Cold Snap at the Zoo

Right after the New Year, we had a pretty bitter cold snap around here, which is why the snow stayed on the ground for so long.  There wasn’t as much snow in Seattle proper, though.  So right before school started back up, I decided to take the kids to the zoo.  It happened to be the day that the Webmaster started his new job, so I brought Auntie and her boyfriend JW along as backup.

It was a beautifully clear day… and 25 degrees outside.

Yes, that was frost on the ground behind Ane and Tad… on the African savanna.

I also took precautions with the baby.

Everyone was wearing extra layers that day.  There was ice around the edges of ponds, frost everywhere, and the zoo was very quiet.  Our district was having a teacher inservice day, but everyone else was going back to school that day.  So the place was definitely less crowded, which was great for the playground.

Tad loved climbing on the giant rope spiderweb…

… while Auntie and JW pretended that they were little kids.

Which was even funnier when Auntie nearly got herself stuck.

Moving on, Tad nearly took a header into the flamingo exhibit…

… but settled for “hatching eggs” with his sister.

We finally made our way to our friends, the penguins, where the kids imagined what it might be like to swim with them.

We finally headed to an indoor exhibit, and thawed out in the rainforest, where the birds were taking advantage of the quiet day to stop in close, camera-friendly spots.

Rerun couldn’t ride in the stroller inside the exhibit, so Auntie and I took turns carrying him.  He liked being able to get out and stretch.

The problem with him getting bigger and more mobile is that he’s no longer easily contented when we stop pushing the stroller to look at animals.

He wants to get out and MOVE.

As a special treat, I finally paid to let the kids ride the merry-go-round.

It was yet another thing that Rerun had to watch.

Then Tad discovered his calling in life – pushing his baby brother around.

Which was sort of problematic – I was concerned about Rerun’s safety, but I didn’t want to crush Tad’s helpful spirit.  In the end, I walked right beside him to “help” keep everyone on track.

Tad could also barely see over the top of the stroller, so steering was a slight issue as well.  Like I said, I was right there, lending an unwelcome (to Tad) hand.

We saw emus…

… visited the komodo dragons (which Tad still calls “komodragons”)…

… saw snakes…

… and then we came back around to the savanna again, and found the giraffes keeping warm in their barn area.

We were so close to them.

After this, Rerun had been asleep for a while and everyone else, despite gloves and layers, was pretty well frozen.  So we headed for home, having made the most of a sunny, cold, and quiet day at the zoo.

And Mommy was VERY glad when school started again the next day.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 26th, 2011 at 3:13 am and is filed under Children, Family, Life in the Pacific Northwest, Vacation Tales.
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