Zoo Day!

I took off work yesterday so I could "chaperone" the grandkids' field trip to the Zoo.  Since they're actually still in daycare, the kids needed to have an adult with them, so I wasn't stuck with anyone else's kid(s).  The Spawn decided at the last minute to take the day off work so she could go, too. 

I'm certain there are pictures of me as a kid on this hippo outside the main gate! 

The new-ish penguin house is always a favorite. 

And it was cool to see divers in there cleaning the tunnel!

The kids were so excited to wave at them. 

I know there are pics of me as a kid in front of this fountain!

I just don't think we've ever gotten this angle before.  

The blue square in the background is sort of a built-in photo frame. 

Peacocks roam freely all over the place.

We had a giggle about the mini-excavator 'display'.

Since it was a cool overcast day, a lot of the animals were out roaming around. 

But the chimps were inside.  We got to see one of the babies! 

Some were playing with blankets, too.  Hilarious!

Grizzly Bear

Polar Bear

The kids also got tickets for the carousel.  It was so fun!

Sealion photobomb. 

One of the parents at the daycare actually works at the Zoo so there were a lot of perks.  

The carousel, for one.  The entire Buddy's pizza restaurant was reserved for us for lunch.

And face-painting!

The granddaughter saw one of her friends as a pirate, so she had to be one, too. 

The grandson is a rainbow tiger. 

The vultures were fighting. 

We went thru the amphibian house, too.  I didn't get any pics, because the grandson and I were too busy searching each enclosure for the resident critter.  He got really good at finding hidden snakes! 

Japanese Macaque

Warthogs artistically framed with purple irises. 

I don't know if there are any pics of me with this elephant, but I know there is of the Spawn, so I also had her pose next to it. 

Giraffes!

We could walk thru the "Australian" Exhibit and saw kangaroos just hanging out. 

There's a huge construction site that's blocked but these neat vinyl sheets.  There are openings so you can peek in and see what's going on and they also have signs along the fence kind of like on the animal exhibits, but with heavy machinery!   

The only problem with going to the zoo during the week is apparently none of the ice cream stands scattered throughout the park were open!  And then we found out (because we never thought about it) that most ice cream places out in town don't open until later!  We wanted ice cream and ended up going to ColdStone Creamery to get some.  

  

Last night was quite the treat since both kids only had really short naps, so they had the over-tired crazies all evening.  I don't think it took much for them to fall asleep once they stopped moving!