Rerun’s Adventure at the Zoo

We renewed our zoo membership last month, so we will have another fun-filled summer at the zoo, fighting the crowds and observing animals.

This is what Rerun looked like on his first visit to the zoo, almost a year ago:

He was so little.  And he so wasn’t paying attention to anything except Mommy – when he was awake.  That was last July.

This was last Saturday, his first trip to the zoo as a certified toddler:

He was very excited to get out and actually walk around (with a parent standing right next to him, of course).  I tried to get a group picture of all three kids in one of their favorite spots, the penguin window bubbles.  This was the best I could do:

It was a beautiful, warm day.  I’d packed a lunch and we managed to snag a spot in the very last row in the very last available parking lot.  We came in the west entrance, right by the penguins, and Rerun was fascinated with their underwater aerobics.

Not to mention that the penguins are total attention hogs and love showing off in front of the glass.

The kids then begged and pleaded to go see the new dinosaur exhibit, which we did not know would cost another $3 per person over the age of two.  We did decide to go, but I warned the older two: we are not doing this every single visit this summer.  Period.

Once you pay and have your hand stamp, though, you can visit as many times as you want that day.  And it was pretty entertaining, especially for my fearless, budding paleontologists.

Rerun was a little overwhelmed by the size of the dinosaurs.

Ane and Tad were not put off at all.

Rerun was still a little confused…

… but he was willing to sit on the “pictosaur” for a quick snapshot.

Then Rerun found a dinosaur that he really liked.

Sorry, buddy, I’m not letting you rot your twelve teeth just yet.

After seeing the dinosaurs, we were off to one of Tad’s favorite spots – the Northern Trail, to see the bears.

The bears were out and playing around a campsite set up in their exhibit – there had been some kind of camping demonstration earlier in the day.  But right next to the bears – and sharing an indoor exhibit area – are the river otters.  And one of them was awake and swimming laps, which delighted Rerun.  He kept squealing happily whenever the otter swam by.

The bears were quite the posers on Saturday.

Rerun was impressed with the large, furry bears.

Then it was time to eat lunch.  We sat in a sunny spot over by the elk, and had a little picnic.

Then we had other things to show Rerun, like the komodo dragon…

… and he posed for a picture with his sister on the very popular komodo dragon statue.

Tad was too busy climbing a tree to be in the picture.

Then we headed over to the petting zoo, where Rerun got to pet his first goat.

It was a big, full day for our little Rerun.

And by the time we were saying goodbye to the dinosaurs again…

… Rerun had already said goodbye to the zoo for the day.

Being a toddler is sure tiring work!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 7th, 2011 at 1:58 am and is filed under Children, Life in the Pacific Northwest, Vacation Tales.
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