Zoo Day

You have to hit it just right, and we did.
I saw that the weather would hit 50 degrees and decided with a jacket and some excitement, we'd be warm.
I gave Mom her 30 minute warning and she jumped at the chance.
I pulled Aidan out of school.
"Why did you check me out", he asked, lugging his backpack full of animal books.
"It's a zoo day son".
Oh the excitement.

Of course the crowds were nearly non-existent, which makes the zoo even greater.
It was actually the zoos first day of summer hours so it was open early.

The boys ran from animal to animal and shouted for us to "come see this!" time and again.

We even got lucky and got to see the annual World of the Wild art exhibit.

This little guy was so much fun to watch. He is only a few months old and he swung from the tails of these 3 female monkeys, but would always go back to his Momma's arms and snuggle up.

This is inside the new exhibit: Nature's Nightmares!!!!

This exhibit had some awesome animals: Vulture, Bird-eating tarantula, leeches, and these gargantuan rats!

These are dung beetles. Aidan and I had just read about them a few days previous.

The roll up animal dung and feed it to their babies. Mmm boy!

Sorry for the picture, it was quite humid inside.

Vulture.

This picture does not do this tortoise justice. 

He is huge, and beautiful.

This little owl was so cute. He just sat and looked at us with his head cocked to one side and then the other. Mom kept wishing he'd straighten his head up. I think she was worried about his neck :)

We were able to watch the zoo staff feed the gray wolves their raw meat breakfast.

The smell in this place almost made me lose it.  I walked in and a lovely lady was nursing her baby on the bench with a smile on her face. I snapped this photo because that giraffes tongue made me laugh and cringe at the same time. As we left the said lady was eating her sandwich. Now THAT'S a strong stomach.

There are certain spots at the zoo where the children will automatically pose. This is one of them.

This leopard was awesome to watch. He looked so powerful.

Cue the yearly Monkey Measurements:

I think Mom still thinks she's growing. She's always surprised by her results, and takes it very seriously.

What's the zoo without a heart-racing moment.

As we walked into the gorilla exhibit Aidan led the way.

I think he caught Tino off guard and this large male gorilla head-butted the window with a grunt.

It scared Aidan. (And Mom shouted "How dare you!")

Aidan was a little leery to get close again.

We marveled at their muscles, large teeth, and human-like qualities.

After the zoo we picked Scotty up for lunch (something he misses out on often.)

Much to my dismay the pick was Chuck-a-Rama.

I went on about how it's a place for "the elderly" to eat.

Lots of soft foods that are easy on the dentures.

As we arrived it appears a rest home had come to Chuck-a-Rama for lunch.

All these sweet, white-haired folks headed out in a wheelchair brigade.

I held the door and Scott waited his turn. Mom couldn't hide her smile.

All-in-all it was a fantastic Zoo Day.

Thanks Bunnells for the gift that keeps on giving.