Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!

Today we decided to go to Hogle Zoo with Grandma Devereaux. Jacob had never been to the zoo before and he was excited to see all the animals. We wanted to go before school let out so the zoo wouldn't be crowded. We also wanted a day that wouldn't be too hot. The weather reports said that it should be mostly sunny with a slight chance of some scattered rain showers. Well, it seems that the rain showers only scattered their moisture right on top of us!

But I guess the good news is that the zoo definitely wasn't crowded! We also didn't get rained on the entire time. It was fine when we got there and it was getting sunny as we left. So I guess you could say it only rained while we were out looking at the animals.

At the entrance to the zoo there is a really cool black globe that rolls around on water. Jacob thought it was fascinating. Here is a picture of Jacob playing with it, as well as a picture I took just before we left.

We had a great time walking around looking at all the animals. Luckily Grandpa Devereaux keeps a huge umbrella in his car so we didn't get too wet.

We were very good about packing jackets, pants and blankets for the kids. So we were mostly able to stay dry and warm. Unfortunately it was mommy who completely forgot her jacket and had to walk around the zoo in a white shirt while it rained. Actually, Grandma Devereaux came to my rescue and we came up with this brilliant outfit. Note the lovely red tie hat completes the outfit.

Ephraim slept almost the entire time we were at the zoo. Jacob was able to get in and out of the stroller and look at whatever he wanted to, so that worked out pretty well. I definitely would not have taken him to the zoo without our stroller, even though we couldn't get it in our trunk and had to drive Grandpa and Grandma's car.

When it was raining really hard we spent our time inside looking at the animals. Jacob wasn't just impressed with the big animals, he thought some of the smaller animals were pretty cool too. He told me the same thing about nearly every animal he saw (including the elephants), and that was "Hold it mommy!". We thought it was pretty funny that he wanted to hold the elephants. Here is Jacob interacting with a feisty little bird.




Many of the animals were inside because of the rain so it was easy to see them. When we saw the monkeys Jacob turned into a bit of a monkey himself. He was hanging on the railing and making monkey noises. Maybe we should put him on display sometime!


He was also very excited to see the giraffes and get to be right up by their heads. He wanted to climb over the railing here too, but I talked him out of it. Isn't the baby giraffe cute?

As we started back to the car it stopped raining, and we got to see the elephants go out and play. Jacob thought the real elephants were pretty cool, but he didn't want to get close to the big elephant statue out front that makes funny noises. He thought it was a little too scary.










Before we left the zoo we had to ride the train. Jacob and I went on the train while Grandma waited with Ephraim. Of course the ride was too short for Jacob. When it was time to get off the train he kept saying "No! No!" and I had to practically pry him off the train. I guess he has to learn that all good things must come to an end sometime!


Before going home we decided that we had to stop and see the "This is the Place" monument since it is right across the street from the zoo. We didn't stay long because it was past nap time. While we were there Jacob had to tell us about the statues at the cemetery near our house because of the statues on the monument. It's pretty funny the things that he remembers.

We had a great time at the zoo regardless of the weather. Of course Jacob fell asleep in the car on the way home. It seems that all fun trips end with Jacob like this.