One of our favorite Christmas traditions each year is to visit the local zoo. We enjoy visiting the animals during the day, usually grab some food from a local restaurant for dinner, and then head back to the zoo for their special Christmas light hours to enjoy all the lights they have up.
Here are the kiddos when we first went in. We decided to visit the bird house first. First up were the flamingoes.
The penguins are an absolute blast to watch! The kids like trying to keep up with them as they swim - normally they can't.
W6 absolutely adores birds. As such, we spent a lot of time examining the different species there at the zoo, comparing and contrasting their sizes, colors, habitats, food preferences, eggs, etc.
Do you know the difference between apes and monkeys? Apes do not have tails, while monkeys do. Along with this, apes swing from tree to tree, while monkeys jump. In addition, generally speaking, apes are more intelligent and curious.
There is something beautiful about the large felines.
Koala bears, which are actually not bears at all, are one of my personal favorites. These marsupials are known for eating eucalyptus leaves, which are actually poisonous to most animals.
Feeding cups of nectar to the lorikeets is always a "must do."
B2 absolutely loves cows and farm animals. He actually has a stuffed animal cow that he has fittingly named "moo." This cow only enjoyed being messed with so long - and then she slammed her head into the gate. And yet, she then put her head over it, wanting to be loved on again o.O The goats wanted to be fed and petted something fierce! We pray that one day we might be able to have our own farm critters :)
Here are some of the Christmas decorations set up for the year.
The zebras and ostriches are in a fenced in area together. I have yet to research how they benefit one another, but I'm sure there must be something to it...
Feeding the giraffes is another favorite activity. Their looooooong tongues always get the kids excited. Similarly, visiting the elephants is also exciting.
At our zoo, there is a large fenced area that contains kangaroos and wallabies. The neatest thing about this is that you literally get to walk through it - there are no fences or barriers between you and these marsupials!
What is a trip to the zoo without seeing the bears? It amazes me how friendly they look, yet I certainly would not want to meet up with them in the wild.
With W6's interest in birds, we decided to go to the owl show. They are such beautiful birds!
And here are more Christmas decorations...
Yet another wonderful Christmas-time trip to the zoo :)
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