Enjoying the Zoo

We got a zoo pass this year and have already enjoyed going to the park. One of the perks of having a membership are the "Members Stay Late" nights where you can stay in the park until 9pm! It's so much cooler after 5pm and the crowds die down to almost nothing. Kory had to work late and Adrian was out of town, so Raz and I took the kids to dinner at McD's then over to the zoo to expend all their remaining energy of the evening. It was so much fun- for everyone this time!

We saw all the animals of course- some more up close than others. One funny part that I'm sure Raz and I won't ever forget is when we went to see the gorillas. It was getting a bit dark by then and the gorillas were inside their little cave. They built this U- shaped area where you can walk inside, see the gorillas, then come out the other side afterwards. We all went in and it was dark, so we had a hard time seeing them at first- then we saw them- in separate areas, both at the back of the enclosure.

Colin and Cameron were getting a bit uneasy because of the dark, so Raz and I both put them in the front of each double stroller, while we tried showing Hailey, Elise and Thomas the gorillas. At that point the gorillas decided to wake up, big time! One hurried up to the front of the enclosure and stood about 5 inches from us! Thank heavens for the dividing glass! It was still kind of scary, seeing him so close just staring at us. He stood up and then did the whole banging on his chest thing, and began running back and forth, across the front of the cave, right in front of us! At this point, both Hailey and Elise lost it, too terrified to move, they just screamed and cried! Raz and I started comforting them and about a minute later, we both realized other kids were crying. Wait- they're our kids. Colin and Cameron were both freaking out- we'd parked their strollers up against the other glass wall, where- you guessed it- the other gorilla was now sitting, looming over both of them! Colin was struggling, trying to stand up in his stroller to get the heck outta dodge, with his seat belt on! Poor kid! Raz and I just had to laugh. Actually, I'm sure we were a lovely site, exiting the other side trying to both push double strollers with our elbows while carrying 2 screaming kids each.

Thomas, on the other hand, thought the whole experience was immensely cool and didn't stop talking about it for days. This was the only pic I got...for obvious reasons.

Here are a few more shots of the kids and I riding the carousel, sliding down the snake slide at the park and of course, terrorizing the local wildlife.