Field Trip: The Zoo

Well, since we moved from the city 3 1/2 years ago, I have been a bit of a bad mom.  We have NOT been to the zoo!!!  It is about 2 1/2 hours away, so yes I have an excuse, but kids love the zoo.  Mini Cooper and Explorer had never been to a zoo-ever. The only one who could remember the zoo was Mustang.  I was embarrassed.  This past weekend, we finally went while visiting my family.

My goal for this zoo trip was to do all the hands-on activities that we could.  The zoo, itself, is free, but there were many other things we could pay to do.  We decided to go with the $10.00 arm band that allowed us entry into most of the extras so that the kids could enjoy the hands-on stuff.

First, we headed into the Children's Zoo.  It was awesome!  First, we checked out a show about animal training.

Trained rats (ewww)!

A trained Macaw-I loved this part!

Last up was a trained Armadillo. I didn't realize they could be trained.  He ran around in the big circle, too!

Then, off we went to the petting zoo.  Checking out a very BIG snake.

Guinea Pigs.

An owl.  He was quite cute!

Explorer wasn't so sure about the hedge hog!

Oh my goodness, this meerkat (that you COULDN'T touch) had the funniest look on his face.  He just sat, staring at everyone.

Over to the barn yard area...we found a bunch of roosters (kinda felt like we were at the neighbor's house).

And many goats that would let everyone touch them, brush them, and hug them.

They wouldn't eat rocks, though.

A few things weren't hands on, but we sure didn't want to miss seeing the baby elephant!

Next up was the Insectarium (I think that is what it was called!).  We are getting ready to start learning more about insects, so I thought this was a good place to focus.  Lots of neat things to see!

Do you see the praying mantis?

They had  a few cases of chrysalises.

And then, we went into the butterfly house.  

It was a beautiful place full of about 300 butterflies-that apparently don't photograph well!!  I could see them in person, but I have a hard time here in the picture.

The very best part (in my opinion) was when we went to pet the stingrays!!

They are so neat and soft to touch!  One of them got startled and splashed Charger.  

These (I think they were lemurs) were soo funny.  The one in the middle must have jumped all around that cage about 3 times in as many minutes.  Charger was rolling with laughter.

I attempted a photo of my monkeys with the zoo monkey, but no one looked at the camera :).

The train ride was a lot of fun!

Explorer was thrilled to be free from her stroller!

We finished with the girls' favorite part...a ride on the carousel! 

Even Daddy rode a long.

On the way out we visited the penguins.  We had SOOO much fun, but determined it would take at least 2 or 3 days to really see everything in the park.  The things we DID see were all seen in a rush.  We hope to get back there again soon and see some of the things that we missed.

I hope you are having a good summer and going on a few field trips yourself!  We are headed out on another Friday and we are very excited.

Thanks for stopping by and God Bless,

Lisa