…Out like a lamb!

 

We may have spent the last day of March with the lions but the weather was anything but!  83 degrees outdoors, we donned sunhats and sunscreen and grabbed our picnic lunch to spend the day at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden.

 

 

I will have to head back in a few weeks when the tulips open up and zoo babies are on display.

Armed with a double stroller, diaper bag and cooler with lunch and lots to drink as well as the typical supply of baby wipes and sunscreen we headed out to see what we could see.  Nathan LOVED sitting in the front for the first time.  There was so much to see he didn’t know which way to look first.  Kaitlyn thought it was a treat to ride behind, just because it was different.

Here, the children are observing some fish and a cute little shrimp.

Along the Jungle Trail we saw some really big cats.  Very impressive.  Nathan didn’t know they could be that big!

 

 

There were several cheetahs.  This one was enjoying the weather and acting lazy.

 

 

 

There was also a Siberian Tiger.  We saw the rest of the cats later in the day when we went to the Cat House… a place we rarely miss when we go to the zoo.

 

 

 

Hungry already, we grabbed a picnic table to eat our lunch of tuna/pesto wheat wraps with lettuce, shredded sharp cheddar and tomato, pretzels and cuties with milk.  Nathan was happy with oatmeal and bananas as well as some yogurt melts.

 

 

We had some great entertainment while eating lunch…front row seats watching the train go by.  Nathan thought the whistle blowing was quite exciting.  People waved to us as they passed us by and Kaitlyn could not be convinced to wave back.

We saw monkeys…

 

 

 

 

 

The elephant house is in the distance.  I believe it is one of the oldest buildings at the zoo dating back to the 1800’s.

 

 

 

 

The day really had heated up so we shed our sweatshirts from earlier and made sure to apply the sunscreen liberally.  Sunscreen sticks work best on little faces.  The spray works great for all the rest.

We found the elephants.  Nathan looked and looked at them and then he looked at me.  When I told him what they were he smiled and then seemed like he was waiting for more…Oh!  What does an elephant sound like?  All month we’ve been reading about zoos and building them in the living room and talking about them, including elephants.  So Nathan pursed his lips together and blew… that is supposed to sound like an elephant, I guess.  He’s been doing this ever since he saw the elephants two days ago.

 

 

Sometimes a rainbow Macaw or an exotic parrot that talks, today we were graced with a beautiful Cockatoo who perched outside in the tree.

 

 

 

 

Then came a rhino and three kinds of bears, though I just have the polar bear here.  We also saw giraffes and eagles and alligators and crocodiles and… lots more with still more we didn’t get to see.

All too soon it was nearly time to go and pick up Lindsay and Tristan from school just a few blocks away so I promised Kaitlyn that we could have a few minutes at the playground before leaving the zoo.  She had a great time climbing and sliding and running around.

 

We also ate cotton candy at the playground that we had brought with us from home.  It’s only 99 cents in the supermarket. 

                                  Kaitlyn and Nathan are best buddies.

We had a really fun day.  Kaitlyn told me we are best friends!  I love Kaitlyn too.