Zoo with Friends

We went to the zoo yesterday with some friends. It was their first time to the zoo, and Elora had a great time showing everyone around. We are enjoying this awesome Fall weather, and hope it lasts!

We went to the Hippo house, and this Hippo would go under the water, pop up and spray water out of its nose, and go back down. Over and over. The kids were fascinated for a long time. Eventually it came out of the water, and opened its HUGE mouth, all the way. Wow. Big mouth. And teeth. I am so sad, I missed the picture, I was chasing Oliver who figured out how to open the doors and run away…

The lions were next, and they were still in a smaller pen, while their habitat was being cleaned. They were pacing and pretty mad looking… Fun for the kids though, they were excited to see the lions so close. Here are the girls posing on a lion statue – Elora, Ellie, and Hannah.

Near the Cheetah exhibit, Elora proudly scaled this tree, and did NOT want to leave. Ever. So she informed me.

This picture is awful, but I just thought this was pretty crazy. Elora stood right up next to the glass while the Cheetah growled and clawed right in front of her. She didn’t even flinch, she would just run back to the glass whenever she saw the Cheetah was coming, and it would start growling at her again.

We were having good luck with the big cats, and saw all of them up close. Here we are at the leopard habitat, where the kids stayed awhile to watch the cats walking around, bathing each other, and playing together.

Beautiful! And creepy with the glowing eyes…

We headed over to the penguins, and the kids all thought it was fun to hide behind the penguin pictures. Oliver was hiding back there somewhere, I couldn’t get them all looking at the same time.

Here are the giraffes, all out to eat the trees around their enclosure. I mostly put this pic up for those who know my nieces who are twins… Elora looks so much like Amy when she was younger in this picture, I thought it was kind of funny. My friend Becky said when she moved into our ward that she recognized me (though we had never met) because I look like my sister’s twin daughters. Funny how that “All Chapmans look alike” statement still comes up in my life…

Elora found this big tree at the park in the zoo, and was so excited and proud of herself for climbing it. Until she realized she couldn’t get down… then it was “Mommy, Help!!!!”

Here he is! Oliver liked going to the zoo with lots of friends, and had a great time running. Everywhere. He just goes and goes, and waits for me to chase him, so I got plenty of exercise chasing after him.