Taking the Animals to the Zoo

Yes, I called my children animals. You weren't at the zoo with us now were you.

It started in the parking lot. We paid $10 for the privilege of entering the lot and couldn't find a parking space!! We circled a whole lotta times before a space opened up in the far back corner. By the time we unloaded the kids, the stroller, and the hoveround and walked to the entrance, the first handicapped space closest to the door was open! Doh!

The first section of the zoo was a lovely shaded walk that housed desert animals. Except that most of the animals were AWOL. The hippo was in the house though. They had this very cool tank with windows so you could see the hippos underwater. Except an entire daycare was standing in front of it. They finally moved out and I told Kordell to run up there with Jade...quick! After a couple of "huh?" he finally moseyed in that direction, but was beat to the punch by another day care. (There were so many day care groups there! I think it must have been day care day.)

After that we decided to get a snack. $21 for 3 pretzels, some french fries, and a soda!! We sat under a tree at the only table open. A bird pooped on our map. Twice.

We decided to skip the reptile house (snakes...eww) and the monkey house and headed straight for the big cats, giraffes, and the like. It was uphill (both ways, lol). There was less shade over there and it was the middle of the day. We were by the zebras at the far end of the zoo when it happened. Jade had a complete meltdown. She had thought there was a playground to be had at the zoo and instead she had to hold her brother's hand and walk around. And we wouldn't even let her climb the fence or hang upside down on the guard rail! She'd had just about enough and she let us have it. We were about as far from our truck as we could possibly be. We had to finish the zoo, like it or not.

I fairly dragged Jade the rest of the way. We had a brief reprieve by the bear exhibit. They found the swimming polar bear rather fascinating. That's what they are all looking at in this picture:

We survived (barely). Afterwards we hit Sonic for a late lunch and found the kids a real park (with monkey bars and everything). Soft grass and wide open spaces. Much better.