Goign to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo....

.... how about you, you, you?

On Saturday we made our first visit to the local zoo.  We had previously talked about visiting and purchasing a family membership, and the incredible weather on Saturday (high of 63!) made it THE day to do it. :)

The zoo has lovely landscaping and some beautiful architecture in the welcome building and a few others throughout the grounds.  It's not a HUGE zoo, but it's a great size for seeing the sights with a toddler and getting home by nap time. :)  We saw some penguins, tigers, rabbits, lions, snow leopards, flamingos, sloth bears, komodo dragons, sheep, goats, red pandas, and several kinds of birds.  There are little playground type stations spaced out around the campus for kids to take a break and play and benches for resting tired feet as needed (we didn't stop but saw plenty of other families using them :) ).  They have a little "frontier town" as well that is child sized and has 2 small houses with small furniture, a water pump, etc. for kids to play in.  Asa did try that out. :)  There is a new carousel and a train if you need a ride, too.

This was a penguin statue... I'm not sure why Matt zoomed in so much you can't tell it's a penguin. ;)

Again with the zoom (oops), but it's a lion from the new carousel

a real lion yawning

the tiger dog ;)

Asa looking at a barking deer

Trying out a saddle in frontier town

I like this bell!

Oh Mommy, this is so fun!

Ding, ding, ding!!

checking out an "old" cabin in frontier town

I think I will help Mommy with the laundry

There is one indoor exhibit that had the komodo dragon, some freshwater sting rays, and some other fish and frogs.  The zoo is currently hosting a jellyfish exhibit in that building as well, which we all enjoyed.  I didn't know some jellyfish could be sooooo tiny.  No matter their size, they were all incredibly graceful.

We even LEARNED something while we were at the zoo!  There was this crazy lemur looking thing that we found out lives in the SW United States!  Of course I cannot remember its name, but I never would have guessed it lives in the US (and Central and South America).  We laughed and wondered if it was introduced to the US kind of like the wild monkeys that live in the forests of north and central Florida (it's true! We've seen them!).

We really enjoyed our Saturday outing at the zoo and plan to return soon!