Keeping Memories Close: Zoo Day

We had a well house again today, so we RAN at the chance to go to the zoo. Mom and I had talked and knew we wanted to go there. Louisville has a great zoo, and spring is one of the best times to go. We picked up my cousin's daughter, Mikayla, so that Sage could see her since they love to play together. We spent many hours there and took our time walking through. The kids, JAGGAR especially, loved it. It was awesome to see his expressions. I didn't think about how at home that he loves to just stare at the dogs out the window, so this was like AMAZING to him. There are a LOT of pictures, but this is something we don't get to do every day, so I was pretty indulgent in taking them. Hope ya don't mind. :)

This is right when you enter: a huge ball covered in water. You can imagine what happened from there. Yep, Sage cupped it in her hands to her mouth...ONCE after I was like "NO!!!" ha, And then Jaggar looked like he had gone swimming.

Playing on the turtle

This was one of the first "bigger" animals that we saw: the orangutan. Jaggar was like, "wow.." in a whisper just like he did whenever he saw Christmas lights. This one was asleep when another walked over to him/her (?) and started playing with its hair. So funny.

Watching another orangutan play...or try to escape.

The trio...it was a workout keeping up with these 3. Between the girls trying to get too far ahead, Jaggar trying to go BACK to where we had been, and Mikayla screaming (like complete meltdown) over any and every bee, we had our hands full, but we had a great time.

The white alligator: King Louie

I'm so sad that I didn't get to go in here: the lorikeet landing. But I'm thrilled that mom took both kids...or Sage (Jaggar was less than impressed, which I'll explain below). Mikayla wanted to play on the playground, so I took her there. Sage was in awe.

I'm pretty sure this is mid-swing from Jaggar to the bird. Mom said he knocked one down....to the ground. I'm sure the trainers would be glad to see that. One landed on Sage's head, and Mom said it totally freaked him out. He was screaming, and even later (and now when we talk about it), he says, "Hurt." Cracks me up.

Feeding nectar to the bird. Look at her face.

Jaggar looking at the jaguar, which he was sure was a tiger.

Break time. I think I look as tired as I felt. There were some hills there that got the best of me.

ALWAYS my favorite: the sea lions. I'm sad that we were just a few days short of the grand opening of the new polar bear exhibit: Glacier Run. We did get to see one on the ledge, who appeared to be dancing. I asked the trainer why he was doing that, and she said it was just a repetitive behavior/tick that was "comfortable to him." I refrained from saying, "So it has tourettes?" but I thought it. It was cute. Check out the seals showing off for their audience.