Thursday, July 26, 2012

Family Day at the Zoo

Wednesday Ray took a vacation day so that we could spend the day as a family. The few days we get to spend together we try to make the best of! It turned out to be a beautiful day so we truly lucked out! We started at the penguins and Elli loved them and the tiny fountain next to them. Then we let Elli lead the way! We didn't see a ton of animals out since it was so warm but we did see quite a few! It was super busy with a lot of campers and families - going in the summer is crazy! 

We got a great look at the bears since they were doing lots of swimming but they were a very popular stop! Most of the animals outside like the moose, mountain goats and tigers were hiding in the shade somewhere. We saw a glimpse of the tiger and the sloth bear. The gorillas were enjoying nap time when we came by and one of them was sleeping with their mouth open and tongue hanging out - pretty funny! Last time we went to the zoo Elli was scared of all the statues so it was fun to get cute photos of her this time around! She was being a goof with the gorillas and giving me funny poses! 



 Trying to reach the penguins
 Silly pose!

We packed a lunch and sat out in the field with tons of other families. So much better and cheaper than eating there! I tried to snap a few photos (I couldn't fit Madi in) of our little family on our blanket enjoying our lunch together in the sun! It was so precious, Elli even grabbed my hand at one point just to hold it - that's when I felt the need to get a photo! 



This photo was taken right before Elli fell and hit her side on the metal of the stroller and already has a huge bruise on her side!



Elli jumped when the hippo talked - it was so loud!

Woodland Park Zoo now lets visitors feed the elephants and giraffes. We talked about feeding the giraffes last time we were there but figured Elli was too little to really appreciate it. This time we chose to do it. We made sure we got in line at 2pm (feeding started at 2:30pm) to be sure we got in. We were probably the 4th group in line too! Elli did a great job waiting! About a group of 10 people go up at a time and are handed leaves to hold out for the giraffe to grab with their tongues. Feeding them was amazing! The Zookeeper stood there and talked to us all about them - I learned that giraffes are like cows and have 4 stomachs and they eat 12-15 hours a day!! They have dark colored tongues to keep from getting sunburned since they eat so much, their tongues are always out of their mouths! The smaller giraffe is Olivia and she was really shy but finally came over to our group. Apparently only about 1 in 300 people actually get to feed her because she is so shy! Such an amazing experience! If you live in the Seattle area I highly recommend paying to participate in this - it was truly unbelievable!

Isn't she just beautiful??






Using her foot to help hold her bottle.
Do these stripes make my butt look big?
Madi started getting hungry after the giraffes so we stopped in the little African village so I could sit and feed her and Elli checked out the village. She really loved playing the drum!

It was such a wonderful day as a family and so very much needed! We are already looking forward to our next zoo trip together! We even ended the day with some delish BurgerMaster on the way home! :)

1 comment:

  1. LOVE that close up pic of Madi when you're holding her! Beautiful!!!

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