Trip to the Zoo

RHS hosts an annual birthday party at the zoo every year, and this time, I decided to take the girls.  Free tickets, and Vivian is old enough to enjoy the zoo now, so it really was a no-brainer.  This time, we started at the end (since we have always bailed before we got there) and visited the tigers, petting zoo, kangaroos, beavers, deer, playground (where we had lunch) and then headed over to the polar bears, with a detour through the tunnels to see the sharks.  Then, we headed over to the RHS party where we saw some of the staff, picked up gifts for the kids and watched the beginning of a puppet show before Annelee decided enough was enough and we left. Both girls were fast asleep on the way back in the car ... a sign of a good outing, I think.

Tiger cub, tired of playing

Vivian and Annelee are hanging with the 'Roo

Riding the camel at the playground

Watching the sea lions

Smiling

Watching the sharks

Shark attack!

Books are more interesting than sharks!

 Tiger cubs at play

Trip to the Zoo

My parents and I took Vivian and Annelee to the zoo one day. When we arrived, I asked Vivian what animals she wanted to see. Answer: "Monkeys, pigs, horses". I clarified that they did not have pigs or horses at this zoo, but that we would see the monkeys. After first seeing some other animals. Unfortunately, most animals were hiding, sleeping, or standing very far away from the viewing area that day. Not very exciting for a little girl. Vivian dutifully went up to every enclosure, took a look, and then said "I wanna see monkeys".

When we finally got to the Monkey house, we looked at the first ones (can't remember what they were) and I said "Look, a monkey!". At the same time a mother next to me told her son it was a "xxx" (actual name of species). Vivian looked at me and said "No, not a monkey, a xxx". Sigh. Monkeys were not what she expected, either, we think she was looking for chimpanzees, and there were none.

After the monkey house, she got focused on polar bears, so at every enclosure we heard "I wanna see polar bear". That girl is nothing if not persistent.

All in all, the zoo was a disappointment (for the adults more than for Vivian), although Vivian did like the elephants (especially the babies - Vivian claimed they were called Vivian and Annelee) and the polar bear and shark. We skipped the aquarium, but I'm thinking next time, we'll go just there, because that's actually pretty cool.