tapped her on the shoulder to tell her again.  I apologized for the tap and quickly walked away... even though Jonathan was clearly in the right.

We love the zoo!!!