Saturday, July 25, 2009

My new little friend

Can you see him? He's on the rock. I happened to be looking out the window at the wood pile and spotted him jumping around.
(if you missed him in this picture, he's on the end of the log)

This place is a ZOO... Part 2

I'm a little late posting this trip, only 6 weeks or so. This was our last family outing before our kiddos left for their father's house in AR. We thought this time we'd leave earlier for the zoo and arrive in time for them to open at 10AM. You know, get a decent parking spot, see the other half of the zoo...

Not quite. You see, the grounds open at 6am and the animals come out at 10am. We managed to park in one of the lots, but not nearly as close as last time. This time we drove past all the lots and found ourselves a nice spot in lot E (the last one). I'll spare you the sunscreen application pictures and just tell you that it took us 30 minutes just to get to where we left off last time. First order of business was, well, business, and here are the kiddos outside of the restrooms.We decided to look through the reptile house this time since there were no lines. Here are some pics of what we saw...

The American Alligator...The Anaconda... Tim did surprisingly well with these snakes. As long as they were behind Plexiglas, he was OK (it was the one the guy was holding to show the kids that freaked him out). This big guy just coiled up under the water and only poked his nose out every once in a while to get a fresh breath.Other four-legged reptiles... one is a Cuban Crocodile, but I'm not sure which.This isn't a giant floating mossy rock, this is a snapping turtle with his nose above water and his mouth gaping open waiting for his next unsuspecting meal to investigate the new cave. The biggest tortoise I've ever seen.Once out of the reptile house, we opted for the elephants. They were cleaning and refilling their water feature, but I can tell you that the new "Elephant Trails" that they are building is huge. It will have 4 different terrains, and it can support a small family of elephants. They'll be able to roam throughout this new exhibit so that the scientists can study their behavior more accurately.Our customary duck picture (with duckling)...And who doesn't love the pandas? This guy was a photo op just waiting to happen. He even came out and plopped on the rock for all to admire.The last place we got to see was the bird house. We didn't have time to go inside, but we did see all of the birds around the outside.I never knew that flamingos were so LOUD! It sounded like an unruly cocktail party.And finally the kiddos by the giant stone bird. Dougie was a little pouty, but that's OK.