Sunday, October 19, 2008

The Zoo

Zoos are a big deal in our house. A BIG deal! I have lost count as to how many K has been to since we took him to his first zoo in Guatemala at 5 months old. I worked at the Como Zoo gift shop through H.S. and college so I guess my love for zoos started then. I got Mike hooked after we got married. K has no choice--he has to come along. :) Whenever we vacation a trip to the zoo is a must! In fact, we drove out to Niagara Falls two years ago and stopped at zoos along the way. We have a zoo membership to "our zoo" in WI that gets us in free or half-price at hundreds of zoos across the country. It's awesome! (We will definitely be getting a membership to the zoo in Tucson when our other membership expires!!
Our favorite zoo BY FAR is the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, NE! We went there with my brother, his wife and my parents a few summers ago. We were all impressed! The worst zoo we visited was somewhere in Montana. It was expensive and had like 10 animals. We were on vacation with my parents and sister and I was only allowed one zoo stop on the trip. Unfortunately, the zoo I chose was not good.
A tradition we started with K is to buy a PVC animal at the zoo gift shop after each zoo visit. K picks out his favorite animal from that zoo and adds to his collection at home. It's a fun way to remember our day!
So, yesterday we ventured out to our zoo here in Tucson--Reid Park Zoo. It is located in the big and beautiful Reid Park. The park has tons of playground equipment, ponds and walking trails. There is a train that you can ride around the pond. The zoo was so much fun! It isn't very big, but has a good variety of animals. There are lots of shaded walkways and a chance to view the animals pretty closely. We really enjoyed our 2 hour visit and will definitely be making many trips back.
I've posted a few pictures of our visits to zoos across the country (& Guatemala!). OH, I forgot to mention that there are two exhibits I always look for in a zoo--the prairie dogs and goats!! I'm pretty sure K has fed more goats than the average 3 yr old. :) I just love the prairie dogs and goats and am so disappointed when a zoo does not have them on display. They are just so cute!


Guatemala Zoo

Leopard in Guatemala

K's 1st bday--Milwaukee Zoo (2006)

Feeding the goats--Madison Zoo

K with the Lorikeet at Erie Zoo (2007)

Giraffe close-up at Erie Zoo

K and the sting ray

My prairie dogs


Feeding goats at the Great Plains Zoo in SD(2008)


K and the flamingos--Reid Park Zoo (2008)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your son is sooooo handsome!!!!!!!!Where in the Midwest are you from?

How hot is it there..its 32 here in ohio and im freezzing!!! BRRRRR

Leslie

Unknown said...

So fun to see pic's of you all. call sometime...terri zoodale

Melanie said...

Neat tradition!

I've been to the Como Zoo a few times w/ my bro and his family who live in the cities.

That zoo in Madison is pretty nice, especially for being a free zoo. I took the kids there a few years ago when Josh had a conference in Madison.