A wish fulfilled

I like the zoo.

I'm not even sure why since I can't even remember the last time I went but I do know that I have been wanting to go for a very long time. So much so in fact, that when Tyson hinted to me that we were going to be driving for a little while to get to our 1st anniversary location I seriously thought he was taking me to the zoo.

And I was totally good with that.

Well, turns out that he took me to snowbird where we spent the day playing on the alpine slides, zip-line, and rode a tram to the top of the mountain for a picnic. Never mind the delicious romantic dinner where I had lamb for the first time (tastes like chicken) and that he even got us a hotel room for the night. Let's be honest, a little better than the zoo right?

Right.

But I still wanted to go, so when Becky (SIL) called to see if I wanted to go to the zoo with Banana, J-dawg, and her how could I resist?

We got a good start with the sea lions and otters who were thrilled to see us and showed off the whole time we were watching them. Awesome!

Then we made our way over to the penguins. J-dawg had started talking about the penguins the second we walked through the gate and wanted to see them immediately so we skipped past the next few animals and went straight for them.

Problem: penguins don't smell very good so as soon as we walked into their little area J-dawg turned right back around and walked on outta there. I'm pretty sure he didn't see them at all.

So much for the penguins.

Banana and I looked at them for about two seconds before we moved on to the next thing.

The next animal on our list was the polar bear. Now I know I heard someone saying that the polar bears were doing tricks because J-dawg heard it too and we talked about that the whole way there. Imagine our surprise when we got there and saw this:

Some trick.

He was sleeping.

Oh well, at least the kids seemed to enjoy it.
Hey, what's that boy in the background lookin' at? She's not old enough to date mister!

Next, we went to the current feature which was the Dinosaur park!
The Dinos made noise and moved around which terrified the kids. Banana clung to her mother for dear life and J-dawg hid in the stroller the whole time.

When I saw them the next day they wanted to go to the zoo again. Why? To see the dinosaurs of course, their favorite part.

I'm sure my look of fear as I had Jurassic Park flashbacks didn't help either.

Ah, the elephants were so cute.

But once again J-dawg struggled with their, uh, aroma.

He's got both his fingers up his nose in case you can't tell.
Rhino.
Zebra.
Banana's life dream was to pet a goat so Becky took her over while I hung out with J-dawg. Did I mention that he doesn't like the way animals smell? He also doesn't like to touch them.

I would like you all to enjoy the many faces of J-dawg as I did while we waited for Banana.

Giraffe.

Becky asked if I wanted to run in this cage and see the Lorikeets. She said they were cute but the kids had seen them before so they weren't going to go in. Well, I didn't realize until AFTER I got in there that these birds are supposed to land on you.

What!?

Um, no gracias.

I like animals, I really do but I am not a bird person. Plus there were signs everywhere saying that whatever gifts the birds left with us (IE. on us) could be washed off with soap and water.

Sick.

So I took my picture and got the "H" outta there before a bird could give me a present.

Next step was the zoo train and I have to be honest that I thought we would be going around all the animals at the zoo, perhaps getting the "backstage pass" if you will to see them. Maybe a chance to pet a giraffe or feed a lion or something. I don't know.

Don't get me wrong, it was a really nice ride, it was just not in the zoo. We went on a scenic tour of backwoods Oregon at .045 mph. I think it's mostly a place for parents to take their children when they want them to fall asleep because about half the kids did as we puttered along. So did I in fact. Not really. It was nice to sit and relax and look at all the greenery surrounding us though. I did enjoy that.
Last, but certainly not least was the mighty tiger. El tigre wasn't really in the mood for pics today but I stole a shot of him anyway.
There is no lion at this zoo. Strange.