A Perfect Trip to the Zoo

Mark took the day off of work so we could take Megan to the Toledo Zoo. We picked Wednesday because the weather was perfect for walking around outside and it just happened to be our anniversary. Driving into the parking lot we saw 4 school buses. Now for any of you that have been to the Toledo Zoo having only 4 school buses in the parking lot is unheard of! I knew it was going to be a great day at the zoo. We took the small stroller and a back pack and were off.

Our first spot was to see the polar bears. Megan was able to walk right up to the glass and stand there as long as she wanted to watch the seals then the polar bears. As you can see from the picture above, when Megan stood on the ground she was looking at the legs of the polar bear. I lifted her up to see his head and she loved it. She had fun starring eye to eye with him. I think I upset the 3 other parents that were next to us though. Their kids wanted to be lifted up too, but none of them were as little as Megan, opps.

In the next window another polar bear was just relaxing. I took Megan's "Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you hear?" book with us to show Megan what the real animals look like from her favorite book. Since no one was waiting to get close to this guy, I pulled out the book and showed Megan the cartoon polar bear then the real polar bear. I was able to do this with about 5 of the animals and Megan paid attention to which animal I was pointing at. I don't think she understood but who knows.
Megan was able to walk around a lot because we didn't have to worry about being in anyone's way. It was great! She loved it because she loves to explore and I loved it because it was something new for her. So everyone make a note, the best time to go to a zoo is in the beginning of a school year before field trips start!
The classic turtle statues! After looking at the reptiles we had to take a picture on the turtles. They were right next to the petting zoo...that was closed :( I had no idea the petting zoo was closed, so I was bummed because Megan would have loved the goats. But since we were able to spend a ton of time every where else it was ok. Next time.
This elephant has been here forever. I wonder how many generations of kids have posed on him? We spent the longest time watching the mama elephant and her not so tiny baby. The mama was very active and Megan loved watching her walk around. Plus there were lots of ducks playing in the water in front of us so she had a ton of stuff to look at. So I don't know if Megan was hugging this elephant because she likes elephants or if she was hanging on for dear life. Either way, cute picture!

This was a perfect trip to the zoo. I'm so happy that Mark to the day off to join us. Megan might not remember this specific trip to the zoo, but I know Mark and I will because it was just perfect! (Have I said that before?)