north american tour

yesterday was SUCH a nice day. too bad it took us 4 hours to get washed, fed, and pack the car... we wasted half the day trying to leave... TO GO TO THE ZOO! yes! yesterday we took our first trip to the zoo as a family. (i.e. it was both kids' first trips to the zoo.) we even joined the zoo - that way we can keep going back for free for 1 whole year, which we will do since hopefully #1 we'll get more efficient with leaving and #2 we'll get a van so we'll have more room in the car and not have to spend so much time unpacking and repacking every time we go somewhere other than the grocery store. needless to say, the zoo was a hit! we started with the sea lion exhibit, which by far was the best to be seen yesterday. they were very active which is great for a near-17 month old set of eyes and attention span (who, incidentally, thinks everything is a dog!) even holly enjoyed the view - facing outward in the moby. willie the polar bear has seen better days. turns out he was rescued from the circus, and he is 23 years old. the life expectancy for a polar bear is 15 to 25 years. no wonder he's so lethargic. today, though, he was enjoying a sunbath. they had a cool play area that looked like a ginormous (faith word) squash vine. nathaniel and kendal enjoyed a dash down the slide - kendal loved it. check out the larger than life praying mantis! who knew squash seeds could be so cute? (want to see something really cute? click on this first image to look closer at kendal's face!) the hills of asheville really tired out kendal. he walked and walked... and like a true donkey, when he got tired, he planted his feet and wouldn't take another step. the bobcats were on the prowl yesterday too. there were a pair that were pacing back and forth in their habitat. they really weren't that much bigger than bo! we didn't see any of the black bears, but this sign was cute. black bear black bear what do you see? probably just the backs of their eyelids! funny thing with the elk, which aparently it is the mating season... when they mount - parents like to take their kids elsewhere. basically we had this spot to ourselves after this buck hopped up on the doe. guess they didn't want to explain the "elk and the bees" quite yet! hey look - willie moved to another sunny spot! mallard duck, mallard duck, what do you see? i see a red headed boy looking at me! and if holly were bigger, she'd be looking at them too! the cougar was also quite active yesterday... strangely so. it made me somewhat uncomfortable for a moment knowing that the only thing separating this huge cat from my tiny son was a piece of glass. invisible glass. and i swear, you could feel the heat of the animal through it. nathaniel said that kendal didn't want him to let him go at this tank because he thought he was going to fall in. the water confused him. but he did like looking at the turtles! well, since it was 2pm when we got there and they closed at 4, we only got to tour most of the north american side. next time hopefully we can get out of the house faster thus have more time at the park, and maybe make it over to the african side. maybe.