The Zoo at the Zoo

Mark is awesome.  When he puts his mind to a task, it gets done.  This morning, he got up early, butchered seven chickens, and took us to the zoo. 

But the zoo was a zoo!  The worst days to go to the zoo are 1) the first sunny day after several rainy days 2) any day in Spring because of school field trips 3) right after a new display is installed and 4) Fridays.  The worst time to get to the zoo is right when they open because that is when the school buses get there.  All four of the worst case scenario criteria were met along with the opening time.  The parking lot was FULL and the zoo was expecting 2300 school students, plus all the people in their cars!  What were we thinking? We almost left, but since it was the last day of our membership, we persevered and went in.

 Why was it so crazy?  The new exhibit!  A touch pool full of sting rays!

The zoo staff were actually pretty organized and moved the crowd through the stingray exhibit quickly.

Lucky for us, we went to the zoo a few weeks ago and the novelty of the animals wasn't too extreme.  We went through the exhibits and were excited when the polar bears were play fighting with each other!

This is Fiona eating a Zoo-rito.  Instead of making sandwiches, I packed a jar of peanut butter, a bag of whole wheat tortillas, and a bunch of bananas.  When we were ready to eat, I slapped them together while sitting on a bench.  Tortillas are better than bread because they don't squish.  Peanut butter has staying power.  Bananas have potassium for muscles!  You just can't go wrong there!

Daniel was not a fan of the crowd and noise.  In the polar bear exhibit, he melted down and refused to get off the floor.  He did this without screaming or making any other noises though.  He just looked like the polar ice caps under the hole in the ozone layer.  After he got in the stroller he felt better.

This monkey looked so sad.  So wistful.  Like he wanted to be anywhere except where Shane could talk to him.

Daniel felt the same way.

Last time we went to the zoo, these guys were outside.  This time they were sitting on the window sill, looking at the trees outside the zoo.  *Sigh* Poor guys.

The clouded leopard always looks so much more wild than the tigers do.  It was a good day to see both!

We got to the elephants just in time for a talk from a zoo employee.  We learned that these elephants are older than Mark! Mark just had a birthday two days ago, but the elephants are a year older than he is!

Now Mark is on his way to Mount St. Helens to go camping with the boys this weekend.  And he did it all on just coffee.  I'm impressed!