Zoo Day

Katie's class went to the zoo last week and we tagged along for the fun. I didn't volunteer as I had Rachel & Liam to keep track of. We spent the morning with Katie's group, ate lunch together and then split off on our own while they went to their programming. It was a bit chaotic with Liam chasing after the big girls and then wandering when something caught his eye, but they were really well behaved. Liam loved the fish, butterflies and penguins...we had to go see the fish twice and the butterflies took a LONG time. We could have spent all day watching the penguins but the time limit of 15min kept us moving.

 The start of the day. We didn't have time to see the penguins as a group as the line was over an hour long and we only had about an hour before we had to meet for lunch.

 Watching the Giraffe. It was a bit disappointing as many of the animals were not in their displays, but the kids really made the most of it.

 Nap time for the gorillas...not sure how comfy this is?

 Huh? Katie's not sure its comfy either.

My little photogs - Sydney was taking photos on her Mom's iPhone so Katie, and therefore Liam, wanted to take photos with my camera. This is a hard thing for me to let them do as it is MY camera, and I am protective of it, but I relented and they took lots of shots of the flamingos. All in all it was successful and although I won't be handing over my camera on a regular basis it was great to see their enthusiasm for something I love, and their pride in their accomplishments. I was proud of them too!

 One of Katie's photos, including a peacock, she was proud she captured him too.

 Liam used the tree to frame up his shot of the flamingos and peacock

 Mr. Peacock

 Rachel self soothing when she should be napping, she was really content despite missing her morning nap and wandering around the zoo during her afternoon nap time

 These little guys put on a bit of a show for us

 This isn't a great shot but this tiger prowled a round so we could really see him, which Liam enjoyed

 Loving the ducks and goose - funny how the domestic animals caught his attention more than the exotic ones sometimes

 Rachel too - she sat up straight like this for as long as she possibly could, she did not want to miss anything at all

 Liam was just enthralled by the butterfly exhibit and went back to check out the chrysallis display several times. We related it to "The Hungry Caterpillar" to help him understand what was happening.

 This butterfly had a damaged wing and spent it's time going from person to person, despite the signs telling it not to touch people! Liam was very respectful of not being allowed to touch the butterflies but it was hard for both of us to resist when a lady offered to put this butterfly in his hand. Reminds me of our visit to the butterfly farm with Katie in Costa Rica where we were allowed to touch and hold lots of butterflies.

 Back at the big fish display

 The penguins! We were not going to see the penguins but Rachel finally crashed on our way back to the gates and the line was only about 35 min long so we decided to get in line and let her sleep in the stroller. Liam waited very patiently in line and it was worth it!

These little guys were awesome and we were lucky enough to watch feeding time so they were super active for us. My only "complaint" would be that the display is raised so high that the only way the little people can see when the penguins are on the rocks is to lift them up, so I had a child on each hip making picture taking nearly impossible, and the whole thing very tiring.

 The penguins really caught Rachel's attention, they are able to get so close to them

 Liam talked about the penguins in the car until he passed out, it was the highlight of the day

One more pose on our way out. Can't wait to take Katie back to see the penguins too!