Now that you've had a day to see pictures from our trip to San Diego, I thought I'd share some details of our visit.
First of all, let's be clear -- our son LOVES animals! So in the 5 days we were there we hit Thee Zoo twice and Sea World twice.
Matt was in conference meetings in the mornings on Friday & Saturday, so each morning Colin and I ventured out on our own. On Friday I took him to the San Diego Zoo. I had not been there since 1985, and all I remembered were the koala bears. Holy cow that place is big!
I formulated a plan when we arrived at the zoo to head directly to the back of the zoo to beat the rush to the panda bears. We had heard this was one of only 4 places outside of China to see pandas, so I decided to beat the crowds to go and see these cute and cuddly looking playful creatures. And they didn't disappoint - so much fun to watch!
From there I beat a path up to the polar bears. The path was so steep up the hill that they had warnings posted for those using manual wheel chairs -- it was indeed a steep incline and gave me a good workout pushing Colin's stroller, passing the zebras as we headed to the arctic giants. And ugh, what a "yawner!" They need video posted at the base of this steep hill so you can see if the bears are even awake. One was asleep and the other was being a bit coy as he munched, of all things, a carrot. All that exercise for not much action!
We breezed back down the hill and we had lunch at one of the many zoo eateries. I indulged and got us a souvenir cub with the leopard topper, and Colin discovered that he does indeed like raisins. I have offered them over the past year to no avail. They came in his zoo kids pail and he gobbled them down right along with the ever-so-appropriate animal crackers. And now he can't get enough of raisins!
Weary at this point, I hopped with Colin on the nearest double decker bus and decided to let it take us wherever, knowing it would eventually get us close to the exit. We were lucky -- we got a quick tour of the Safari animals (elephants, giraffe's, etc) and then the bus let us out near the koalas so we could say hello to these sleepy fellows before making our exit so Colin could go be a sleepy afternoon fella, as well.
~~
We returned to the zoo on Sunday with Matt. Matt hadn't been there since 1986, and all he could remember were the koalas, as well. Funny thing, every single koala (8+) was asleep, so they sure won't remember us!
We headed past the monkeys, mandrills (awesome color!) and pygmy hippos en route to the pandas, skipped the sleepy polar bear, and then saw all of the cats. The cats were active, and Colin loved it! We also enjoyed the black Brazilian jaguar named Orson-- he looked just like a panther and walked right up to the edge of the cage right near us.
On around the corner a little Bornean sun bear was super active, and Colin couldn't get enough of watching him:
"Bornean sun bears, the smallest bears in the world, are one of the most enjoyable animals to observe, especially in the natural setting of Sun Bear Forest. Here, the sun bears, named for the golden crescents on their chests, display their frolicsome nature. Extremely agile and often comical, sun bears are great tree climbers and make excellent use of their enclosure's climbing structures." (Zoo website)
As we put Colin to sleep that night he jabbered for over 1 1/2 hours in bed and we could hear him giggle and then roar and say something about the bear. His little mind was filled with all of the wonder that the zoo hopes to provide.
Our last encounter at the zoo was with the reptiles -- a big komodo dragon, and lots of snakes, including a huge anaconda (yowsers!) Colin hissed at all of the snakes on display as he made a quick tour of the reptile house.
Our trip to the zoo was finally complete with a visit to the zoo shop where we got him 3 books -- one is a Little People lift-the-flap book titled, "Let's Go to the Zoo!" And indeed we did.
First of all, let's be clear -- our son LOVES animals! So in the 5 days we were there we hit Thee Zoo twice and Sea World twice.
Matt was in conference meetings in the mornings on Friday & Saturday, so each morning Colin and I ventured out on our own. On Friday I took him to the San Diego Zoo. I had not been there since 1985, and all I remembered were the koala bears. Holy cow that place is big!
I formulated a plan when we arrived at the zoo to head directly to the back of the zoo to beat the rush to the panda bears. We had heard this was one of only 4 places outside of China to see pandas, so I decided to beat the crowds to go and see these cute and cuddly looking playful creatures. And they didn't disappoint - so much fun to watch!
From there I beat a path up to the polar bears. The path was so steep up the hill that they had warnings posted for those using manual wheel chairs -- it was indeed a steep incline and gave me a good workout pushing Colin's stroller, passing the zebras as we headed to the arctic giants. And ugh, what a "yawner!" They need video posted at the base of this steep hill so you can see if the bears are even awake. One was asleep and the other was being a bit coy as he munched, of all things, a carrot. All that exercise for not much action!
We breezed back down the hill and we had lunch at one of the many zoo eateries. I indulged and got us a souvenir cub with the leopard topper, and Colin discovered that he does indeed like raisins. I have offered them over the past year to no avail. They came in his zoo kids pail and he gobbled them down right along with the ever-so-appropriate animal crackers. And now he can't get enough of raisins!
Weary at this point, I hopped with Colin on the nearest double decker bus and decided to let it take us wherever, knowing it would eventually get us close to the exit. We were lucky -- we got a quick tour of the Safari animals (elephants, giraffe's, etc) and then the bus let us out near the koalas so we could say hello to these sleepy fellows before making our exit so Colin could go be a sleepy afternoon fella, as well.
~~
We returned to the zoo on Sunday with Matt. Matt hadn't been there since 1986, and all he could remember were the koalas, as well. Funny thing, every single koala (8+) was asleep, so they sure won't remember us!
We headed past the monkeys, mandrills (awesome color!) and pygmy hippos en route to the pandas, skipped the sleepy polar bear, and then saw all of the cats. The cats were active, and Colin loved it! We also enjoyed the black Brazilian jaguar named Orson-- he looked just like a panther and walked right up to the edge of the cage right near us.
On around the corner a little Bornean sun bear was super active, and Colin couldn't get enough of watching him:
"Bornean sun bears, the smallest bears in the world, are one of the most enjoyable animals to observe, especially in the natural setting of Sun Bear Forest. Here, the sun bears, named for the golden crescents on their chests, display their frolicsome nature. Extremely agile and often comical, sun bears are great tree climbers and make excellent use of their enclosure's climbing structures." (Zoo website)
As we put Colin to sleep that night he jabbered for over 1 1/2 hours in bed and we could hear him giggle and then roar and say something about the bear. His little mind was filled with all of the wonder that the zoo hopes to provide.
Our last encounter at the zoo was with the reptiles -- a big komodo dragon, and lots of snakes, including a huge anaconda (yowsers!) Colin hissed at all of the snakes on display as he made a quick tour of the reptile house.
Our trip to the zoo was finally complete with a visit to the zoo shop where we got him 3 books -- one is a Little People lift-the-flap book titled, "Let's Go to the Zoo!" And indeed we did.
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