Friday, January 27, 2012

It's a Zoo Around Here!

Whenever I go to the zoo, I like to say, "It's a zoo around here!" Then I throw up my hands and laugh jocularly. Lamest joke ever.





The Phoenix Zoo is really a world-class zoo. It's on a huge campus and has tons of exotic animals. It's got komodo dragons, lions, tigers, rhinos, and even stingrays, to name a few. They also have fun attractions in addition to seeing the animals.

Oh, and bring your wallet.

I took Rowan and one of her best friends ever to her preschool field trip at the Phoenix Zoo. They were so excited! They danced and danced and danced while we waited to go inside. We got inside and met up with the group and I asked the girls, "What do you want to see first?"

"The carousel!"

I didn't come to the zoo to ride the carousel all day, and I usually save it as the last thing we do at the zoo anyway. So I said, "Lets visit the stingrays!"


The stingrays are the comedians of the zoo. You're allowed to put your hands in the water and touch them. Several of them will glide right up to you, then lift their fins out of the water, and SPLASH! You're soaked. I know they're snickering as they glide off.

We had the opportunity to buy some food for them (I told you to bring your wallet, right?). The girls both held a piece of fish or raw shrimp in their hands and lowered it into the water. Instant stingray mosh pit.

When we finished up the food, they splashed Rowan good. She was saturated.

I said, "What do we want to do next?

"The carousel! And snacks!"


I was operating on less sleep than usual, and I'd forgotten to pack snacks and water. So, first we purchased some snacks - healthy things like Doritos and popcorn. I laid down the law and said, "No unhealthy things like cotton candy." Nutrition first!

I walked them over to the big open area with the giraffes, ostriches, antelope, etc. It's a beautiful area. It's also handily at the zoo train stop. We were actually on a time crunch with this trip because Seth was sick all night and Gary stayed home while we went. Zoo train is a perfect way to see most of the animals in a 30 minute trip.


My favorite was this tiger. Clearly he was practicing casual Friday. He was laying on his back as if begging for a tummy rub. You know, however, that if you bounded gleefully over to give him said tummy rub, he'd probably eat you up, head first. Good thing they're behind wire, because I would have.

When the train concluded, we'd seen bears, mandrills, monkeys, cheetahs, wild dogs, rhinos, gazelles, the lion, foxes, horses, tortoises, and more. Did I ever tell you about the time I went to the zoo and the tortoises were mating? That was a visit I will never forget.

The girls, who had been on the train for the last half hour, were exhausted. "My feet hurt from walking," they moaned within the first 30 seconds of going to our snack rendez-vous. We could only go to say goodbye, because Gary had to go back to work and I needed to allow enough time for the crown jewel of the zoo (for kids anyway): the carousel.

Funny how they got their energy back and were able to use their tired legs to gallop the whole way to the carousel.

We rode three times.

By the way, Ms Jessi is the BEST preschool teacher ever!


3 comments:

  1. Can I just say that I hate the formatting? It seems like a dinosaur to work around.

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  2. :) Zoo lights...now that's a "zoo"! Ugh, i really dislike zoo lights.

    Thanks for the compliment! Maybe you could spread the love by putting my blog button up? Just a thought. I won't be hurt if your not into that type of thing. ;)

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  3. Jessi, how do I do it? I'm totally into that sort of thing!

    ReplyDelete