My First Day at the Zoo
Hello to everyone.
We took a family day today. After Xavier woke from his 9:00 o'clock nap, we headed off to the zoo. We began our day with a picnic in City Park, then spent a couple of hours strolling several of the animal exhibits.
Just before going into the gardens, we thought it best to feed Xavier. He ate some at our picnic, but was too distracted to take a whole bottle. Rebecca got another 2 ounces down him with this cloister technique.
Rebecca's favorite animal to see at the zoo, this was our first stop. Xavier was not too impressed. It took him a while to warm up to the giraffes. Later, after we put him back in the stroller, we at least got a smile.
Leaving the giraffes, Xavier did his signature flappy bird wave at dad. Excitement started to kick in.
During the (extremely lame) sea lion show, Rebecca took Xavier into the Tropical Discovery. (I stayed behind to watch the stroller as they are not allowed in the exhibit). Of all that he saw today, this definitely was where he showed the most curiosity. He even got to crawl into the bubble under a turtle tank and watch the turtles swim above his head.
Xavier found some interest with the penguins outside. Once we loosed him from the stroller's seat belt, he was standing at the rail in a flash to watch several birds swimming in the pool below.
The flamingos were his favorite outdoor exhibit. They were colorful, active, and quite loud. Also, we could stand in the shade. The day was very pleasant temperature-wise, in the mid 70s, but the shade was still welcomed as we neared the end of our touring.
Xavier wears his new hat, which we bought prior to touring the exhibits. Everyone was tired leaving the zoo, we probably stayed too long, and we had a long, long walk back to the car. The place we found to park was exactly opposite the zoo's one entry/exit (what happened to the one-time "South Entrance"? We parked right outside where it used to be). Coming and leaving, we completely circled the gardens.