Family Fun at the Zoo
My kids love animals, however we don’t have any pets because I’ve got really bad allergies. If I load up on medicine though, then I can stand to be around them for a few hours as long as I don’t pet them and touch my face. Rather than bring the animals into our home, it’s easier to take the kids to them. We took our kids on our annual trip to the zoo last week.
We’re fortunate to live in an area where we have access to three zoos. The National Zoo is less than an hour away, but it’s really crowded. The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore is within two hours, but we went there last year. The Catoctin Wildlife Preserve and Zoo is only thirty minutes from our house and we hadn’t been there in years, so it was an easy choice to pick even though it is the smallest of the three.
The Catoctin Wildlife Preserve and Zoo is a fifty-acre facility with a variety of animal exhibits, ranging from reptiles to big cats to local species. The cool thing about this zoo is how close you can get to all of the animals; however, the bad thing is that the animal spaces are not very big and most are fenced in or caged in small areas.
I took a couple hundred pictures, so perhaps the best way to describe the day would be to share some of them with you. I’ll let my 2-year-old son Ty narrate.
Ty really liked the “owl-we-gaters,”
even though they were all “babies.”
He also liked the “tur-tulls,”
and we had fun talking to the “yittle-whore-see.”
We also got to see some “pitty-bwyrdies,”
and then, there was a “back-bwyrdie” with a “boo-boo” on it’s nose.
“What dat, daddy?” Ty asked about again and again. “Uhhh, hmmm. Big Bird’s crazy uncle,” I said, as it started pecking furiously at the fence.
“Mama” and “Bay-bee Cait-in” were happy to be at the zoo,
and they especially liked feeding the “g-yo-tes.”
The “big mun-key” was “saaad,”
and so was Ty when he missed the “go ke-yam-el” rides (they had to “go night-night-naptime”).
So, instead Ty got to play with the “tack-tur” in the sandbox,
and then, daddy bought him a “pop” for being such a good boy (and only throwing one fit when it was time to leave the sandbox).
“I yove pops! It cold daddy. Yum-Yum! It Good!”
We had a great time at the zoo, and it’s an educational and entertaining family activity. The Catoctin Wildlife Preserve and Zoo doesn’t compare to the National Zoo or The Maryland Zoo, but the only thing our kids cared about was that it had plenty of “an-nee-mulls!”
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Apparently I need to write more about this topic.
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Comment by Phil on 14 August 2008:
We love zoos too. A few weeks ago we stopped in at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. Fun day, with gorillas, elephants, giraffes… I never get tired of watching the animals.
I asked my sister if I could take my 15-year-old nephew with us (they live in Seattle), and she shocked me with, “He’s too old for the zoo.” I told her, “You’re never too old for the zoo!!!” She figured she knew him better than he knew himself and wouldn’t even let me ask him directly.
Oh well, he missed a fun day, because a day at the zoo is time well spent.
Which reminds me, I need to get a post written about that day at the zoo!
Phils latest discovery was..Own Up And Be A Dad
Comment by SingleParentDad on 14 August 2008:
Zootastic.
It’s great to take kids to meet and great with animals. I love taking my boy.
My favourite is when we argue about what type of animal we are looking at. During a recent farm visit, my son insisted we were looking at a peacock when it was in fact a turkey. We had a very funny ‘row’ over it, concluded by me asking my son to get it confirmed by the turkey himself. Without any hesistation my son faced the turkey and said “Hello, are you a peacock or a turkey?”. Surprisingly there wasn’t any verbal confirmation, yet me son then turned to me and said. “I’m right, he said he’s a peacock dad!”
Farmtastic
SingleParentDads latest discovery was..Happy Slapping, Not So Much
Comment by Dad of Divas on 14 August 2008:
My eldest loves going to see the animals at the zoo…we have a little (regional animals only) zoo here in our town and she enjoys going there. You did a great job in capturing the excitment of the day and using Ty’s words made the post even more enjoyable!
Dad of Divass latest discovery was..Being One Of The Forgotten
Comment by Lori B on 14 August 2008:
Ty does a great job narrating – maybe he should guest post sometime?
Comment by Matt on 14 August 2008:
Looks like a blast! And that is a heck of a boo boo on that birds nose. Caitlin looks fantastic, BTW! You’ve got yourself a little charmer there, don’t you?
Matts latest discovery was..Calling All Preemies!
Comment by VegasDad on 14 August 2008:
Looks like great fun. We haven’t been to the zoo in quite a while. We’ll have to plan a trip soon.
Comment by Jeremy on 14 August 2008:
Sounds like everyone agrees that the zoo is fun for everyone, even the older kids. My oldest daughter couldn’t go with us, but she loves to go the zoo too.
Matt – thanks for the comment about Caitlin. She’s doing great!
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