Day 314: What a zoo!

I'm sorry the blog is a day late.  I forgot the big memory card that goes in my big camera.  So, I had to take pictures on my phone.  Then I ran out of space on it as well.  So, I spent last night doing my little process (ok, it's a big process b/c I'm anxious about losing photos) to take care of clearing my phone a bit.  I also now have put a spare small memory card in my wallet for those times that I forget the big memory card.  Yes, it's happened before, lol.  Never again.  Now, back to our day.

The zoo.  Loads of fun.  Exhausting for Abishai and I and we barely made it through everything.  I know there's tons of bigger and better zoos all over the world, but since I didn't grow up going to one, this one serves us just fine.  It's got lovely mature trees, old and new exhibits, same spirit of conservation, and they have all the large animals you could want to see, and loads of small ones, too.  Except polar bears.  Boo. I think something happened to the last one they had a few years ago, maybe a disease?  But they have penguins!  And well, you'll see:

Our gargantuan Colts stadium that none of us have been in (well, Gary, Leah, and maybe Benaiah did when it opened?).  There was a marching band competition going on today!  Just another oppurtunity to remind the kids that their daddy played in the Indiana State Champion Franklin Central High School Marching Band.  2nd trumpet.

Watching the seals and sea lions, the first thing you see upon entering the zoo.  The weather was perfect!  In fact, some of the buildings were warm, so we took off our jackets.

Justin wanted a picture next to the walrus.  Some of the areas outside the exhibits will have special stations like touching a tooth of a tiger, but since it's fall/winter, most of that stuff is closed.  Also the splash park and most food vendors are closed.  It was a very quiet day there.  And yes, we watched the walrus play with a big plastic tub.  Abishai was terrified.

This is the dome under the dolphin tank.  No dolphins were swimming because they were resting in their other tank for the dolphin show.  You have to be very quiet under here because it echoes a ton.  The zoo will cater events in a nearby room, and that's what our friends did for their wedding reception.  They got married in the gardens that are next to the zoo.

Waiting for the dolphin show!  Abishai gets very ancy and bounced between Jared and I a ton. Seeing the dolphin show was the highlight of Keturah's experience.  It was all downhill for her afterwards.  A girl after her mama's heart.  Just in case you didn't know, my career choices morphed from librarian, to astronaut, to bear doctor (zoologist), to marine biologist, to veterinarian, to accountant.  Yup, odd, and a wide range of things to think about.  Notice that all of those are about math and science, lol.  I guess I am a librarian since I take care of our library of books, lol.

We were careful not to sit in the splash zone.  They have a total of 9 dolphins doing stunts like walking on their tails, waving their fins, doing flips, reaching for things up high, etc. all for treats of fish and patting.  They also have a mother and nearly full grown baby, along with the grandmother.

They spent time talking about conservation and showed some footage of waterways and boats on that giant screen there in the background.  They used to have a shed with a boat and a lighthouse kind of scene.  Now it's rolling hills.

Staring down a meekkat.  Timon! Abishai was very excied about getting up and close to them.  This is in the desserts biome.

Dessert turtle.  They also had iguanas, quail and other dessert animals.

You cranked that crank and it would show you how the snakes mouth would open up wide to eat it's prey.  Keturah didn't want to go through the exhibit with the snakes.

The newest exhibit was the orangatan exhibit.  They have 9 adults and a 7 month old baby.  The enclosure is huge, and sometimes they have access to a special structure they can swing on out in the open but they don't have the ability to climb down the structure.  It's pretty neat.

Just hanging out.

Auntie and baby.  Mama was taking a nap.

There's mama, taking a nap, complete with a blanket.

The flamingos were relocated to near where the farm animals used to be.  They actually took out the farm animals and added some small and large bird exhibits.  We didn't take the time to walk through there.

Zebras and wildebeasts!

Giraffes.

Rhinos.  At this point, Abishai was getting stir crazy.  We would let him down and he would just run all over the place.  Thankfully it was a very quiet day at the zoo.

Baboons.

Big lion.  Jared likes to talk about how when Justin was Abishai's age or younger, the lion was close up to the window/fence and started pacing back and forth like it was sizing Justin up wanting to eat him.

The elephants were way far off.  Abishai was ok seeing them.  Then he wanted to take off and be done with it all.

Warthog aka Pumba!  And the kids named Beebop and Rocksteady (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) when they saw the rhino and warthog.

The track is for the train ride that goes around part of the zoo. The other two columns on the left are for the orangutans. 

Starting to get stir crazy.

Mr. Brown Bear was very active.  Abishai did growl at some animals like this one.

This guy was very, very active and almost pacing.  Yes, we were that close.  We also saw cheetahs, but they were napping.

Master Shifu!  aka red panda hiding in the tree.

That's not an animals, that's a "vroom!"  New exhibit with macaws and other exotic birds.

We quickly went through the oceans biome with the penguins and fix and sting rays and sharks.  

Touch a shark tank!  Our friend at the zoo usually works this area.  I boldly reached in and touched one to show the kids, and they then both tried but couldn't get close enough.  We didn't have enough time to stick around though.

It's a bird, it's a plane, no, it's Abishai on a rock.

Justin on the same rock.

Sometimes the most fascinating things at the zoo aren't the animals, lol.

So, it was a great morning.  Then it was time for a nap and schoolwork.  Then I went to a meeting at Benaiah's school and Jared and the kids hung out at the house.  Very full, happy, enjoyable day.  Having Jared along is a blast because he knows so much about just about anything and he would take the time to explain the animals to the kids.  I know he was excited to share this special occasion with the rest of us.