Day at the Zoo

I have been a real slacker lately and haven't posted in a while, though I have had plenty to post about. On Labor Day (that was, oh, two Mondays ago) Kevin's mom thought that it would be fun if we all went to Hogle Zoo as a family. While we did have a lot of fun, I do want to make one suggestion: if you don't like crowds, don't go to the zoo on Labor Day. If you do, then by all means... who wants to be able to get up close enough to see the animals anyway?

No, really we had a great time and Abi has never been before, so it was fun to show her all the animals and everything. The weather was also really nice, which I was glad for. I was worried we'd have to be out in the heat all day with the babies, but it was nice an cool while it was still sunny.

Most everyone's been to a zoo at one time or another, so everyone knows how they operate. Having said that, I won't give a play-by-play and let the pictures speak for themselves.

Abi and Savannah in their cool shades (not that they kept them on or anything)

Here's a sampling of the animals we saw:

Rhinos


Giraffes


Tigers


Lots of birds (this one's called a spoonbill)


Some house cat sniffing a piece of meat (just kidding, this was some desert cat that I can't remember the name of, but isn't it cute and fluffy?)


And of course the main attraction this year, Zuri the baby elephant...


and Zuri's mommy...


and some other elephant. (Kevin thought this picture was awesome because he got her with her ears open. All the elephants at Hogle Zoo are female by the way. Did you know that?)

Abi had lots of fun looking at the animals, even though she sort of looks clueless in most of the pictures. It's a lot to take in for a one-year-old.

Of course, if you've been to the zoo and haven't stood up next to one of these with your arms spread-eagle, well, you just haven't had the full experience.



Then there's the carousel ride.

Waiting in line with Uncle Jon and cousin Savannah

Abi on her animal. We picked the polar bear.

Around...

and around.

Savannah fell asleep in line and slept the whole ride.

And then the train ride. This time, Abi fell asleep and we woke her up right as we got on board. I'm not so sure if she was happy about that.

Then, of course, we had to visit the gift shop to get Abi a souvenir.

Cool chicks!

Abi's very favorite things were all the stuffed animals...

Every one the she got her hands on she gave a kiss.

We ended up taking home that purple hat on her head, a giraffe magnet and a red panda stuffed animal toy, not this cute penguin.

I haven't personally been to the zoo in a handful of years so it was fun for me to go back and see all of the changes they have made so far. They are planning some new exhibits, so it will be exciting to see those as well.