Day at the Zoo

A couple of weekends ago Jake and I decided on a whim to take the kids to the Madison Zoo. Its only about an hour away and is one of the few free zoos left in the country. I spend many a Sunday afternoon at that zoo when I was a kid; however, it has been years since I had been there. We packed some snacks and headed out. It was a really cold, snowy day so the animals were all super active (the ones that can handle it) and there were about 10 other people there. It was a rare treat to not have to deal with crowds at the zoo. Something in the Army changed me, and I don't deal well with crowds anymore- I get very on edge, so this day was particularly awesome. Here are a few pictures of our time there.

MY happy orangutan family

Baleigh's arms were not even as long as a gibbon's

Thor's arms were almost as long, but still a little short

Daddy's armspan was between an orangutan and a chimp

My arms were almost as long as a chimps.

Baleigh wanted a picture with this gorilla so much.

My beanie baby with a life sized polar bear.

our Thor Bear's arctic photo op

Baleigh saw this tortoise and NEEDED a picture on its back. There might have been a little drama surrounding this but that is a story for another day. She was so happy when she got to give him a hug.

A rare photo of Jake an I together. Thor took this picture for us and I have to say, he did a really excellent job.

Daddy and Bean with the American Bison.

They don't have giant panda's but they do have red pandas. Baleigh was in 7th heaven when we found them.

My chilly willy kiddos.