Tuesday, January 21, 2014

It's a zoo around here!

Though this past weekend ended on a bad note, for me at least since I got sick, it started off wonderfully. The weather was beautiful and we wanted to get Canon out of the house so we decided to take him to the local zoo. In addition to walking paths which take you through numerous exhibits where you can feed, pet, and interact with the animals, it also has a train that you can ride to observe over 30 acres of animal preserve where the inhabitants roam pretty freely. While you can't pet those animals, it is a train so...

My parents got us season passes to the zoo which means we don't have to pay anything to visit and we can go as often as we want. Can you say "field trips"? I knew you could. I plan to take Canon at least once a month, maybe twice, so we will definitely get their money's worth out of this thing. Plus, the boy totally digs it - he actually woke up Sunday morning saying "I really just didn't want to leave that place!". As Craig's favorite person says "It's a win, win". You're welcome, honey.

The problem with going to this zoo is the sun vs shade ratio. Don't get me wrong - it is very pleasant to walk through and enjoy yourself. It is not, however, condusive for excellent pictures during the mid-day. Rest assured, Canon and I will be going earlier in the morning so as to work around these issues. This visit, however, proved disappointing in the photo-capturing department. Nonetheless, we all had a great time. So welcome to our zoo adventure!

There is a Budgiery Adventure Aviary...otherwise known as an enclosed area with a million and a half budgies {this particular type of bird}. You can purchase a popsicle stick with birdseed on it that you can then feed these birds. They are so used to people that they will perch on shoulders or go through your camera bag. Trust me on that one. Canon was not too sure about this place, but I think that next time we visit, we will go in without food and just sit on a bench and watch the birds until he gets used to them.




Although he was very unsure of the birds, he fell in love with the deer. To his credit, these were probably the most docile creatures at the entire zoo. He couldn't stop petting the fawn.


See what I mean? Check out that tiny hand in the background. Sweet boy.


I don't know what it is about giraffes, but Canon loves them. He found them on the map {that yellow piece of paper you see from a couple of pictures above}, and kept tabs on when we would see them. As soon as they came into view, he ran to them as if they were the holy grail of animals. This isn't the first time he has shown such a love for these creatures. The last zoo we visited he went gaga over them as well. I guess I can't blame him. I think they are beautiful and graceful looking. I am sure it helps that they are so gentle too.




After the giraffes, Canon fixated on another animal - the kangaroo. He was so excited to see them jump...until we finally got to them and found them all sleeping in the sun. Talk about a let-down.



We didn't see a single raccoon, except for this monster with the weird looking mouth.


This guy, though, stole my heart. He was so beautiful. Canon thought he was boring and was gone before I could take the first shot. Luckily Craig was able to watch him while I whispered sweet nothings to Mr. O  took pictures of this handsome fellow.




After seeing the owl, Canon was dying to ride the train so we headed that way. We got to see where the deer and the antelope play. Har har. Seriously, though, we saw rhinos, deer, antelope, gorillas, ostriches, camels, and much more. The train pulls tiny two-person cars so I spent most of the trip hopping Canon from one side of me to the other so that he would get a good look at the animals. Fun times.





All in all, it was one for the memory books. Canon can't wait until we go back so I'd say it was the perfect gift!






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