A Day at the Zoo

Eric and I finished out the year with the kids by going to the zoo! The zoo was running a deal where if you paid for one adult then one child got in free. Worked out great for us so we took them up on the offer. Today we entered at the West gate rather than the North gate like we usually do. I only mention this because we saw some things that we have never looked at! Usually we start with the attractions by the North gate but are tuckered out by the time we hit the stuff by the West gate and boycott it so we can go home. Not today! All those things that we usually miss we looked at today. Mostly it was some birds and ducks but Eric and I found it interesting so there you go.

Once we made it through that area we stopped for lunch at the cafeteria. It was really chilly today so there were very few people at the zoo which was wonderful. None of the exhibits were crowded which is always a plus. On the down side it did start to rain right after lunch and so we were pretty wet by the time we finished. Although I guess we should expect that living in the PNW. At lunch we asked everyone what one thing they HAD to see before we left.



Andrew picked the snakes as his must see exhibit. I am not super fond of the reptile house but at least it was warm and dry so off we went. The kids really enjoyed looking at all the exhibits in the house. And at the end of the snake area there was a touch exhibit.


The kids were all incredibly brave touching the snake. I declined. But I was glad to see that the kids were ok with it.

Even Lucy was braver than me!

After the nocturnal house it was a time to see the gorillas (my pick). I didn't get any pictures of the gorilla baby this trip but it was being super cute and wrestling with one of the other gorillas. The big gorilla would beat its chest and tackle the baby. It reminded me a lot of Eric wrestling with the kids. Lots of fake aggression and tackling.

A quick walk to see the elephants (Zane's pick) and then the grizzly bears (Eric's pick) rounded out the animal watching.

We spent a lot of time watching the otters. They are always such a hit. Cute little buggers they are! (plus it was covered!)

We even got to see the super elusive gray wolf they claim lives at the park. In all the years we have been coming Eric and I have never seen the darn thing. Today we not only saw it but got to take some photos. It was very cool.

The end of the day we went on a carousel ride. I don't know exactly why but it was a free carousel ride day today. We rode it twice! A very nice treat because it is not something we would normally spend money to do!

Spending time with my family. I can't think of a nicer way to end 2009!