A Trip to the Zoo

Although the cousins couldn't make it, we were all still super excited to spend the morning at the zoo. With Grandpa's membership we get in an hour before the public which is always nice; it feels like we have the place to ourselves.

With his trusty map Noah likes to serve as our guide.

All aboard for the slowest train in the country! Maybe it's a good thing we crawl along at a walking pace because this time we got to see the wolves running through the woods.

Africa is probably our favorite part of the zoo.

Unfortunately it's gotten way too expensive to feed the giraffes their dang little crackers but it's still fun to check them out, especially the little baby who has grown up quite a bit since we last saw him.

One of the highlights is hamming it up on each animal statue we come upon.

The big daddy lion!

And a gross snake they just let slither around freely. That thing could decide to attack, people!

The African savannah exhibit is absolutely amazing! This was the first time for us to see it and I was blown away with how cool everything looked! One can easily see how overly impressed Noah was as well. (sigh)

I loved this vulture - so cool!

These antelope put on quite a show for us.

The lions are separated from the rest of the African animals but the zoo has done it in such a way that you don't feel like the lion exhibit is in a different place; it just looks like the lions are perched on their rock, overlooking all the rest of the animals and, when they get hungry, they're going to start the hunt.

Learning about ostrich eggs.

For their African exhibit the zoo was able to acquire a pack of African painted dogs. Wow! Are they beautiful!

The cute little meerkats!

Noah and Xander both wanted to join their clan.

This little guy kept staring at me so of course I took lots of pictures of him.

Hangin' on some cheetah statues on our way to...

the cheetah run!!!

We love this event! There she goes!!

Savannah has her own ice cream shop at the zoo. Unfortunately we still have to pay.

And there he is, the squirrel that almost gave me a heart attack. As we were sitting, enjoying our ice cream, this little guy was hanging around the tables in the hopes someone would drop him a few crumbs. When that didn't happen he headed over to the trash cans. At one point my dad told me that the squirrel had gone into the trash can so I headed over there to see how he was going to get out because those things are deep. I quietly sauntered up and peeked inside. All I saw was a swish of the squirrel's tail and then out he was coming, straight towards me. With visions of this squirrel jumping onto my face, I screamed and quickly backed up. Thankfully "a squirrel eating my face" episode was avoided but I still had a momentary freak out...in front of everyone eating at the picnic tables.

Noah loves those polar bears!

Coolin' off even though it really wasn't hot.

Gorilla time!

I've been so disappointed the last few times we've been to this zoo because my favorites, the gorillas, just haven't been that active or they haven't had too many of them outside. Such a bummer!

I think Noah might be in a bit of trouble if he ran into one of these guys - they are a whole lot bigger than him!

Our last stop of the morning was at the reptile house. This lizard guy gave us a wave!

Even the cobra slithered over to say hi.

One of the best things about this zoo is getting to interact with various animals. While at the reptile house one of the zoo workers brought out a snake for the kids to hold. Not just touch...hold! All by themselves. And they all did it!

Noah got really close and personal with it.

And then outside they were able to pet this lizard thing. Pretty neat!

The Cincinnati Zoo is the best!