We knew it was going to be hot that day, so we came prepared with lots of water and gatorade, hats, and sunscreen. With the way our schedules fell, we didn't make it to the zoo until after noon, and by then it was nice and warm. We stopped for a quick lunch at a nearby Wendy's before heading into the zoo. They had the A/C cranked and we all had goosebumps and were shivering while eating. When we walked outside again, the warmth felt amazing. Once we were at the zoo though, our enjoyment of the heat quickly faded, and we were wishing for the A/C again. Haha! The temperature reached a high of 105 degrees that day...even hotter than we were expecting. We were worried about the kids, especially the babies Connor and Jackson. We kept them shaded in their strollers, and took breaks in the air-conditioned animal exhibit and food buildings as much as possible. They did great in the heat, even better than the adults! Despite the heat, everyone had a really good time, and no one got heatstroke or sunburned.
The animals were surprisingly active and accessible despite the high temperature. We figured since it was the middle of the day, most of the animals would be sleeping, lying low or hiding out, but we were pleasantly surprised. We had a great view of the lions.
The elephants were really close to the viewing platform, and it was so fun to watch them flap their ears and munch on the pile of hay in their pen. We were all pretty fascinated by them. Around the other side of their pen, we stopped to watch a couple of the female elephants give themselves a mud bath. The kids really like watching them spray muddy water from their trunks onto their heads and backs.
Connor didn't really know or care what was happening most of the time. We had him reclined in his stroller to keep him completely shaded, so he couldn't really see anything. But we tried to position him so he could get a glimpse of the animals. I loved that at each exhibit, Brian would crouch down and tell Connor about each animal while trying to point them out.
The animatronic spider was pretty impressive, but it gave me the creeps. Not a fan of spiders. This off course delighted my nephew Carson, who then proceeded to point out all the creepy bugs, especially the spiders, once we got to the building housing the birds, reptiles, and bugs. Haha!
Our first family trip to the zoo! Connor won't remember his first trip to the zoo, so we got a picture to document the occasion. We love zoos, and both have fond memories of visiting this zoo when we were kids. It's was kind of surreal to be bringing our own child to a place that we both visited when we were kids.
The gorillas were another big hit. I think this was my first time seeing a gorilla in person. He was so big! We had fun watching him chomp through the plastic bottle to get to the ice inside. In this same building, we also got to see a baby orangutan with it's mom. They were sitting on a platform at the back of the cage so we didn't have a clear view, but what we could see of it looked pretty cute.
About halfway through the zoo, we picked up our pace. We were really starting to feel the heat, but we wanted to see more of the animals before we left. We found this bug who squirted water straight ahead onto the sidewalk. We all took a turn standing in the ice-cold spray. It felt so good.
We found respite in the reptile house for a bit. I'm not normally a fan of snakes and bugs, but I didn't mind hanging around them to get out of the heat. The kids loved looking for each animal in their glass cages.
We took Connor out of the stroller each time we were in an air-conditioned building so he could cool off as well. He loved watching this little cat, who was pacing back and forth in front of the glass. It was great to watch Connor's head swing back and forth as he followed its path with rapt attention.
The various lizards were really cool, but I could have done without seeing the display of preserved insects. The bug on the right was one of the larger ones and was probably the size of a large grapefruit. Why do bugs that big exist?! I'm getting shivers thinking about it again. Haha!
At this point, we were all about done, but we pressed on to quickly see the grizzly bears. They were of course sleeping in the shade, so we moved on to the harbor seals, who were one of the few animals lounging in the direct sun.
We popped into the nearby building to watch the sea lions, and were so relieved to feel the cold air rushing from the ceiling vents. We stayed here for quite awhile to cool off enough so we could survive the heat on the walk back through the zoo grounds to the parking lot. The sea lions were quite impressive, and gave us a good show as we waited. We've seen sea lions multiple times before, but never this close. I didn't realize just how big they are.
Once we felt refreshed enough to brave the heat once more, we all took a deep breath and plunged back out into the sunshine. We made a beeline back to the entrance, only getting lost once. I took us on a path that I thought would be a shortcut, but ended in a dead end and we had to circle back. However, we did find a couple of rope bridges along that path that were fun to walk across.
We managed to see most of the zoo, only skipping the big cats in the Asian Highland section, the wolves, and the otters. We were just too wiped out from the heat to keep going. The polar bear was supposed to be near the sea lions and grizzly bears, but we didn't see his exhibit, and he wasn't labeled on the map, so we missed him too. Maybe they had him hidden away out of the heat. Either way, I though we did pretty good for how hot it was. We'll definitely go back sometime--but only in March or November when it isn't so crazy hot!
Outside the zoo, we quickened our pace again to get to our cars. The parking lot seemed even hotter, if that was possible. We said a quick goodbye to Danny, Jamie, and the kids. None of us wanted to linger in the heat, and they had other places they wanted to visit before it got too late in the day. It was so great to see them, and get to spend the afternoon with them. We love having family in town!
Fun! And very warm
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