Friday, April 11, 2008

Spring Break Recap ( Part 2 )

For our last day of Spring Break we decided to go to the zoo. Katelyn has never been to the zoo and Gavin hasn't been there since he was about 1. So of course he was so excited to go since he doesn't remember ever being there.


We started the day taking a walk along the "boardwalk". This brought us to many animals that are found in Florida. We saw the alligators and crocodiles ( of course ! ). We also got to see tons of pink flamingos, crane, turkeys, skunks, deer, and turtles. The highlight of this area was the interactive stingray tank. We got to pet and feed the stingrays. Gavin was very timid about touching them and of course Katelyn would have jumped right in the tank with them if I let her!!


From there we went to the aquatic center. We saw plenty of snakes, frogs, tons of fish and the Florida manatee.

And who knew there were so many different kinds of pigs?? We saw the bearded pig, the warty pig, and the wild boar. We saw the spotted leopard and the sloth bear , who was being true to his name and sleeping.

Next up was the bird aviary. I knew Katelyn would love this exhibit because she just loves birds. We bought some nectar and had birds swoop down and land on me. As they were drinking Katelyn kept saying "bir ee bir ee ". She also kept trying to pet the birds that were on me and tried to feed them herself. She loved it. Gavin ? Not so much. I think all the birds diving and landing on us scared him.






Next we headed to Primate World where we saw chimps, orangutans, and lemurs.

Safari Africa was next. First off, Ken and Gavin rode the skyride around the park. They got to see all the exhibits from the air. Katelyn and I took this time for a diaper change and snacks!! Once the skyride was over it was time to see more animals. We saw the zebras and elephants first. Then we saw the beautiful giraffes. Amazing how big they are. We even got to buy crackers and stand on a huge platform and feed the giraffe. Yep, feed the giraffe. I was so amazed by this. Gavin was a pro and fed the giraffe 2 crackers!




After looking at some hippos, cheetahs, and hyenas, Gavin took a ride on a camel. He was so happy that he got to sit in the first seat.

He also couldn't wait to tell his school friends that he rode a camel. We also spend quite a bit of time in the petting zoo. Gavin was in love with all the goats and llamas. After petting all of them he got out the brush and brushed some. After a while he settled with just one goat named Oreo and didn't leave her side until we left. Katelyn had a great time too. She liked to chase the goats around with her hands out and screeching because they would walk away from her. She finally got a brush out too and started brushing some. So funny to watch.

Our last stop of the day was to the horse stables. Since he already rode a camel, Gavin was ready for a horse ride.

Gavin and Katelyn both had such a great time. I cant wait to go back !

4 comments:

Wendy said...

FUN! I love the zoo and can't wait until we can go this Summer:)

Andrea said...

That looks like SO much fun! :) And you're even wearing shorts and t-shirts! I am jealous :) haha. We still have piles of snow...oh well!

Happy2bme said...

That does look like fun. I didn't realize that they had so many animals. Remember when they only had monkeys?! Those stinky gross monkeys.

Kristi said...

That looks like an amazing zoo...where was it? We went to Brookfield Zoo outside of Chicago over break but the kids got so tired of walking that we didn't get to see very much. I'm sure we;ll try again another time.

Great pictures.