Zooing it Up.

Every Wednesday, our schools have early out day.  This is to give the teachers a chance to do weekly planning, or meetings, or maybe it is to give them a break from the little heathens.

Yesterday, my sister and I took the girls to the zoo.  It was over fifty degrees, and a really good day for zooing it up.

There are many animals that are not out in the winter.  If you weren’t a zoo member it may not be worth it, but since it is free to go all year for members, anytime is a good zoo time.

The weather was perfect for many of the animals.  They are actually quite a bit more active when it’s cool, than when it’s a million degrees outside in the summer.  The tigers were out playing, and the lions were pacing around.  We got to see the otters swim and show off for us.

They are redoing our zoo.  There are many areas that have been under construction over the last year or so.  Some parts are finished, but many are still under construction.

Last year they redid the area that is supposed to be “Australia.”  There is information about the culture, the animals etc.  There are many buttons to push to hear audio about the area.  There is a “house” that has a doorbell.  My darling daughter must have rang the bell thirty times.  It says, “Good day mate!” and talks about Vegimite sandwiches, and other things all Australian.

Imagine Mea’s surprise when she pushed the button for the thirty-first time and the door actually opened.  A zookeeper came out, and invited us in for a mini-tour.  We got to see a baby Emu, who needs to be separated from the adult females because they are mean to him.  We got to see 3 baby wallabies.  They were so cute.  Then there was an entire room filled with Budgies, tiny colorful parakeets, over 250 of them.  Last year there was an exhibit where you can go in and feed them.  Last year Mea was terrified of them.  Seeing them in a room without going inside to see them was pretty cool for her, I think she is more concerned with getting pooped on by the birds than anything.

They have finally completed a new seal exhibit that they have been working on for over a year.  It is set up so that you can go down underneath, and see the seals swimming through glass.  The girls were so excited over this.  There is also a ton of stairs and ramps to run around on.  Since there wasn’t very many people at the zoo, the girls were running full tilt everywhere.

I didn’t think that the zoo would be too fun considering that so much would be closed, but I was schooled.  Aside from the fact that parts were closed, or the animals were inside for the winter, it was really fun.  The girls all had a great time.

If your zoo is open year round, I would encourage you to bundle up a little and go while the weather is cool, the animals are so active, it puts a new spin on zooing!  (Our zoo has discounted rates for non-members in the winter months.)