After surviving the TO traffic mess that is the 401, we arrived at the zoo around 10:30. The parking lot was just filling up. It was a pit stop of backpacks, strollers and sunscreen. ("You're not going to the zoo unless I put on your sunscreen!" Lather, rinse, repeat.) We made sure everyone had hats before we set out--bright, shiny purple and blue for the girls and orange for Blake. Best decision of the day. We could always pick out the kids from the crowd.
We saw all the usual suspects at the zoo, although the butterflies were a little unexpected. This one landed on George's hat and hung out for awhile:
The weather was a little hot for the animals (human and otherwise), but we did get to see elephants, orangutangs, white-handed gibbons (my personal favourite), snakes, lizards, turtles, lions, zebras, giraffes, tigers, and hippos, which is what George is showing Blake:
Zoos are definitely good places to learn about Mother Nature in all her glory. Blake explained before we went that we would see lots of women's "bo-bos" while were there. (I'll have to defer to George's observations on this one.) Then, as we were looking at the giraffe, he loudly pointed out, "He has a penis Mommy!" A true learning experience.
The highlight for Faith and Cordelia was the Sharks and Stingrays exhibit. You actually got to pet the stringrays as they were gliding around a giant pool. George and I were both sure that Blake would love this exhibit too, but not so much. Cordelia and Faith were completely into petting the stingrays (the barbs were filed down, so no danger), but Blake thought the whole thing was way too scary. And, when the sting ray splashed him with water, the whole thing went to hell. (Stingrays feel like wet rubber, in case you ever wanted to know.)
After sting rays, we spent what amounted to the GDP of a small country on ice cream for all of us (a bribe to calm the nerves of the little dude). Then we were off to see the polar bears, thinking that this would be a good way to "cool" down in the afternoon. Not so much. Apparently the polar bears don't rate air conditioning. They just hang out in the shade.
After that it was back to the car to head home at 3:00 before the traffic got out of control. To be honest, it was long enough at the zoo. The kids were ready to go, and when we got back to the car, it seemed like everyone else had the same idea--lots of empty spots around us.
We enjoyed the zoo, although I did have that uncomfortable feeling when we went through many of the exhibits. Perhaps the tiny environmentalist in me wondering if zoos were really the best place for all these animals. Seeing Polar Bears in 35 degree weather just didn't seem right. But, as George pointed out, many of the animals were safer here than being hunted in the wild. Still...
If you're interested, more Zoo Pictures are posted on my flickr photostream.
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