My MOPS group decided to go to the zoo for a little mid-week outing and the kids were so excited. However, this is not your San Diego, goes-on-for-miles, zoo. As a mom, that makes me very happy but, as a child who runs everywhere, you can pretty much see the zoo in a few hours. Perfect timing, if you ask me. It was empty too which made for the perfect no-stress afternoon with some wonderful friends.
So, we began our day at the "outpost" where the kids got to push buttons and listen to lots of sounds. Fun for the kids, noise pollution for the moms. After a little of that (and after touching some very realistic animal skeletons), we lured them outside so they could play on all of the large, rock animals. This was especially exciting for my active little ones. Notice, Tyler is carrying a map of the zoo. It never left his fingers.
Here are some real animal friends. Very vibrant..
We meandered to the Howler Monkey exhibit. After searching the enclosure for anything that looked like a monkey, we finally found them having a girl's day out, picking fleas off of one another. It actually looked pretty relaxing. For a moment, I wished I was in the tree with them...
On to the rest of the exhibits. We came across their newest addition, the anteater. I have never seen one of these guys in real life. They're big. Really big. And their tail is the largest part of them, it seems. Quick fact about the anteater that I learned that day - they walk on their knuckles. Seems strange, almost like God kind of threw that in there to make them even more "different": like they weren't unique enough already. "No teeth, A foot-long tongue, Oh, and throw in the walk-on-knuckle thing...that oughtta stop people from ever doubting that I have creativity." God's definitely got a sense of humor.
Then there's the emu. Red eyes? Really? It's not freaky enough that they can run 30 miles an hour instead of fly and have long, flowing feathers all over their body, He's gotta give them dark, red eyes to stare at you with? To top it all off, this guy followed us all the way down the fence and almost jumped into the Wallaby habitat to join our little tour group. Be it known that this picture was taken with the zoom feature on my camera.
On to the camels. The only thing I can say (besides the fact I thought they were fake because they didn't move at all), is these animals are HUGE!! Don't mess with a camel!
The orange monkeys were a favorite.
The aviary had a very cool, very murky lake that all of the kids loved looking at. Yes, there were turtles in there but you couldn't see an inch past the surface so we kept them at a safe distance. Can't you tell? =)
I had to get a good waterfall shot.
Feeding time!
In this next picture, I want you to notice the fluffy feathers on the back of the rear turkey. He's angry. At me. I guess me and my camera got too close to the pair because I was warned with a very turkey-like gobble and fluffed-up feathers. Having owned a bird, I know they meant business. So glad there was a chain link fence between us. Apparently these two were pardoned by the President at Thanksgiving? I don't think I would have been as kind.
We ended our day with lunch and a little play time. These hollowed out eggs gave our kids a few minutes of fun...and mud.
Conveniently, there was a pretty large mud puddle in front of this particular egg (below) and the boys found it quickly. It's probably safe to say that all of our kids walked away with mud on at least one article of clothing at the day's end. All in all, we had lots of fun together!
Oh, we rode the train too! Short and sweet, but worth it for the smiles on our boy's faces.
So, we began our day at the "outpost" where the kids got to push buttons and listen to lots of sounds. Fun for the kids, noise pollution for the moms. After a little of that (and after touching some very realistic animal skeletons), we lured them outside so they could play on all of the large, rock animals. This was especially exciting for my active little ones. Notice, Tyler is carrying a map of the zoo. It never left his fingers.
Here are some real animal friends. Very vibrant..
We meandered to the Howler Monkey exhibit. After searching the enclosure for anything that looked like a monkey, we finally found them having a girl's day out, picking fleas off of one another. It actually looked pretty relaxing. For a moment, I wished I was in the tree with them...
On to the rest of the exhibits. We came across their newest addition, the anteater. I have never seen one of these guys in real life. They're big. Really big. And their tail is the largest part of them, it seems. Quick fact about the anteater that I learned that day - they walk on their knuckles. Seems strange, almost like God kind of threw that in there to make them even more "different": like they weren't unique enough already. "No teeth, A foot-long tongue, Oh, and throw in the walk-on-knuckle thing...that oughtta stop people from ever doubting that I have creativity." God's definitely got a sense of humor.
Then there's the emu. Red eyes? Really? It's not freaky enough that they can run 30 miles an hour instead of fly and have long, flowing feathers all over their body, He's gotta give them dark, red eyes to stare at you with? To top it all off, this guy followed us all the way down the fence and almost jumped into the Wallaby habitat to join our little tour group. Be it known that this picture was taken with the zoom feature on my camera.
On to the camels. The only thing I can say (besides the fact I thought they were fake because they didn't move at all), is these animals are HUGE!! Don't mess with a camel!
The orange monkeys were a favorite.
The aviary had a very cool, very murky lake that all of the kids loved looking at. Yes, there were turtles in there but you couldn't see an inch past the surface so we kept them at a safe distance. Can't you tell? =)
I had to get a good waterfall shot.
Feeding time!
In this next picture, I want you to notice the fluffy feathers on the back of the rear turkey. He's angry. At me. I guess me and my camera got too close to the pair because I was warned with a very turkey-like gobble and fluffed-up feathers. Having owned a bird, I know they meant business. So glad there was a chain link fence between us. Apparently these two were pardoned by the President at Thanksgiving? I don't think I would have been as kind.
We ended our day with lunch and a little play time. These hollowed out eggs gave our kids a few minutes of fun...and mud.
Conveniently, there was a pretty large mud puddle in front of this particular egg (below) and the boys found it quickly. It's probably safe to say that all of our kids walked away with mud on at least one article of clothing at the day's end. All in all, we had lots of fun together!
Oh, we rode the train too! Short and sweet, but worth it for the smiles on our boy's faces.
1 comment:
Thanks for sharing your trip to the zoo!! We have many fond memories of escaping life to see our kids and grandkids marvel at the animals God created. We have some neighbors who raise emus. They will puff up their chests and make a drumming sound....kind of errie when I am riding my bike past their place at dusk!!The turtle pond is pretty authentic. In the Florida swamps the water is gross but the turtles and alligators seem to love it. Somehow the clear northwest water is much more appealing to me. Nancy
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