Zoo Perspectives

Thomas has been asking do go to the zoo for days. As soon as I realized he was not saying "shoe" and he started asking to "See Animals?" I figured it was time to visit again. We have a zoo membership so there's no pressure to go and spend a full day until we are all exhausted and Zoo'd out just to get our money's worth.

The forecast said we were expecting a hot day in Portland (100 degrees - close to 40C - and humid!) so Thomas and I were at the zoo gates practically when they opened (8am). If you have never been to the zoo when it opens before, then I HIGHLY recommend it. No one to block a toddler's view of the animals, no worrying about the next person that Thomas will bump into while he's wandering around and no fear of losing him in crowds of people. Perfect!

Here are a few of highlights from the day:

• The Giraffe was still in his little room when we arrived, rather than out in the grassed area, so we were able to get a close up look at him through the glass. Of course then we had to stick around for quite some time.
• The penguins were a favourite as always.
• The butterfly enclosure was open and we got to see it for the first time since we have been visiting the zoo. OK, this was more of a highlight for me than Thomas.
• Petting the goats AGAIN and seeing some running ducks from about 30cm away.
• The Owl eating a real mouse right in front of us - more of a highlight for Thomas, than me.
• The Northwest section where Thomas took some time to jump in puddles.

We spent about 3.5 hours there and Thomas walked around for about 2.5 of them. A very good effort. Of course he fell asleep as soon as we got in the car.

I also took the opportunity to take photos for the challenge that Dani Mogstad is currently hosting on Nancy Comelab's blog. The challenge is to take photos from many different angles and I took quite a few throughout the day. Now I just have to scrap them. :)

Here are a few of my favs.

Have a great day

Nicole