The Zoo

I have probably mentioned this before, but my parents gave me a Zoo Membership for my birthday which means we can go to the zoo free of charge any time for a whole year.  It also includes free trips to aquariums and half off at certain museums...a pretty awesome deal!  We went for our second trip to the zoo today and we just love it.  I have been so impressed with these little people I take care of who can walk from one end of the zoo to the other on their own two feet!!  There are lots of strollers and wagons at the zoo, but Ingram School Kids love to walk!  Well, until they get tired, but the promise of ice cream usually keeps them moving!!  Last time we went we started on the Africa side and made our way slowly through those animals and had to rush through the North America side before everyone melted down.  Today we started on North America and saw the Polar Bear who has returned.  We were hoping for a little more excitement, but he just kept swimming the same lap over and over in his pool...looked like a little anxiety problem at a new home if you ask me.  Next summer he's supposed to get his friends back, so I hope he feels better before then.  Rachel, Ford, and Ruby were all excited to go to the Honey Bees today, too, because last time we went they hadn't located the queen yet.  Today we were able to see the Queen and we even saw her lay an egg!  The animals at the zoo are awesome:  everything from giraffes and zebras to otters and grizzly bears, but our favorite places today were the playground (mainly because we had it all to ourselves) and this outdoor kids play area.  The girls loved it because it had a kitchen where you could make mud pies or mud birthday cakes :)  Ford was getting tired, but he did like the stumps that he could play on like drums.  We had a little picnic in this area before checking on the polar bear one more time (still swimming) and then going home.  The kids loved being able to spend the day with their Papa before he starts doing his odd summer jobs next week.  It was truly our little mini-vacation.  The weather was perfect today, too, not too hot so we didn't have a bunch of complaining about being sweaty!  I'm sure we will go back to the zoo again soon and spend more time on the side with elephants and gorillas instead of tortoises and ocelots.  We decided today that every time we go back we'll just switch sides to give all of the animals equal attention :)