Nothing special about a trip to the zoo. I’m trying to break up our different outings into their own posts since I’m majorly slacking on posting monthly updates. My next monthly update will be six months in one, which is absolutely ridiculous. And come summer with multiple free days—and next school year when all the kiddos are home one day of the week—I have plans for several outings. But, I’m really good at planning. It’s the following through part I have problems with. Maybe separate outing posts will be pointless. Either way, the zoo!
Thursdays I have only Baby and Maive. Which is a piece of cake. Two kids are easy peasy. We made plans to hit Cougar Mountain Zoo and invited one of Baby’s buddies to join us. After dropping off the wilderness kiddos, we stopped back home quickly so I could empty the dishwasher and start a load of laundry. I was running a bit behind this day. And if I don’t get the dishwasher unloaded and laundry started, I get majorly thrown off. I run a tight ship around here, haha.
Ten minutes later, we were back in the car with the lunches I packed, heading to Issaquah. It wasn’t supposed to rain but man, it was so freaking cold for an April day. And of course, it did rain some. There is no forecasting weather in the PNW. It’s easiest to look out the window and guess, and still dress for cold and rain. Even in summer.
We made it to the zoo maybe 10 minutes after they opened at 9:30am. Apparently they don’t open the area with the critters you can feed until 10am. I wish I had known this before I bought three cups of apple cubes when I paid our entry fees. Maive had to carry her cup of apples, which she kept spilling all over the ground. We’d pick them up, just for her to spill them again. Toddlers. Noted for next time.
With the critter feeding area closed, we hit the cougars first and then the birds. I love cougars. I’m not sure what it is about them, but they are so beautiful to me. I feel a bit bad seeing the three in captivity but they have the life. And as a former zoo docent from back in the day, I know the animals are treated extremely well. We watched the cougars for a bit. Two were actively walking about; one was taking a cat nap. I keep wondering if I’ll ever see one when I’m on a trail. I hope I never do but I kind of want to?! Not in a dangerous way of course. But to see on in nature would be amazing. I’ve had several dreams about cougars. I have no idea what that means nor do I attribute much toward dreams, but it’s kind of fun that they pop up in my subconscious often.
Next up, the birds. It still wasn’t quite 10am. We checked out all the feathered friends. One macaw was very social. They like to play hide and seek with their wing. How adorable is this?! The other birds couldn’t have cared less we were there. Maybe they let the social bird deal with visitors so they don’t have to, haha.
Macaws galore!
Hide and seek!
It was 10am. The main area opened. And man, those critters were ready for their snacks. They know. The girls took their apple cubes and got to feeding the alpacas and deer right away. Maive was a little hesitant to let them eat out of her hand and ended up tossing most of her apples through the fence. Eh, the critters didn’t seem to mind—they scored either way.
Feeding critters!
Maive had a few apple cubes left for the wallabies. The poor wallaby mom. She was dealing with the two playful toddler wallabies while the kiddos were tossing apples on the grass, all while the dad was trying to get it on with her again. Not really trying, he was. I can know check off seeing an erect wallaby penis from the list, haha. Not that it was on my list. The mom was having none of anything, and she looked like she really wanted a nap. Like most moms.
Next we checked on the wolves and tigers. Baby LOVES wolves. She fully intends on being a wolf when she grows up. Solid choice. There are three white wolves and one gray wolf at the zoo. Not much action in their habitat. One wolf walked to a new spot to lie down; the other three were already lying down. Their habitat is up against a residential neighborhood. How cool would that be to hear wolves howling from home?! I’d love that. We visited the tigers next; there are two Bengal tigers, one is white. Much like the one cougar and wolves, the tigers were having a lazy morning. Both were lying down. The orange tiger at least had its head up looking around.
The poor wallaby mom! And not a bad view the wolves have there.
Wolves and tigers, check. Reindeer next. There was a large group at the reindeer exhibit listening to the zookeeper talk about reindeer facts. Yay, crowds! Haha. Eh, they left a few minutes after we got there when the zookeeper finished her talk. We had the exhibit to ourselves, looking at all the reindeer. Some with antlers still and some without. They were all vying for their zookeeper’s attention. Rather, the food the zookeeper was giving them. It was getting colder? Maybe not colder but we were getting colder.
It was lunchtime. I packed lunches! This isn’t something I typically do when we head out for things like the zoo. But I was already making three lunches in the morning, for the wilderness kiddos. What’s two more? There is a large area with tables and a stage as you enter the zoo. We grabbed a table under a canopy after looking at the clouds and guessing there’d be rain soon. Sure enough, it started drizzling. Another group moved from an uncovered table to a covered table next to ours.
Three faces of Baby. She reminds me of the American Gothic couple in the first picture, her expression. She eventually gave me a smile. This was at the reindeer exhibit when she was getting cold.
We ate. We stayed cold. We checked on the birds again—Baby’s buddy wanted to see them some more. Maive was down for whatever. After a quick visit to the birds, Baby decided she was ready to head home. The cold was getting to her. And, to be honest, the zoo isn’t exactly the most exciting. It’s a nice two-hour visit, which is about how long we stayed. Maybe we’ll go back in December for the Reindeer Festival. We’ve gone before and it’s cute enough to go again. Except it’s not something that pops in my head when I’m planning December outings.
Checking out the birds again, taking pictures of the macaws. A Baby appeared below.
Until December. Maybe.
Jumping Raccoons 