a day at the zoo

I ask people all the time what kinds of fun things there are to do around here. About 80% of the time I get this response:

"Have you been to the zoo in Portland?"

And my answer is always "nope". Reasons why I've been avoiding the zoo:

1. It's not exactly cheap.
2. I have been to many zoos...and I'm always underwhelmed.
3. Zoos are crowded and smell like B.O.

But I pushed all my reservations away so that we could create some good family memories. It was really hot but still so fun!

It was so busy though that the zoo parking was full, so we had to take a "shuttle" to the entrance. The shuttle was actually a school bus, and needless to say Talmage was thrilled to ride one for the first time (he is obsessed with school buses- they drive by our window all the time).

on the bus! 

We were hoping that Charlotte would get a little nap in on the drive but she stayed awake, up until the last 5 minutes of course. So she really got NO nap the whole day- a first for her. I was surprised that she stayed happy and alert regardless--the zoo was just that exciting I guess!

 

One nice thing about this zoo is that its tucked into the woods and there are green trees and ferns everywhere. The trails are so pretty and shaded. And even though it was hot and in the middle of the day, pretty much all of the animals were out and about (many of them napping or eating but at least we could see them) :]

 

One big attraction at the zoo right now is the new baby elephant. This little guy was so stinking cute, and I got a video of him kicking his soccer ball around. But let me just warn you...there are some pretty eh...weird noises coming from the girl behind me. Talk about obnoxious...and awkward. haha..

There were all these cute little play areas for the kids along the walking trails. I loved this feature.

making the "monkey face" as they watch the orangutan swing above them!

I didn't expect to enjoy the bears as much as I did. They are so majestic and beautiful...but I wouldn't want to get too close to one.  

Talmage kept saying "I wanna see the mangoes!" It took me a while to figure out he was saying "flamingoes" :] 

The sea otter was so funny. Talmage got a real riot out of him (but I still think the river otters are the cuuuuuutest)!

We watched the exotic bird show and while it was going on I had to take C into the restroom to change her diaper. When we came out and we were walking back down to the arena, a big hawk that was part of the show flew toward us and swooped right over my head. Charlotte looked up and said "ooh" and I just stood there in shock. haha. Jonathan said he could see the whole thing and it made him laugh.

It got to a point where we were all so darn hot and sweaty, so we gave in to sno cones. 

BEST IDEA EVER.

We concluded our awesome day by stopping at the gift shop and getting these cute little animals- a river otter and a flamingo [whom we named Oliver & Francine}. Talmage now takes his little otter everywhere...and for some reason these animals taste good, too, apparently...

Overall we were glad that we decided to go and our kids sure loved it, too! Talmage is still talking about his ride on the bus. silly kid.