Zoo!

I forgot my camera so alas I have no pictures for this but...
I successfully dragged the family out to the local zoo on Sunday! It's been a long and especially harsh winter. The temperatures finally rose above the freezing point and we've had 40F degree weather. It was still rainy and cold but at least it wasn't freezing. But the family has been cooped up indoors and we've been sick of it. I still can't wait for springtime.

Sasha loves animals...theoretically. At least she loves animals when she sees them in books and on television so I thought it would be great for her to get out and see some real ones. Actually she did see some goats at the apple orchard last September but that seems so long ago.

She did have a good time! I think we all did. Even Cassie, who was reluctant to go at first. We went straight to the family zoo area at first. It was indoors and had a lot of activities for young infants and children. Sasha saw birds, got to play in a "nest" play area. She saw some reptiles, snakes, spiders, hamsters, guinea pigs, and even got to pet a huge rabbit. She did well with that rabbit too. She nicely pet it and said "nice!". Then she tried to make it smell her feet. (She picked that habit up with my dad's dog as it's always sniffing her feet.) Cassie painted her face up like a tiger. The family zoo area was really neat and we'll have to go see it more often. It was nice to just let Sasha run amok and see what caught her interests.
We ate some overpriced hotdogs and hit the Children's zoo. The children's zoo was mostly full of farm animals, and Sasha adored those. We all liked the children's zoo. There were ducks, geese, an eagle, a horse, a donkey, some sheep, goats, a mule, a pony, some cows, some chickens, and other farm animals.
Most of the animals at the zoo were put away for the winter. We were able to see a few indoor exhibits. Like the penguins. And the aquarium. And the monkeys. And the alligators and otters. I was hoping to see some bears but they were still hidden away from the public.

On the way out, we stopped at the carousel. Sasha seemed interested in it so the whole family took a carousel ride. Sasha rode a polar bear, and Cassie rode a tiger, while I rode a hippo because it was in front of Sasha's polar bear.

I wish it was warmer and that there were more animals to see but I think it went well. It took us long enough to see what we did see so I guess it didn't matter anyways. I think we'll probably go back again a few more times this year.