Winter Sun, Cousin Fun, At The Zoo!

We are just about to run out of time to spend with the cousins.  They are going to be moving away again, so we decided to take advantage of a beautiful sunny (but slightly chilly) day last Saturday, and take the two older girls with us to the zoo and aquarium!  (This was also the weekend Ane was away at youth group winter camp, but she’s seen the zoo a lot.  And this meant we had enough seat belts in the minivan to take the older girls.)

Tad promised Little Cousin and Little Cowgirl sharks.  They saw sharks.

Tad demonstrated the proper way to “pet” a stingray and an epaulette shark, but neither girl was having it.  They liked looking, not touching.  This was the first time Thumper had actually paid attention to the touch tank, but he wasn’t sticking his hands in there, either.

Don’t worry, the sharks got plenty of affection from Tad.

The girls enjoyed seeing the tropical fish…

… and were blown away by the size and scale of the sharks.  Tad introduced them to his personal friend, the wobbegong shark, who was hanging out near its favorite window spot.

Point Defiance is in the process of constructing a new huge aquarium building (which will combine the current South Pacific Aquarium with the North Pacific Aquarium, and be called the Pacific Rim Aquarium), and we were told that when the aquarium is completed (in summer 2018), there will be hammerhead sharks and sea turtles moving in!  Tad was THRILLED.

We continued on through the aquarium and zoo, stopping at the animal show (it was already in progress, but the kids enjoyed it), and we arrived at the walrus pool in time for their feeding.

We learned that the walrus makes a sucking sound like a vacuum cleaner when it eats.  Slurp, slurp, slurp.  The kids loved it.

Because it is winter, some of the animals we thought we’d see were off exhibit and their habitats under repair.  So we finished up a little earlier than even we thought we would.  And since it was our last chance, we let the kids ride the carousel.

Naturally, the kids loved the carousel ride.  (Little Cowgirl said it was her favorite thing at the zoo.)

We stopped for lunch at the McDonald’s just outside the zoo (another thing about winter – only one cafe at the zoo is open, and McDonald is a cheaper option for 5 hungry kids), and then headed back north, with lots of pictures and fun memories to keep for always.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 15th, 2017 at 12:42 am and is filed under Children, Family, Life in the Pacific Northwest.
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