Zoo #5!!

Friday we went with our friends to the Toledo Zoo. Now, I have to confess that this was our worst zoo trip ever. Partly because I discovered, after the trip was scheduled, that I had mistaken the date of their 18 month checkup and it was that same day. It turned out to be a lot for one day. Also, the twins are at an awkward age where they want their independence, but don't really listen well enough to have it. To make it worse, the kid areas where we would have let them run around were mostly closed. It also ended up being nap time at the zoo - sleeping animals are not entertaining for tots! The final thing that was stacked against us is that this zoo isn't well designed for young kids. It's really spread out with a lot of dead space (plants, restaurants, open courtyards, etc.) between exhibits. My children really need constant animals or they get bored, and when they get bored they scream. There was a lot of screaming during this visit. But there were some really good moments:

The hippo exhibit was fabulous! They could get right up to the window to see them under water! (see the hippo?)

And the hippos were really good about coming right up to the window and giving the kids the thrill of their lives!
The twins with E at the hippo exhibit. The only picture of all 3 we were able to catch!

We started out the trip with a train ride around the African Safari exhibit (a picture I still need to get from our friends). The twins LOVED the train, but were more interested in the cars on the nearby highway than the animals...

Family pic on the tortoise statues (note: I have a picture of me on these same statues when I was in college!). The twins threw a fit when they had to get off of these!

They had a whole row of hanging animal masks...and animals. The kids loved playing with these.

The monkeys were better at this zoo than any other, and they twins had a blast watching the monkeys and the gorillas. Then they had a blast playing with the gorilla statues.

Ryan giving the gorilla 5 :)

Even daddy got in on the fun!

Allie was thrilled with all of the plants and wanted to touch and hug them all (and, since there were tons of bees, I was constantly redirecting her to keep her from getting stung - leading to another tantrum!)

We liked the exhibits when we got to them - the aquarium, the kids zone and pet place, the elephants - but the in between space just killed us. Perhaps we'll try another time, when they aren't so tantrum prone, and see if that changes our view!

The sight just outside of the gate. 2 screaming children (Ryan looks calm, but a split second earlier and later and you would see his tonsils!). And I, fabulous mom that I am, took a picture to capture the overall mood of the day!