riverbanks zoo

I have been dying to take Annalee and Charlie to the zoo all summer, but it has been waaayy too hot!  Since this week has been a little cooler, and it's kinda the last week of summer (since school is starting back), I thought it would be nice to take the kids to the zoo.  Charlie has had a cold all week, so we thought he should stay home.  Thankfully Ashley was willing to come and stay with him so I could take Annalee to the zoo.  I asked Caroline if her and Elliot wanted to meet us there, so I was really excited.  Caroline had asked her friend Laura and her son Easton to come also, so we had a fun little group at the zoo.  

We started off checking out the bears!  It was crazy how close they can actually get to you!

 Last time I was at the zoo was when I was doing my student teaching, and they were building the kangaroo exhibit then.  So this was the first time I got to see this.  It was so neat!  You literally walk through a big door and there is a pathway that you walk on.  The kangaroos are so close to you and there isn't anything keeping them from coming right up to you because there isn't a fence that blocks the walkway.  I'm pretty sure if you haven't seen it yourself then you are so confused as to what I am talking about so I guess you'll just have to check it out yourself to understand!

 Then we went to see the gorillas.  It wasn't their feeding time, so only one of them came down by the windows, and he didn't really stay for long.  It's really scary to think that the only thing that is between you and a HUGE gorilla is a piece of glass! YIKES!

 After the gorillas, we kept on walking to go see the elephants!  Little Miss Independent was enjoying walking around like a big girl :)

 Of all the times I have ever been to the zoo, I have always thought the elephants were so boring.  They always just stood there.  When we walked up, one of the elephants was eating some hay and then got a drink of water out of the creek.  Sounds kinda boring when you put it that way...but I guess when all you expect them to do is stand there and do nothing, it was kinda neat!

 I'm pretty sure every kid has a picture with these animal statue things at Riverbanks Zoo.  I mean why not....

 I was trying to be artsy and creative with my camera while people were feeding the giraffes :)  The shadows are bad...but it was hot, there were a lot of people around, and the kiddos were getting a little fussy!

 Not fussy for too long though, because we got to ride the Carousel!

 And...what's a day at the zoo without a picture of two little boys with the best mullets I've seen since Joe Dirt!  

 And of course they had to have some ice cream!  

Such a fun morning trip to the zoo!  Hopefully we can do it again soon (when it gets cooler outside)