Saturdays at the zoo

On Saturdays, our local zoo has a storytime session for the kids.  They read a book and then get to meet a zoo animal.  This week was Sammy the Star Tortoise--they got to pet him and learn all about what makes Sammy special.  The highlight of the visit?  Sammy pooped.   Yep, you heard that right--they most enjoyed the part where Sammy pooped.  Not his neat domed star shell.  Not the spines on his front legs.  Not his beak.  His poop.  *sigh* KIDS.

We spent a little bit of time walking around and seeing some of the favorite animals.  First and last stop on our trip was the koalas.  They were sleeping both times we were there but the kids were still pretty excited to see them in person

We were there during Zookeeper talks so we got to learn some extra facts about koalas and then tigers in the next exhibit.  The Zoo Educator at the tiger exhibit pulled no punches for the young ages of my children so now my five  year old knows that tigers will suffocate their prey with their strong jaws if they can't break its neck right away.  Now, my 12 year old was fascinated by this but perhaps the five year old could have lived with just petting the fur and looking at the skull and teeth :p

W's favorite is always the red panda.  It will run up to the glass and have a look at whoever is out there and then go back and forth.  W would stand there forever if you let him

The Busy Little B likes to go into the "Tortoise Tunnel" in the children's play area and peek at me:

W was on foot this trip instead of the stroller so we were limited in how long we could stay before he started to get tired.  We need to remember the stroller next time for the hike out to the Savannah exhibit so the kids can see the giraffes :)