Since the mercury finally rose above freezing, and we finally had a day without rain, we decided to get outside and do something as a family. We have a membership to the Knoxville Zoo, and since it was a cool, sunny day, we thought the animals might be more active. We packed up the Smart Trike that Santa brought E for Christmas and made our way to the zoo.
As soon as we walked in we headed to the black bear exhibit, not knowing if they would be out since bears typically hibernate in winter. Much to our surprise there was a big bear pacing back and forth on the log. We got a great view of him.
We made our way on around toward the African plains. There was a huge elephant who was helping himself to some yummy food. E has lots of elephant toys at home, so we always visit the elephants at the zoo.
Next up were the zebras. These are by far one of E's most favorite animals. He has a Little People Noah's Ark which we play with a lot at home. The zebra is always the first animal he picks up and the one he goes back to most often.
The last two trips to the zoo, he has watched the zebras so intently. He would stay there for long periods of time if we would let him.
Once Daddy pointed out the zebra to E...
he was locked in.
After a visit with the zebras, we moved across the path to Mommy's favorite animals, the giraffes.
On our way to the other side of the zoo, we passed a zoo keeper giving a talk about owls. He was holding a beautiful owl so people could get a closer look. Mommy and Daddy really enjoyed this, but E was more interested in watching the other children who had gathered to see this bird of prey.
We made our way on over to the River Otter exhibit. These little guys kept swimming back and forth in front of the glass just begging us to take their picture. E really enjoyed watching them swim. I think he would have liked to get in there and swim with them actually.
By the time we finished watching these little guys, it was getting close to time for the zoo to close. We wanted to make sure to get by the petting zoo before we returned home. We hadn't taken E in to the petting zoo on our previous zoo trips because he wasn't really ready. But this time we wanted to give it a try. We found a little tan goat who was standing all by himself. We chose him because 1)he was standing alone, and 2)he was similar in color to Maddie, our dog, whom E pets all the time. We hoped this would make his goat encounter go more smoothly. At first he wasn't really sure what to think. Then daddy took his hand and rubbed it over the little goat's fur so E would see what he was supposed to do.
The E reached out and started patting the goat on his own, much like he pets his dog and cat at home.
After our visit with the goat, we washed our hands and headed back to the car. What a wonderfully fun afternoon as a family!
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