Free Zoo Day

About a month ago my neighbor posted on her blog about taking her son to the zoo explaining that they have a free day the last Wednesday of December, January and February. We've had such a mild winter that I figured if the weather was good enough that I would take Leah at the end of February to check it out. How can you beat free admission to the zoo?

Well the morning we planned to go it was snowing at our house. But I know how the weather can be around here (in 30 minutes or so, the climate could be completely different), so I checked the weather reports and it said a storm was supposed to come, but not until in the afternoon and evening. By the time I got out of the shower, the snow at let up and it seemed to be getting better. So I decided to just make sure we were bundled up plenty and go for it. If it rained or snowed while we were there, it would just make it more of an adventure.

As it turned out, the weather was hardly a concern. The worst problem was the fierce wind while we were driving there and back. While we were actually at the zoo, the weather was as good as you could ask for a late February day. The sun was even shining most of the time. And since the zoo is tucked in next to the mountain, the wind wasn't even a problem.

I had called my parents the day before to let them know I was going in case they wanted to bring up my niece, Makynlee, and meet us there. And when my sister found out we were going, she decided to get off work early so she could come too. I didn't tell Leah they were coming in case they decided not to, so she was pretty surprised when they showed up while we were eating our lunch in one of the monkey buildings! It took her a minute to realize it was them. It was kind of funny because she just looked at them like "What are you doing here?" But then she was really happy they were there.

My sister brought up her wagon, so we put both girls in it and their Grandpa pulled them all over the zoo!

While we were watching these elephants, some geese flew into their water. Well the baby elephant decided she didn't want these unwelcome guests there. So she took off running towards the water, slipped on the mud and tumbled forward onto her face and trunk. It was like watching a toddler when they get going faster than their legs can carry them and they face-plant on the floor. It was so funny! But she just got up and kind of shook herself off and continued to run after the geese, trumpeting at them until they flew away. It was quite entertaining and we couldn't help laughing at the whole scene.

I'd like to say that Leah was saying "giraffe" while she was pointing at it. But the truth is that she was more concerned about eating her goldfish crackers. This kid loves to eat!

(By the way, my sister, Melyssa, made the girls the cute white beanies they are wearing. But Leah's is starting to get too small.)

We also enjoyed watching the gorillas. We saw some people looking in the window at the outside cage, so we went over to check it out. But we couldn't see anything except for a sheet that was covering something in the corner by the window. So my dad said jokingly, "Well there's nothing in there unless it's hiding under that sheet." But then I looked closer at the sheet and said, "It IS under the sheet!" Upon looking closer we could see just a corner of it's foot sticking out from under the sheet. Then we noticed that the sheet was moving just slightly when it breathed. Funny! Leah is really into hiding under blankets right not, so I thought this was a particularly funny behavior.

Then while we were inside, we were entertained by a younger gorilla who was teasing the older one. He would use a sheet to hit the older one and get him to charge at him. And then he would chase him all over the cage with a cardboard tube. You could tell that they young one was thoroughly enjoying this play session, but that the older one was definitely NOT amused.

Leah wanted to play on this gorilla when we got outside. So we used it as a photo op. But Kynnie was not too sure about climbing on the gorilla.

The girls also enjoyed the duck pond. Grandpa found a couple of quarters so they could feed the ducks. Neither of them could throw the pellets very far. Leah just kept feeding the same swan over and over again. But they had a great time. Leah still likes to talk about giving the ducks "shood" (she can't say her f's yet).

Before we left, we let the girls get out the last of their energy playing on the playground. They both would have played much longer if we had let them. But the clouds had covered the sky again and you could tell that the storm would soon be arriving. So we packed up and left.

I'm so glad Holly shared about free zoo day. I wouldn't have known about it otherwise and I am so glad we decided to go. Leah had a great time and still likes to talk about going to the zoo. And it was even better that some of our family was able to enjoy it with us! Plus it was FREE!!