This Wednesday David didn't have work, so we took the kids and met up with Rachel & Rebecca around 4pm at the zoo.
That is definitely the time to go. It helps that it was PERFECT zoo weather. Cloudy, but bright, and like 22 degrees. The animals were lively (for zoo animals), and it wasn't actually busy at all. I could tell Dom missed his buddies his age to run around with, but we had the stroller so he still had fun taking it all in.
When Dave and I showed up the raptor show was just starting, so we watched that and Rachel & Rebecca arrived partway through. Dom was moderately amused until the owl came out. Then he was super excited, "AN OWWWWLLL!!!! GET ANOTHER OWL!! THE OWL TURNING HIS HEAD!! WHAT'S THE OWL'S NAME?" Emilia was excitedly pointing and "wow"-ing at everything.
From there we just wandered around, stopped at the black bears for our dinner and stayed until just before 7, when they closed. Over all we had a wonderful time and I'm so glad David was able to join us.
Dave brought his camera and his old zoom lens. It isn't a high quality lens, and quite a few years old, but with his Sony camera's image stabilization and focus tracking (or something like that...), the pictures turned out awesome. His goal was to make it feel like we weren't at a zoo. I think he did just that! Some of them look like National Geographic photos!
He did all the photo editing, so I'll just post them and take zero credit. There are a LOT of photos...
Next time I'll be quicker to volunteer for this position. I wonder if they have a reptile show where you can hold a big snake... I like snakes.
AN OWWWWLLLL!!!
In this picture, all I can hear is the owl in Harry Potter & the Philosopher's Stone movie when Hagrid & Harry first go into Diagon Alley. Not the sound you imagine of when you think of an owl. If you know what I mean, you know what I mean.
Dom has seen ostriches in his animal books, but never really connected what they were. We really introduced him to them on Tuesday and he was pretty intrigued. I, on the other hand, fear them. Something about them seems far too unnatural and unpredictable to me. Giant dinosaur birds that don't fly and run weird with their wings out.
Seriously. These colors!
Can't remember what these things are called, but Dom's descriptions pretty much summed it up. "Hey! A bunny! No... a goat! No... a pig! No... a... Mommy, what is it?"
We actually caught a glimpse of the lynx for once!
I think donkeys are one of the cutest animals. Their giant heads, little legs, and white rimmed eyes <3
On the trail after the kangaroo exhibit there was a big super save propane tank behind a fence. Dom goes, "Whoaaaa!! Mommy, what is it?!" Clearly thinking it was another animal exhibit. We had a good chuckle.
They have a new exhibit out past the flamingos. They were just building it last time we were there. This time we discovered it's for this alligator!
Big sticker on the fence for this guy that says, "I am Canadian!" Right beside it is the information sign showing that it is called an "American Elk". Haha!
After seeing the bison Dom thought every stump or big brown lump was a bison.
How cute are the deer?
I felt bad for all the flies on its face, but apparently the flies are good for them. Alrighty then!
I love the little tufts on his ears.
Dave was very excited to get a few good shots of one of the cougars! You often don't get to see these guys, nevermind get good views like these!
Who is this little lady? She's growing up so much
I love him. And his pasty white skin haha
LOOK WHO ELSE WE SAW!! The last three times we've been to the zoo Shadow had been hiding. This time she(?) was digging a big hole in the back.
Then lumbered a little closer
And took a nice bath right in front of us!
We were excited! The kids didn't seem to care.
Walking back past the hippo and it was out of the water and right up close to the fence!
That's the cheetah passed out up on the hill there.
I love this playful, loving sequence of photos
And enter daddy lion. Aslan or Simba or Mufasa or Leo or something else. I don't recall his name.
No comments:
Post a Comment