The "New" Zoo

On Wednesday the Denver Zoo had their last free day for this year and I decided we needed to go. (FYI- If you live in Colorado, there are several free admissions days for the zoo, museum, and botanic gardens all year...awesome opportunities.) Because this isn't "our" zoo, I had to tell Logan it was a "new" zoo so he'd understand this was more exciting than usual, and he was very excited. We know "our" zoo inside and out because we have a membership; it's still fun every time we go, but it's not quite as much an adventure. That morning, I almost disappointed Logan and backed out of going. My friend that was going to come with us couldn't make it and I was a little nervous to drive to Denver by myself. BUT we were already in the car and I thought I'd be brave. I'm so glad we went! The parking was insane when I drove in, and I had to park a pretty good distance from the main entrance, but the zoo is so big that it really didn't feel crowded despite the thousands of people roaming around.

This was my attempt to get the kids to look at me...they weren't very interested.

I really enjoyed seeing different animals and exhibits, so I took pictures of a few that fascinated me (that we don't have at "our" zoo). This was a king cobra. It was as big around as my calf muscle...at least.

This was a really creepy looking viper; doesn't its head look scary? It's widest area was at least as big around as my thigh.

The same building that held the creepy snakes had Komodo dragons, crocodiles, and BIG fish. I think the kids would have stayed in that building for hours. I literally had to peel Annie away from each fish tank; they were her favorite thing. We're thinking a trip to the Denver Aquarium is on the horizon...

Anyway, in this picture they are looking at a Komodo dragon (which we do have at "our" zoo, but the kids were enthralled anyway) and I think Annie was getting a little nervous about all the kids around her. She walked up to Logan, put her arm around him, and laid her head on his shoulder! It was unbelievably sweet! I only wish I'd thought to take the picture before she looked up again.

Sea lions...this was a cool exhibit with a below-ground area that you could watch them swimming in their pool. The lack of smiling is only because the kids weren't at all interested in ME.

MY favorite: the camels. I have this vague memory of seeing a camel at a zoo when I was a little girl, and it fascinated me. It also left an impression on me because every time I see one I just want to stare.

Buffalo

One UGLY warthog! The kids around us were talking about "The Lion King" and it occurred to me that my kids have never seen that movie...I'm thinking that'll be a good one to borrow from the library.

There were two swans and they were so pretty! I couldn't seem to get Logan to look at me at the same time the swan had its head up.


Logan was very excited to find the rhinocerous, but hardly looked at it when we did find it. Funny kid.
After four hours, we saw almost everything and I was pooped from pushing that double-stroller. I pretty much didn't sit down the entire day. I walked VERY SLOWLY back to our far-away parking spot and it felt so good to get in the car! We really had a lot of fun, and I'm determined we have to do it again WITH Jim.