Zoo time with friends

The day after Thanksgiving, my family usually goes to the Zoo. It's been a tradition since I don't know how long. Our good friends down the street let us tag along with them as we all met up at the Cleveland zoo to show the kids a few live animals behind bars.
First one we met. Impressive property he has.

We rode the tram to get to the top of the exhibits (Cleveland zoo is huge), and Brenden believed we were on a train. A little slice of Heaven.

Uh oh, I hope this girl was just asking you directions, because Eleanor is close by and she is much cuter!!!

Kyleigh checking out the fat fishes and lazy sharks.

Except this guy. He never stopped circling as we all stood there. Probably so frustrating having the meat so close by you without ever being able to catch any.

Maybe we should give these guys a little privacy.

All the monkeys were pretty active. And there were a lot of varieties of monkeys.

What's up there?


Ok, maybe not all the monkeys were so active.

He's waiting around for some 112 or 113.

I love these ledges. Kids get to try out their own monkey skills. If it wasn't for climbing, then why such a thick ledge? Why not bring the window to a zero edge? They know what kind of crowd they draw at a zoo, and they catered to that crowd. Simple.

Brenden thinks, "Oh, brilliant, Eleanor! Good idea"

 

What's down there? This is the animal that Trent had never seen before. It was very shy. Would scurry over to the next rock and hide, then scurry over to the other one.

Armadillo

Doesn't seem like the brightest animal on the planet earth.

Bunch of monkeys

We let them run around their natural habitat for awhile as well.

The men were on slide guard duty....or just waiting their turn?

E was flying!! This girl needs to work for Disney....she has an imagination that can compete with the best of 'em. Never a dull moment of playtime for her. Makes it all more enjoyable.

Such a natural. And P so content to enjoy it all.

After exhausting himself walking down that large hill (it was a pretty big hill, people usually take the tram up and down), he decided Kyleigh's idea of a free ride looked mighty nice.

These guys also had an impressive piece of real estate.

3 3/4 ft tall. Not bad for his age. (He actually wears a size 6 pant for his 4 year old body. Last year was the same. Size 5 jeans for the 3 year old boy. In the summer it's about normal or only 1 size up since we don't need all the length).

Who could refuse a face like Penelope's? With all her sweetness, Brenden did the right thing....

...made some room for the pretty lady.

This was probably the most exciting of exhibits. We are dangerously close to the Christmas season...and they had live REINDEER out in the open. We assured the kids that Santa would pick them back up before he had to make his rounds on Christmas Eve.

OOooo, how we miss this family. They're the first of probably many families who we get to know and then have to leave. Part of the downside of being in a transitional ward with so many medical resident and graduate student families. NC better take good care of them for stealing such a great family!

Brenden sometimes tells me that Eleanor hasn't really moved and she still lives down the street. He's going to be real confused and never believe me again when they come for a visit later in the semester. But maybe watching them take off will make it more real. I hear they have great beaches over in that corner of the country.

Polar bear. He is probably extremely excited to be able to cool off with all this snow we've been receiving lately.

Brenden about to go for a swim.

These guys were SO playful. I have a couple videos at the end of the post of these playmates running after and trying to tackle each other. Really fun for the kids to watch.

So easy to get her to look at the camera. :)

Some girls check out each others shoes or purses. These girls switch strollers and check out their each others wheels.

Again, beautiful shot of her looking straight at me:)

Going to the zoo with friends was alot of fun. These kids were part entertained by the animals and part entertained with their friends. Good time all around.

Seals playing around in a very nice compound Bears rough-housing