A Trip to the Zoo

On a recent, gorgeously sunny day in June, Patrick and I spontaneously decided we should go to the zoo.  We'd been talking about becoming members of the zoo for a long time, and seeing as they had recently sent me a $10-off-your-membership coupon, it seemed there was no time like the present.  Claire was scheduled to have her weekly play date with her buddy James, so we invited him and his mommy along, too.  Ends up they were thinking the same thing.  After all, gorgeous sunny June days in Seattle do not happen very often.  And kids (and these parents) love the zoo.

It had been ages since we had been to the Woodland Park Zoo, and I was excited to see some of the new enclosures/exhibits.  We entered by the penguins, and they were putting on a show.  One of the little guys was zooming back and forth passed the underwater window, right in front.  I wheeled Claire right up so she could get a good view.  I don't think penguins are her thing.  She pointed to the bird, but she didn't get excited.  Sigh.  Oh well, there was much to see, so we moved on.

At the petting zoo, Claire became much more animated.  I had been looking forward to seeing Claire show off her animal sounds while at the zoo, because this would be the first time she was seeing the animals in real life.  She does a wicked elephant and lion sound.  But wouldn't you know, the animal she talked to was a cow.  I didn't even know she knew how to say "moo".  Goes to show she soaks words up whether or not she chooses to use them.  Here she is pointing at the cow:

We walked all around the zoo, pointing out the various animals to Claire, and of course making the appropriate sounds whenever we could.  She eventually showed off her elephant sound (though, of course, not when we were at the actual elephants) but sadly her cute little lion's roar never happened.

Her buddy James seemed to have a great time as well.

It didn't occur to me until about halfway through the zoo, when Claire started to lose it, that she might want a slightly higher vantage point.  Poor kiddo, I'm still a little behind the 8-ball about these things.  Next time, I promised I'll let her out more.  Here she is enjoying the meerkats, since she could actually see them! Angela and James enjoyed them, too. :)

We stopped by the Raptor House for a little break and figured we ought to take a family photo because we are not very good at remembering to do that.  Patrick is our resident photographer, and I am absolutely terrible about remembering to take pictures of him, too. 

Look at my daughter.  I have no idea why her leg is up, but she stayed like that for awhile, so it must have been comfy.

Then Claire took her hat off, and being the stellar mommy I am, I put it back on without looking, while talking, which meant I didn't pay much attention.  Hmmm.

I swear I can hear Claire thinking, "Mooooooooom".

Soon after we decided it had gotten plenty warm enough and we were in need of an ice cream to cool off a bit.  Patrick and I opted for the "deluxe" cone.  Ends up this means it is coated in a THICK layer of chocolate and the toppings of your choice.  I went for coconut.  It was tasty but WAY too much.  I got to this point and called it good.

Next time, I think I'll just go for the normal, non-deluxe cone.

Patrick took some awesome shots of the animals while we were there.  Here are a few of my faves,

I especially like this guy.  He lifted his head as if to say, "I see you there."

And here's Patrick's favorite.

Every time he sees this picture he grins.  I love it.

Patrick has become quite the photographer.  Seriously, many of his shots are frame-worthy.  We're gonna have to find some wall space to display his work.  We're gonna need more walls.

And here's the family photog himself.  Had to make sure he was included in the zoo photo shoot :)

So, a great time was had by all on our first family trip to the zoo.  I'm excited we bought memberships so that we can go back whenever we want.  Patrick is already planning his next shots, so he's excited, too.  Have you been to the zoo lately?