The Zoo Weekend

Zoo Weekend 2009 was a big hit! We had a great time visiting two very nice zoo's. Saturday we were at the Cincinatti Zoo and Sunday we were at the Detroit Zoo.

At the Cincinatti Zoo, we all enjoyed seeing the animals,

Riding on the train,

And watching a very cool 4D movie!

Beany enjoyed seeing all the animals. He was determined to stay out of the stroller though. That made it a bit frustrating, but Dad, Night Owl, and I traded the task of carrying him. He walked a lot too, but that tended to slow us all down, especially when he wanted to keep backtracking.

The three middle kids all had matching t-shirts, something that Night Owl wanted no part of. I was actually surprised at how much easier it was to keep track of them.

Night Owl seemed to enjoy telling his siblings about the many animals we saw.

Here are some of our favorites from the Cincinnati Zoo:

The White Tiger, which we learned was NOT an albino:

The Red Panda that looks very little like the black and white pandas we're used to seeing:

The very cute tiger cubs, that wouldn't stop playing to pose for a picture:



Gorgeous birds - lots and lots!



And these majestic white lions:

The zoo closed at 6 and we were hungry, hot and tired. We drove about half way to Detroit and found a very nice hotel in Findlay Ohio. It was perfect. The next morning we went to Saint Michael's Church, which was gorgeous. I just had to take a picture afterwards, even though two of the kids had already jumped in the van and taken their shoes off!

We all decided that the Detroit Zoo was more visually pleasing. It seemed like a nice place to take long leisurely walks. The statues, fountains and flowers were all beautiful. Unfortunately, we had run into two traffic jams on the way there so our time was limited so we kept pushing on, occasionally stopping for pictures!

"Amphibiville" was an interesting display of amphibians (obviously!). This gentleman, a docent who really seemed to enjoy his job, helped the kids find the tiny frogs, salamanders and snakes hiding in the foliage of their displays.

One of the most impressive areas was the Arctic Ring of Life. It included an underground, glass tunnel we walked through. We watched the antics of a seal swim back and forth over the top of us.

We were hoping this big guy would jump in the water, but he seemed to enjoy just chillin' out on his little "iceberg".

Some of the other animals we enjoyed at the Detroit Zoo:

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Beany really liked these guys that walked around both zoo's. He followed them, but was afraid to get too close. Their colors were quite striking.

So, a good time was had by all, though we're a bit tired today. I think, in the future, one zoo will be enough. We could have spent 2 days at the Cincinnati Zoo alone. But we enjoyed ourselves and the time together as a family will be a treasure to remember.